copyright FREE images and content?

[puamana]

As a small web developer I have found it increasingly difficult to find content, especially pictures (photos and graphics) to use in designing my clients websites. Most of my clients are small businesses without deep corporate pockets, and I try to give them the most bang for their buck.

Lately, it seems, there are so many copyright infringement issues that I must put the 'fear of god' into my clients to provide images that are either licensed or copyright free... hard to find these days, even for the search queen (me).

I have an idea to create a site where developers can upload their OWN amateur photography and have access to the photos and content of other developers for use in website development.

With the advent of digital photography, there are lots of folks with extensive collections of their own work (very nice work, too) that are appropriate for using in site design.

The only requirement for membership would be to upload your content, agree to allow others to use it free of charge, and if you use content from the site, you should provide a 'credit' and perhaps a link back to the site.

My question is, if this resource was available, how many of you would take advantage of it?

Mahalo,
Puamana

[davebarnes]

puamana,

Have your been to istockphoto.com ?
Images starting at $1 USD.
I am sure there are other websites with inexpensive images.

Your idea is a non-starter.
How will you "monetize" your effort? And, the efforts of the photographers?

,dave

[puamana]

Yes, I've been to most of the retail sites, and unfortunately, the kind of images I am looking for are seldom sold for a buck... mostly in $80-$450 range, depending on the site. I also tend to use many different images collaged together, so for a single graphic, I might use 10 or 15 different sources.

I just thought that some developers were feeling as 'hobbled' as I am by the copyright issue, and would like to pool resources to benefit all...

Monetize? Maybe Google adwords - advertising later, but I don't want to charge members to use the content. That's the whole idea. FREE content.

- P

[Webdreck]

Try stock xchange: www.sxc.hu (http://www.sxc.hu). A really good, extensive range of photographs, the majority without usage restrictions of any kind but quite a few with restrictions (require written permission etc.) You'll need to spend a bit of time searching round the site as the quality varies, but that's half the fun!

Depends what you're after of course, and how creative you are with image selection, manipulation, cropping and so on. Sometimes you just can't beat a resource like Getty Images, in which case you should get your client to agree a stock photography budget from the outset.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Simon

[Dcrux]

Try this list...

morgueFile (http://www.morguefile.com/)

PixelPerfect Digital (http://www.pixelperfectdigital.com/)

OpenPhoto (http://www.openphoto.net/)

Image*After (http://www.imageafter.com/)

PDPhoto (http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2005/04/01/where_to_find_free_images.htm) (PD is short for Public Domain)

FreeStockPhotos.com (http://freestockphotos.com/)

Geek Philosopher Stock Photos (http://www.geekphilosopher.com/MainPage/photos.htm)

Photo Rogue (http://www.photorogue.com/) "One of the main goals of the site is to increase the amount of visual media on the Internet that is not incumbered by copyrights." Essentially Photo Rogue is the idea which kicked off the thread. Populated by volunteer photographers, you can even request a shot.


Many of these sites have terms and conditions, be sure to make yourself aware of them. For example, some require a link back to the site you got the photo from. Others want attribution for the photographer. This is not much of a restriction for commercial use. Just about all prohibit one business use: Bundling them and redistributing/reselling the photo collection for others to use, for example a CD of clip photography.

Hint: The Digital Camera is one of the hottest, fastest selling and consequently wide-ranging products on planet Earth. If you can't get the client to point a picture at one of their real, live employees, at least request they smash their cameras with a hammer and mail you the pieces.

[puamana]

I can see there are already a lot of resources available that I didn't know about. I'll visit these sites and see what I can find... I also found another you might be interested in,
http://www.yunphoto.net/ Some very good shots, wide range of subjects and only requires a credit and link back.

Thanks again for the feedback and I'm glad I ran it by you before diving in ;)

- P

[sem4u]

I don't take that many photos but I would exchange good ones that I have taken for royalty free photos.