So this post by Roni Loren and copyright of photos has gotten me all in a flutter. The pics I use for Thriller Thursdays are usually from online newspapers and other blog sites, but apparently I’m still infringing copyright.
That means I’m going to have to go through and get rid of a lot of the pictures, because however unlikely it is, I don’t want to get sued.
So here’s the dilemma: Thriller Thursdays are long posts. The pictures break up the text. I want to hear from you guys how much of a difference the pictures make. Would you still read without them? Do you you like Thriller Thursdays because they’re longer and researched, or would you be all right with the posts being shorter and more discussion oriented?
Looking for all opinions so I can keep this feature going on the website.
Thanks so much, guys!
donnagalanti
Shorter is always better! With longer posts I do tend to skim (not yours of course 🙂
Natalie Hartford
I love your Thriller Thursday post and it has little to do with the pictures. It’s the true crime story that I love. And where you normally put a picture, you could put a link to a site with a picture if you wanted to break it up and give people the chance to still see pics. (For pics, check out this site) for example.
I like the longer, more researched story….there’s not a lot to discuss usually…LOL!! So for me, the long, detailed interesting story is what I love. I find they are captivating and fabulous!
Lauralynn Elliott
Although it’s nice to have the pics, I really don’t have to have them. It’s the story that matters. And like Natalie said, you could always link to the pics.
Catie Rhodes
I am in the same boat as you. Roni talked about spending 8 hours a day for a whole week trying to find new pics to put in place of the ones she took out. I’m not going to do that. Likely the posts will just be picture-free.
corajramos
Shorter is better-we all have so many posts we want to read and limited time. Thanks for the information on the pictures copyright issue. I’ll have to check my site.
Stacy Green
Thanks to all of you who are commenting. One thing I’ve thought of is putting a condensed version on here, and then a longer version in my newsletter for selected posts. What do you guys think of that?
Amber West
I think for archived posts, you may be fine removing the pictures.
However, for lengthy posts, the visual break up will keep readers on the page. New readers may not stick it out if they see a large block of text. So, your idea of condensed here and longer in newsletter may work – OR find images that work. The wikipedia commons link Roni gave has TONS of information on images that you can use.
Tiffany White
Shorter is better… I agree that the images break up the longer posts and it’s visually appealing for the reader. Maybe for the really long Thriller Thursdays you could break them into multiple parts? I hate what happened to Roni. I think we’re all going to have to spend some time over the next few days doing some blog cleanup.
amyshojai
You can break up text with headers, too–and bullet points and suchlike. But the “condensed” version might work best for the blog with the longer version in the newsletter and maybe a link to the archived newsletter for the full story? Might get you more subscribers to the newsletter, too.
tomwisk
Short paragraphs are nice. Pictures or not I will still read the whole blog.
Lisa Hall-Wilson
I’ve used blockquotes as well to break up the text.
lynettemburrows
Stacy, another option is to contact the owner of the photographs you’d like to use and get permission to use them. That does slow down the process but it makes your use of the photos legitimate and legal. When I first began blogging I also took photos from other sites. But I had some reservations about that practice and did some research. Since then I’ve been using works with creative commons licenses or my own photos and art.
Stacy Green
That’s true. ANd it would really slow down the process, but with Thriller Extravaganza in August, I’m going to have a month long window. Thanks.
Marcy Kennedy
I would still read them because they’re interesting. Perhaps you could add more bolding or italics for skimmers?
Stacy Green
Thanks, Marcy. After reading Diane’s comments in the WANA group on FB, I wonder if I really have anything to worry about. It’s a tough call.
Adriana Ryan
Oh man, what a bummer. It seems like copyright infringement of images on the web is one of those hard things to get right–without a watermark or a note, it’s almost impossible to know what’s okay to use and what’s not. Apparently Pinterest is one of those slippery slopes, too, which is why I stopped using it. I’d be happy with a shorter, discussion-oriented post!
Stacy Green
Thanks, Adriana. You’re safe if you go through istockphotos or creative commons, but that’s it. And copyright in general is very complex. Many people think they understand only to have an attorney tell them differently. Which is why it’s better to be safe than sorry.
J. Thomas Ross
I agree with many of the others that I read your posts because the tales are fascinating, not because of the photos. I do like visuals too. I don’t imagine you’re deciding what story you’re going to feature the day before you post. You may well be able to get permission to use archived newspaper photos (giving credit to the source, of course). I use my own photos on my blog, and I’ve had a couple requests from other people to use them. They attribute the photo to me, and I’m happy to let them use the photos. Of course, I’m not a professional or a business like a newspaper. I hope you can find some way to continue including a photo or two, or link to photos, because they add to the material. But I would still find the story fascinating.
When it comes right down to it, most novels and non-fiction books for adults do not have any photos or illustrations. People still read them. If it’s not going to work out for you to use photos, we’ll still find the stories fascinating!
Stacy Green
Thanks for saying this, Judy. I’m glad people really do like the content. I just always use the photos because it’s a lot of content and it’s nice to break it up. However, I could find a way to shorten a bit and then use free photos. I honestly thought that if I were using from an online newspaper, etc. we could use them. I guess I thought of them as fair domain, especially if we were giving credit. Lesson learned.
I can use istockphotos and some of the other ways Roni mentioned.
4amWriter
I’m a fairly new follower, Stacy but the reason I followed in the first place was content–not pics. Of course the pictures help illustrate your material, but I would still read your posts even without the pictures. 🙂
Roni Loren
Hi Stacy, I hate that everyone is having to shift everything around because of what happened, but we’re all learning our way through what’s okay. And obviously, I’m erring on the absolute caution side now. I know what I’m doing for my “man candy” features is to post links. The pics open up in their own window and are on someone else’s site, but it’s easy for a reader to click it they want to see. That could work for your posts maybe.
Roni Loren
Hmm, looks like my comment disappeared. If this is a double post, I apologize:
Hi Stacy, I hate that everyone is having to shift everything around because of what happened, but we’re all learning our way through what’s okay. And obviously, I’m erring on the absolute caution side now. I know what I’m doing for my “man candy” features is to post links. The pics open up in their own window and are on someone else’s site, but it’s easy for a reader to click it they want to see. That could work for your posts maybe.
Stacy Green
I had to approve it. And please don’t apologize – your sharing saved the rest of us. I really thought that things posted on online news sites were public domain. Live and learn, and I certainly didn’t mean to steal from any one. Of course, you didn’t either, and I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through this.
Your idea with links is a good one, and I do plan on continuing Thriller Thursdays. Thanks for stopping by:)
August McLaughlin
I’ll still read them, Stacy. I’d also suggest looking for photos upheld by Creative Commons copyright—you can Google for those, taking your own photos or making graphics. You can make a text graphic pretty easily that features the title or topic of your post. This also makes your post Pinterest-friendly or purchase dark/creepy stock photos. (I seldom use stock because I want my posts to be pinnable. But if you don’t mind that bit, you can purchase photos for as little as 50 cents. Try DepositPhotos.com.) Good luck!
Stacy Green
Why can’t you Pin photos you’ve purchased from stock photos like iStockphotos? That’s what I used for my new header. Thanks for the tip on Creative Commons. The thing with Thriller Thursday is that the blog post already takes a lot of time, so I’m not sure if I want to be making texts photos. But I could have a few to use…
Thanks!
Karen Rought
I’ll absolutely still read read your posts – pictures or no pictures! I like it when they’re longer too, as it gives me a better sense of what actually happened. I’m upset about this too, and I’m not really looking forward to going through previous blog posts and changing pics. 🙁
Stacy Green
Thanks Karen. It’s a hard decision to make, because something needs to break up the text. Good luck on your end.
Julie Glover
I appreciate the pictures when they are linked to the story. For instance, if a post is about a specific murder, I like seeing a pic of the victim or the accused; maybe because it humanizes the story. It’s not really about breaking the text up for me, but rather providing additional information through visuals. That said, I think it’s also just fine to provide links to such pictures, so that if readers want to see, they can click over to another site to view photos related to the story. That’s my two cents.
And I’ll be frantically combing through my site next week in light of Roni’s post as well. Here’s hoping I don’t have to do too much changing.
Stacy Green
Thanks, Julie. I’ll probably have to do that, because I do want to make them available. I think the stories have a bigger impact when you can actually look at those involved.