legal, idea, copyrightI want to start a small (300$) kickstarter project. However I need a good project Image and I have no way of making a good one myself. I was thinking I might use something like this one here. Even though this Image doesn’t have a copyright I am really unsure about possible copyright issues which might arise as I would be using it commercially (i guess)… Does anyone know what type of Image I am allowed to use and if this Image would work?
If you scroll down a little on the page that you linked to, it says “This file is in the public domain in the United States.” Since it is in the public domain, you can use it for any purpose and you don’t even need to attribute the owner.
If you want to search for other images that you could use, Google image search has an option to search by “Usage rights”. After doing an image search, click the “Tools” button and you will then see a “Usage rights” option.
Look for a license and read it. For wikimedia for example this site tells you something about it:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Reusing_content_outside_Wikimedia
For the image you linked on the linked page it says something about the copyright which I think is not really understandable, but further research to the origin of the picture might clarify that. However many images do have an explicit license stating how and when they may be used. (Most may not be used commercially, you’re right there).
If you can’t find anything, ask the author. Most won’t respond, but if they allow you to use the image the way you want to, you are on the safe side.
As a rule of thumb - everything that does not explicitly state it may be used commercially (or that it is not protected) - may not be used commercially.
All content is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
