It IS a big deal...and the banner above pretty much says it all. It's not hard to post credits where they are due. Sure it's not as easy as Googling say..."strawberry roan" and then picking just any image, willy nilly off the internet and putting together a banner or layout with it. That image is copyrighted. It's theft unless the owner of that animal knows his photos of his/her horse is being used and they give permission for it.

Build yourself a solid reputation by doing the right thing, search places like DeviantArt or stock xchange and search for images the right way. Always read the rules the stock people put up, usually in their journal, and make sure to follow those rules. Most of the time they simply want a link back to their stock account, and credit given for the images you have used, either on the actual image, banner, layout or whatever it is you are making.
That's super easy. Let's not lose all our great photographers out there or dishonor them by stealing and giving sim horse gamers a BAD rep.
Do the right thing. You will have to on this forum anyhow, so why not just get into the habit and enjoy a clear conscience!
I learned, so if I can...anyone can.

well said, Robbin. :P

I totally agree

[size=18][i]Whew! I saw the subject line and I was thinking this better not be from the girl that was wrongly accusing YOU of image theft sis. I was gonna have to jump in and open a can. LOL! Seriously though - stealing peoples work is SO not cool. Thanks for posting that.
~Kareena~

I agree image theft is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO wrong to do

Well said. I'm giving a link to this to everyone I see who needs to understand... it's really sad people can't understand sooner. I think most newbies don't get it but once you get 'into' the game you can understand easier...

I do credit images but if the creator didn't specify, how should you credit?

AGREED

MidnightHorse wrote:I do credit images but if the creator didn't specify, how should you credit?

by using stock that is permissable, that way it covers you "just in case" and believe me, those incidents happen when you least expect it. That is exactly what happened to me, I used images that:
1-I didn't even bother to find out if they were copyrighted
2-didn't credit images
3-used stock resources improperly

in short...I was a mess. I actually have to credit a very unpleasant snitch. If it wasn't for her doing it, then I would have gone on ignorantly violating copyright laws, creative commons, and could have been sued!
Now, I don't even run a risk, I try to be 110% thorough in choosing image stock from stock providers and reading their rules on how they wish their stock to be used. It's such a relief

Hear hear Robbin! Kinda happened to me but no nasty thing came about. Just guilt even after asking someone whether using copyrighted images were okay but now I am crediting left and right, top to bottom. Heehee!

Anyways here is an observation I noticed:
Some people put "I do not take credit for the horses in this banner" instead of crediting the person. What do you think of that?

I say that is still pure image theft but at least they wanted to make clear that they didn't take the horses photo. But still I think that is image theft.

Ok thanks!

its not fair when peeps do that!

Anonymous1 wrote:
Anyways here is an observation I noticed:
Some people put "I do not take credit for the horses in this banner" instead of crediting the person. What do you think of that?

I say that is still pure image theft but at least they wanted to make clear that they didn't take the horses photo. But still I think that is image theft.

That is still image theft as they are not the original owner of that image and could be violating several laws or at the least abusing the creative commons license. By "not taking credit" they are making themselves look bad, because they are really saying to anyone and everyone "hey I didn't bother to check my resources and I could be, and most likely am guilty of image theft".
There are so many fantastic stock providers for literally anything and everything a person would need to make fantastic banners, layout headers or any graphic need. Especially on DeviantArt, that there is absolutely, solidly, no reason for not following stock provider resource rules. That ensures that those of us who do follow rules do not get cut off by the people who violate them. In short...why take chances, when you could have a clear conscience and take pride in your work to a whole new level.

aaah, me and lissie (aka Serephinex/ gallopinghooves) eat art stealers ^.^
And we are getting hungry :P

Very well said Robbin! But you know, when I first saw this post, I googled strawberry roan, and you know what? There weren't many pics lol. Of course I didn't use any...I use DeviantArt!