June 4, 2016 at 1:08 am

@bestwriter You say you have no problem giving credit for your images, but my question to you would be why do you feel the need to hide those image credits where most readers won’t see them?

If I were to quote from your work, I would put the mention in plain text where my readers would see it. It may not be a legal requirement that the credit be visible (although I suspect it could be argued in court that tucking it away where it can’t be seen is not fulfilling the licensing terms . . .) but it’s a courtesy to a fellow artist to put their credit in plain view.

As to the question of never having trouble with image credits, I would suggest that all LiteracyBase users check their posts for illegal copies of copyrighted Shutterstock images. These are clearly watermarked with the brand name, and anyone who adds them to a post is violating copyright.

All Shutterstock images are subject to copyright. They are royalty-free, but you must purchase a license to use them. Their site is very explicit about this: “Unless you enter into a license agreement with Shutterstock you may not download, distribute, display and/or copy any Shutterstock Content.”

Here is an example of a watermarked image. This particular photo appears here on LiteracyBase, as do others that are very easy to spot.

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-365116274/stock-photo-four-sandwiches-on-the-board.html

I did a quick search of just one user’s posts today, and in seconds I found five different posts that displayed an illegal image. These are on posts that were approved by the staff, who obviously need to brush up on copyright!

It’s also important to keep in mind that LiteracyBase is not responsible if they approve a post and it contains an infringing image. You are, as the author of the content. That’s how it works on all writing sites, and it’s usually spelled out pretty plainly in the TOS. If the copyright owner decided to pursue the infringement, they’ll be looking for you and not the staff or the site owner.

I only put the information out there to help other writers. I know of bloggers who have been invoiced for using copyrighted images without proper permission. The choice was between paying hundreds of dollars in delinquent licensing fees, or being sued for copyright infringement. If some people prefer to think they are safe and not to follow up, that’s fine. I can only inform you and give you the chance to correct an error before it gets someone in trouble with the law.