Add Images Responsibly - Do Screenshots Count?
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Some of the images you want to use on your site won’t be for illustration but for instruction. You might be offering, for instance, a step-by-step guide to creating a blog. In this case, you may want to use screenshots to help explain and emphasize what you’re saying; after all, aren’t pictures made to help take the place of words? When you use screenshots to capture images, are they still subject to copyrights?
Screenshots are actually a little tricky. You’re taking a copy of a copy of a copy. Does that mean you’re free of copyright worries? Most Web pages, remember, will fall under the heading of intellectual property, meaning that they’re someone else’s creation and therefore subject to copyright laws.
But when you take a screenshot, aren’t you creating something, too? For the most part, it’s okay to use screenshots as a means of explaining and instructing, but always make it a point to credit the Web site you’re using for the image.
In most cases, it’s perfectly acceptable to do this. If you have any question, however, don’t hesitate to simply write an email to the owner of the site and request permission. The worst they can do is say no, and it’s better to find out now (rather than later) that they don’t want their pages used for your presentation.
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