There is a thread from a day or two back regarding the copying of images from web sites. I expressed an opinion that was poorly phrased and as a result my opinion was misinterpreted by some. I just wanted to clarify for those who may have been offended...

I regret that my previous post was interpreted as condoning pirating intellectual property. I realize now that I misinterpreted the context of the post and as a result didn't phrase my opinion very well. When I said "Unless an image is copyrighted, or otherwise specifies that it's protected, I see no problem with using it.", I meant for purely personal, non-profit, for-fun web sites. As a new participant on the ChipBoard, I didn't realize that there had been previous posts on this topic nor that there was a problem with people stealing images for other for-profit works and for mis-representation of chip condition. Mine was simply an opinion about collecting graphics from the web to use in light-hearted, for fun, personal web pages.

My opinion has always closely resembled that posted by Paul Sax... "I (couldn't) care less if anyone uses mine for any reason--profit or not. And there is no need to ask. It doesn't harm me one bit and I'm certainly not after any credit. Just enjoy them if you use them." Maybe that's because I never truly created a work of art as William Schelhas does with his photography. I can easily understand why artists/photographers would be sensitive to people copying their work. However, I never considered a chip scan a work of art and never dreamed anyone would be sensitive to having it copied and used on another chipper's hobby site.

I posted before I realized the point-of-view of some members of the audience and how they might mis-interpret my post. For-profit, or for-recognition, work never crossed my mind. Only personal for-fun pages. Plus, given the generosity of the people on this site, I never considered that anyone would object to me simply decorating my chipping page with some images I collected off the web.

I realize that my statement "If the author doesn't want it used, it shouldn't be on the 'net where it truly is public domain and can be lifted by anyone with a browser." sounds harsh, but I was simply trying to warn that if you're truly concerned about protecting your copyright to your images, you should re-consider before posting them on the net, because there's nothing stopping millions of people from "harvesting" them - I wasn't saying that this practice is right, just that we as a web developers must accept the risk as part of doing business on the web (I say "must" because there's nothing we can do to stop it).

Again, to be crystal clear... I do not support "stealing" other images to use in for-profit or for-recognition work or to mis-represent chip condition. And I do support asking before using.

I hope this clears-up my opinion on the subject.
Will