Lifting photo's off ebay onto a website!!

**slados28** · 02-07-2016, 08:55 PM

"Courtesy of" shots, as you call them, are more often than not shots used for reference in lieu of other reference material. As long as there's as much credit given as possible I simply do not see the problem. Is this in reference to photos you actually own the copyrights for?

I remember we had a relatively active member being insulted because someone posted "his" photos earlier last year, the only problem was that he didn't actually own any of them...he had just found them in some archive and thought that gave him some sort of ownership. He ended up deleting all the photos from his threads, luckily he is no longer on here --- nor is he over on WAF.

Anyway, I personally feel this is too broad an issue to be seriously discussed over such vague reasoning. The OP here seems to be worried about this whole copy - paste thing, just kind of the other way around. Again, what are we talking about specifically here? Images of copyrighted photos of some importance or simply images of equipment/awards that reside in collections? The first would be a matter of law, the other would be for the individual forum mods and how much you want to make a fuzz over images of items in your collection.

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 02-07-2016 08:55 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**Stewy S** · 02-07-2016, 09:12 PM

Slados28, I only post what I have in my possession or items I have owned. Not random pics I've lifted from the Internet. It neither serves a purpose or aids members. A PM to a member searching for such info would surely suffice. Just so you know, as far as I'm aware none of my collection is or has been used for this purpose. That doesn't mean I can't have a view on it. Obviously I'm old school who believes in ethics, sadly slowly being lost in all walks of life. Damien asked for folks input, comments, thoughts. That's all I've tried to provide (these are all just my opinions). Hopefully I've not upset anyone. And I hope you can see my point, even if we don't agree. Kind regards, Stewy

**37Webbing** · 02-07-2016, 09:31 PM

I understand the resentment. I really do. It is a real pain to have photos of your collection "stolen" like that. I really upsets me that no one bothers to check for the original source and contact the owner (if possible).

When that is said, it is equally important to stress that if the photo serves an educational purpose or any other purpose that equals fair use, then I have no moral quarrels with the use of "owner-less" photos floating around on the internet. I have had photos of certain items from my collection posted on Russian, Ukrainian and American forums - By other persons. (Thank you google image search

).
As long as the poster don't impersonate me, or try to sell something that is still in my possession (with no intent to sell) - then there is nothing I really want or wish to do to prevent it.

Educational and and other "fair-use" purposes is nothing I really can get upset by. I am not in this hobby for a monetary gain.

The younger generations don't see a digital copy of something as a physical item - a digital copy is something that can be shared over and over again and photos are something you produce in the thousands.

Just my two cents

**slados28** · 02-07-2016, 09:36 PM

Photos do of course serve an important purpose, it's for context and as a visual aid where words aren't enough. I can't imagine how barren some sections of this forum would be if all we were allowed to post were our "own" photos.

Posting photos of items saying they're your own when they're not is idiotic and should of course not be allowed --- then again I don't see much of this at all and I'm pretty sure it's moderated when it actually does happen.

Posting photos for reference and crediting properly is, on the other hand, an important part of many discussion/reference threads and should be allowed unless any actual owner of said material objects... here, again, we have to differentiate between simply owning a print (for example) and actually being the copyright holder. This is certainly no black or white/ ethics or no ethics issue and shouldn't be simplified as such.

**Larboard** · 02-08-2016, 02:55 AM

For one reason or another I just looked through several hundred photos I've found on the net while researching this and that, many off Wikipedia, many off of Pinterest which I belong to, and here is one so hideous they should pay people as opposed to trying to get people to pay for it...