New image copyright rules:

It has been brought to the admins' attention, that some of the avatars and signature pictures our members have made come from copyrighted photos. The photographers taking these photos have said that they do not have a problem with members using these photos, but they must be credited.

If you are using an avatar or a picture in your signature that comes from a copyrighted photo, you must credit the photographer and/or Evan's official website, if the photos are taken from there. You can credit a photographer's work by placing a link to the photographer's website in your signature, and/or state the photographer's name.

So please, everyone, CREDIT your pictures!

See crediting details/links to photographers in this post.

What if you don't know where the pictures came from?

And what are the rules for avatars we did not make, but taken from elsewhere? Like... I'm having currently this Johnny avatar and I credited the maker in my signature, but I don't know if she used a copyrighted photo or not. What should I do? Or is this good this was as now?

We all want to comply with the rule, but

Wow - I made mine and would love to give credit for it - but can't remember where I found the base picture.

I'll have to do a search, I guess. :rolleyes:

Good question - if we got the picture from someone else who also got it from somewhere else etc ... you see where I'm going here?

How DO we credit then? :wacko:

So, if mine is copyrighted somewhere, and it's yours, please let me know so I can let everyone else know. It's not my intention to use it without permission. :thankyou:

Uh-oh...how would we do that?

My head is spinning! :huh:

I guess in our signatures we could say
"Picture in avatar is copyright of whoever took the picture"
or something. I dont knowww!! lol

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing... good thing I know where my picture came from, even though I didn't make it, lol.

Here is what we know now:

If you have taken or used a picture that comes from Evan's official website, credit the photographer and/or Evan's site.

Hopefully, witihin the next few days, we will be able to answer your other questions.

But for now, if you do know where your picture comes from, credit the photographer.

More info. will be coming on this topic.

Thank you for all the effort, MissMac! :thankyou:

Thankss!!

Thanks for figuring this out for us! :hug:

Here's what this comes down to:

When using photos (including those in avatars) that were taken from Evan Lysacek Online, please credit the contributor as they are credited in the official site gallery (including any links that are provided). Please also credit other photos taken from other sources to the best of your knowledge.

We'd like to remind everyone that if you see an image posted here that you like, and the user has provided copyright information, it will be easier for you to locate a larger version. You can save and print larger versions for personal use, or to send to Evan for possible autographs, etc.

So, if the avatar has photos from Evan's site, just say "Avatar photo courtesy of _____" with the photographer name. If the photographer name is not posted on Evan's site, you could go with "Avatar photo courtesy of Evan Lysacek Online." The same goes with photos in your signature.

If the photo was taken from websites other than Evan Lysacek Online, for example Livejournal, it might be good to say "Avatar courtesy of ____ from LiveJournal." "Avatar courtesy of Champions On Ice." etc.

If you don't know where the photos came from, unless you have the time to research, it would not matter too much.

We need to remember that some of these photographers make their living solely from skating photography and crediting them contributes to their income.

List of some photographers: http://www.figureskatersonline.com/credits.html

Having trouble finding photographers? Try:

1) Check out all the photos on Evan Lysacek Online. The name/link of the photographer is on the left of each photo.

2) Search "Evan Lysacek" on Getty Images Editorial. The name of the photographer is under each photo.

3) Links to some photographers:
Leah Adams: http://www.leahadams.com/
Jay Adeff: http://www.jayadeff.com/
Jeffrey Nicholson: http://www.theshotphotography.com/index.asp
Adam & Devon Stein: http://www.ice-skate.net/
Michelle Wojdyla: http://www.toeloopy.com/portfolio/photography/index.htm
J. Barry Mittan: http://www.jbmittan.com/

4) If your avatar is taken from the Avatar Gallery on this forum, check the Avatar List in the Graphics forum. We put up some links to the full-sized picture of the photos that are used in the avatars, and name of the photographer.

And as a sidenote, if anyone's wondering, I'm still in Beijing and am going back this Sunday.

:thankyou:

Thanks for the indepth response, QuinHai.

Good to see you stop in for a minute. We've missed you. Hope you've had a great time and will have tales you can share with us of your journey.

Take care.

Ah, greatness, so much info! Thank you so much, QianHui! Have a safe journey back home!

Thanks, Qian Hui! You've definitely cleared up a lot of our concerns on this issue. Good to see you stopped by for a bit ;) We've missed you! Have a safe trip back.

Hm, I wonder...
At Livejournal, at the Johnny-community, there was also a warning that some of the photos of certain photographers must not be used and the others must be credited. Could this be the same reaction that asked the ELFF members to credit all the copyrighted pictures? I guess so.

I love to make credits, no offense, but... I mean, avatars, other icons and signature banners are non profit, free stuff. Nobody's making money with that. Why is it such a serious issue?

I've wondered the same thing myself!!! It's a very fine line. I suppose it's the same everywhere photos are used.

To us it's harmless fun, but ... I suspect that part of the "fuss" i.e. serious issue, is not so much that anyone else is making $ from using them.

It's more that those who make their living through photography might be losing some income themselves that might come through referrals from the credits that are posted.

That's all true, but it's been clearly stated why the "fuss" is all about. If someone sees a photo and want's to buy it for some publication or whatever and the photo is not credited he or she can't get to the photographer.

Flattery is flattery but it surely is not enough to fill anyone's wallet.

Having said that, I'm all for crediting the photos and completly understand where the photographers come from.

ITA!! The photos should be credited!!! I didn't mean to make light of this at all.

I surely did not mean to suggest that it would.

I was quoting in my use of "fuss" as it is a bigger issue than that, certainly for those who make their living by taking such great photos.

It's wonderful they will share them so generously. :thankyou:

I apologize that my words were misunderstood.

I expressed myself badly and have edited the previouis post in hopes of clarifying my meaning.

ITA, it's awesome that the photographers agree to share their pictures with webmasters and as a result, fans.

:thankyou:

Everyone really should make an effort to do this. It's really nice that they're letting us use them at all... I used to visit a Michael Phelps site that had compiled some pics, and photogs saw it and had the site shut down and even threatened legal action. I can't blame them, it's a form of plaigarism, really. So let's actively try to get those credits, and not just say, if it's your pic let me know :)

And here I thought I was doing a good thing. Shows how much I know. :lol: I seem to be putting my foot in my mouth quite a bit today. Guess I'd better :offtobed: and :hide:

Still, asking for them to tell us is at least better than doing nothing at all, IMHO.

I personally searched through every site I'd ever visited for mine and came up empty. I'm sure others have done the same.

I'm sincerely hoping the photographer WILL tell me. I love that photo and feel I've finally found the one I want for my avatar. I've changed often before finding that one.

I have too much respect for Evan and the photographers who so generously share the fruits of their labors so fans can enjoy them too to abuse the privilege.

I've always been so cautious about using pix for this very reason.

Hope that clears things up.

Also, try to find the creator of the icon. Just by stating who the maker of the icon was will be enough, because the creator should have the credits of the pictures that they used are their website.

Make sure to check here as well, especially if you made icons that are posted in our avatar gallery.

K Thanks! :thankyou:

I had some free time today so I added some copyright in the Avatar List in the Graphics forum. I put up the links and photographers to some of the photos that are being used in the avatars. I will be adding more links soon. Feel free to PM us if you want to help. We need the link to the whole picture and the name of the photographer.

So if your avatar was taken from the avatar gallery on this forum, and you don't know where the picture comes from, check back the avatar list to see who to credit ;)

I also updated this post with links to some photographers and a few ways that may help you to find the copyright.

Thanks!!! :thankyou:

QianHui, thanks so much for notifying me! :thankyou:

The avatar list thread has been updated with photo credits for most of the avatars posted. If your avatar was taken from the avatar gallery on this forum, check that thread to find the photo credits, and put it in your signature.

If you want to help completing the credit list, you can PM me. Make sure you include the following things :)

Avatar maker:
Avatar number:
Photographer:
Link to photographer or full-sized photo (if found):

Thanks!