The whole deal looks so much nicer with lovely pictures on each blog page. Instead of the drab blue-green color that is this theme’s default. 

I really hate that [1]wierd green color anyhow. It may be more blue then green. That particular color is like a slap in the face of a blue-green colorblind man. 

The color is very similar to that of the rivers and lakes, displayed on a television set that I had as a teenager. One day, a friend came by and asked, “what’s with the tv?” Nothing. “You don’t see [that]?” I guess not, looks blue to me. 

So anyhow, maybe I’ll do some painting to fill my new non-tv-watching lifestyle and use those. Or just google up solid colors to screenshot like I often do, take pictures of my surroundings, or get some random artist’ work (if only I had an artist in the  family . . . ahem). 

But I will be working on swapping out all my screenshotted images and perhaps asking permission to use some pictures. 

It seems that if you follow standard ediquette, then you should be fine. These steps would be:

1. Link the source of the picture – very near the photo. 
2. Add a link to their website at the bottom of the page; citing the use of the picture. 
3. Adding a disclaimer. 
4. Claiming ignorance. 
5. Caveat-ignorance works better if you aren’t a site that is monetized. This one, soon will be with the ad experiment. 

Yet, after a vague post like this, I cannot exactly claim ignorance. And regardless, I feel a little ashamed every time I do it anyhow. I’ve known better from the time of writing essays in Composition & Rhetoric.

In the end, the results may be any one of these examples:

1. I have a site full of pretty pictures – no $$ profits – no problems – slight worry in the very back of the brain. 
2. I have a site full of drab blue colored title pages – no $$ profits – no problems.
3. I have a site full of pretty pictures – some $$ profits – no problems – more worry due to potential loss of investment. 
4. I have a site full of drab blue colored title pages – some $$ profits – no problems.
5. I have a site full of pretty pictures that I painted, photographed, sketched, or had created – $$ profits possible – pride over my work – no problems. 
6. I have a site full of pretty pictures – some or no $$ profits – lawsuit problems – more trouble than this blog had ever planned to be. Learning lessons that could have been avoided. 

Personally, I like the bold versions better than 1, 3, and 6. #6 looks unappealing and costly. #5 looks very appealing for long term happiness. 

Checkout the link below to read this blogger’s story. I believe she is a photography blogger and it sounded like she had stumbled across a copyrighted picture that she reposted (via Google). Soon after, she received a take-down notice from a lawyer, by action of the original photographer. This wasn’t enough for the angered photographer who also filed suit on her – dragging her into a legal battle. 

That is nothing I care for, but will attempt to learn a lesson from.  

Resources & further information 

Roniloren.com has much more detail regarding this subject, that of which I didn’t need to delve into. It lists the types of useable photos. Her page also lists several sites like this photo sharing site. You can use that site to find pictures and have a single source to cite – legally. There are many of these sites (but they are more difficult to use – by far – than a simple google search).

[1] just changed the color scheme to red. 

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