As we all know by now,to be successful when writing content for your blog, it is also important to add the eye candy so that people will stay longer on your post or page.

This includes images, videos, graphs or what have you.
As with anything, there are rules to this as in reading the license that come with downloading or uploading an image to your blog.

It can’t be stressed enough that you could be breaking the law if you don’t take the time to know these licensing rules.

A short primer on the different wording you may come across:

Copyright -

A legal right enjoyed by the the creator of any “original work of authorship” to control reproduction, distribution, display and transmission of that work. It also prohibits the creation without permission of derivative works based on the original work. Copyright law makes the creator of a work the only person (or entity in the case of a business) who can grant a license to reproduce the work. Copyright protection can cover literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, photographic and many other intellectual works. Copyright protection exists from the moment a work is created. Protection can be enhanced by registering the work with the U.S. Copyright Office or copyright offices in other countries. Most works are protected for 70 years after the creator’s death, though there are some exceptions.

Image-exclusive -

A stock distributor term that usually means the distributor has complete control over a particular image. The image may be available elsewhere through sub-agency agreements, but the subagents should be communicating with the original distributor to properly manage rights where appropriate.

License -

A stock buyer’s permit to use an image for specific purposes. The license spells out exactly what the image may (or, by default, may not) be used for. In the case of traditionally licensed images, the license is typically for publishing a specific number of copies of an image in a particular medium at a particular size to be circulated in a particular area for a particular length of time. Used as a verb, this is the act of granting another party legal permission to use an image in a particular way.
Royalty-free (RF) -

Images sold without traditional usage restraints. The buyer of a royalty-free image can use it in just about any way the buyer wants and as often as the buyer wants. There are, however, some restrictions and buyers should read the license agreements that come with these products. The buyer should also be aware that royalty free images are sometimes widely circulated, meaning that an image and similar images from the same photo shoot may be published many times and may be used by competitors.

Usage -

The precise way an image will be displayed, transmitted, published or otherwise used, including the kind of publication, the size of the image in the publication, the number of copies to be distributed, the region in which the copies will be distributed and the length of time the publication will be distributed. Rights-managed distributors can have many usage categories, each with its own pricing. Though rights-managed licenses can sometimes be purchased online, it often is best to talk with the distributor if there are any questions about the categories a usage falls under.

Creative Commons-
Creative Commons is a non-profit that offers an alternative to full copyright

a) Attribution means:
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work – and derivative works based upon it – but only if they give you credit.
b) Noncommercial means-
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work – and derivative works based upon it – but for noncommercial purposes only.
c) No Derivative Works means:
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.
d) Share Alike means:
You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.

Fair Use-

this is the legally allowable usage for copyrighted material. It generally includes academic, citation, and quotation purposes, among others.

Copyright/all rights reserved-

this is the traditional copyright standard. The creator has kept ownership of all usage rights. Except for fair-use, you must receive permission from the creator for any type of usage.

Copyleft/open-content/free-use/Creative Commons-

some rights reserved: these terms cover a broad spectrum of license types. While they generally are available to use in some manner, this can range from personal use such as free downloading, to any kind of use as long as you don’t sell it outright.

Public Domain-

Any work in the public domain is completely free to use. You can download it, change it, use it in your own work, or even publish it as-is and sell it. It is everybody’s property. Do with it as you please.
We are grateful to these resources in supplying this information:

Finding Dulcinea

Flickr.com

Stock Asylum

To Your Success,

The Success BlogNet Team