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Always read the fine print of where ever you go.
Some sites will have quite clearly displayed the Terms of Use/FAQ on sites others dont display it quite so prominently.
The first rule of copyright is....If you don't know who the artist/creator/photographer is DONT USE IT.
A lot of people think because its 'on the net' that its OK to use. Well its not. Everything is copyright therefore copyright law applies.
If you don't know who created it then you cant find out whether it can be used or not.
Some places require you to purchase a licence before using their work commercially. Other places might have CU OK on them which means after downloading them or purchasing them you can us to make a derivitive work and then sell.
In nearly all cases you cannot just put up the image and resell it. Most things require you to make a derivitive work from the image and sell that.
(Derivitive work means you cannot extract the original image and resell/use)
Also there is usually either a Licence info or a Read Me in with files. So read that carefully to make sure you don't breach any copyright laws or usage requirements.
I make all my own work from scratch but I have studied copyright law and we teach the basics of it in my forum.
You may see things that state can be used under the Fair Use Act. This means that institutions like schools, colleges, Universities etc......registered teaching facilities....can use it. It does not mean its usable by anyone.
Stock Free images can be used but read the Terms of Use there too as there can be conditions on those and sometimes you need to purchase a licence from the site in order to have use of the images as the original creator/owner/photographer has signed the right to those images to the site itself, there fore they control how and who can use them.
And if you have to purchase an image from somewhere it doesn't mean you then own the image.....the copyright will still belong to either the creator or photographer or someone who has purchased the rights to the image. You are only purchasing a licence to use the image.
Places like Walt Disney, Looney Tunes etc images cannot be used without a commercial licence being purchased.
You may see things also that say.....Personal Use only......things with that on it cannot be used for a monetry gain.
Photos of Celebrities should not be used. The copyright belongs to the celebrity, or in some cases the celeb signs the rights over to the photographer.
You also need to look and see if the creator of the image allows any kind of manipulation of the image also. ei..chopping parts off or recolouring.
There is a lot involved in Copyright Law. So only use images that you know 100% the creator and their TOU.
Hope that helps you to know what to look for when looking for items to use.
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