Stolen images and scams

[AJBryant]

I truly don't understand the willingness some people have to advertise their products with images which are clearly not of their product.

To my mind, this is the *real* issue at stake. If I'm buying something based on a picture, I want it to be a picture of what I'm buying -- that is, something MADE by the guy who's selling it as something he makes and sells. Would you hire an artist to paint your portrait if the "sample portraits" in his portfolio were by other artists? Same concept.

I want to see WHAT I AM BUYING.

[TurboKittie]

Saw this article today and it made me think of this thread.

Especially this part - "Many people are under the false impression that, when it comes to photographs, if it's on the internet it's free. That is not true. You cannot grab a photo from Flickr and use it in an ad or a brochure. The whole issue of photo copyright is far too complex to try to clarify here, but you do need to understand that any photograph you find online was created by, and is owned by, someone. Sometimes it is acceptable to re-post it with proper credit and a link back to the source, but usually you shouldn't re-post it at all. (Pinterest has opened up this whole re-posting thing for further analysis.) You can almost never use a photo in any sort of advertisement or for any other business purpose without paying for it."