I agree with Matthew McKee that you may be looking for trouble using a picture without permission; copyright belongs to the photographer for their lifetime plus 70 years under current copyright law. However, what are you using it for? If it is in something temporary, and you state that it is not your photo, you may be okay. If the photographer should see it and ask you to take it down, you should comply at once. I would not use it for any kind of publication without permission. Most digital photos have copyright in the metadata of the file, so, if you have the actual file, you may be able to find out who took it. Don't even think of using it in a marketing setting!
I am not a lawyer either. However, using an image without written permission of the copyright holder will get you into trouble, even if you did make some effort to track down the owner.
There are at least two services out there that look for infringements and hook up photogs and illustrators with law firms to go after these incidents.
Full disclosure: I started using one of those after having a couple of my images swiped. I discovered a lot more of my work had been used on blogs that had advertising next to their posts. They were using my work to generate readers and revenue. The lawyers loved that.
Googles reverse image search is a great resource. But, if you still can’t find the source, I suggest finding a different image.
First, try to do a meta data search, contact the photographer. He/She may have signed exclusive use for that image for a company. For example, if a lacrosse player wearing specific gear, shot for a specific business; or an image of food from a particular restaurant. These companies hired the photographer for images for their exclusive use. Second, really, just hire a pro to capture what you want. It might cost you (or your friend) a whole lot less in the long run.
If you are using the image for commercial use* then you must contact the owner of the image and get permission/and a commercial use license to use it. The license to use it may come with a fee. The image creator will want to know where it will be used, how it will be used and for how long it will be used. All of that information factors into the cost of creating and image and licensing it after it has been made. You can be sued for using the image commercially and not having permission and/or a license from the owner to do so. If the image involves people, especially child and the photographer does not have a model and/or crowd release you could also be paying damages to the people in the image.
*Commercial use: use for business; using the image to directly or indirectly make a profit, build and/or maintain clients/customers
Unless you are a student using them in a educational assignment you would most likely be violating copyright laws by using the image without purchase or permisions. Simply finding it on the internet doesn't mean it is up for grabs. The safest way is to purchase usage rights for an image that works for you, from a photographer or a photo download service.
If you have come across a photograph that you love and think that it would be great for your own use online, you must have permission and know where it came from. If you get it from a random website and the photographers information isn't there, that doesn't mean it's up for grabs, so don't think that they wont come after you for using the photograph on your own website. Just because you like a picture and you can right-click and save, doesn't mean you should. Always make sure that you know the origin and that you have permission. Or better yet, hire a Pro to take some pictures for you. Otherwise, It can turn into a huge legal hassle and possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Citing owner alone does not get you off the hook for infringement depending on the purpose of the use of digital work and whether or not it isn’t Creative Commons Iicensing or not. If photo is being used for commercial usage then you have to get permission. Also if the photo has a likeness of someone you also have to have their permission.
I have made more money in finding people who have been using my images through “copyright infringement” over actually licensing.
I won't use an image if I can't figure out who to cite, but I believe (though I'm not a lawyer) that there is room for use if a good effort has gone into finding and notifying the source. Before relying on that, though, I'd check copyright law and in the meantime, avoid using images that can't be sourced.
Answers (1-10)
I agree with Matthew McKee that you may be looking for trouble using a picture without permission; copyright belongs to the photographer for their lifetime plus 70 years under current copyright law. However, what are you using it for? If it is in something temporary, and you state that it is not your photo, you may be okay. If the photographer should see it and ask you to take it down, you should comply at once. I would not use it for any kind of publication without permission. Most digital photos have copyright in the metadata of the file, so, if you have the actual file, you may be able to find out who took it. Don't even think of using it in a marketing setting!
I am not a lawyer either. However, using an image without written permission of the copyright holder will get you into trouble, even if you did make some effort to track down the owner.
There are at least two services out there that look for infringements and hook up photogs and illustrators with law firms to go after these incidents.
Full disclosure: I started using one of those after having a couple of my images swiped. I discovered a lot more of my work had been used on blogs that had advertising next to their posts. They were using my work to generate readers and revenue. The lawyers loved that.
Googles reverse image search is a great resource. But, if you still can’t find the source, I suggest finding a different image.
If you are using the image for commercial use* then you must contact the owner of the image and get permission/and a commercial use license to use it. The license to use it may come with a fee. The image creator will want to know where it will be used, how it will be used and for how long it will be used. All of that information factors into the cost of creating and image and licensing it after it has been made. You can be sued for using the image commercially and not having permission and/or a license from the owner to do so. If the image involves people, especially child and the photographer does not have a model and/or crowd release you could also be paying damages to the people in the image.
*Commercial use: use for business; using the image to directly or indirectly make a profit, build and/or maintain clients/customers
Unless you are a student using them in a educational assignment you would most likely be violating copyright laws by using the image without purchase or permisions. Simply finding it on the internet doesn't mean it is up for grabs. The safest way is to purchase usage rights for an image that works for you, from a photographer or a photo download service.
If you have come across a photograph that you love and think that it would be great for your own use online, you must have permission and know where it came from. If you get it from a random website and the photographers information isn't there, that doesn't mean it's up for grabs, so don't think that they wont come after you for using the photograph on your own website. Just because you like a picture and you can right-click and save, doesn't mean you should. Always make sure that you know the origin and that you have permission. Or better yet, hire a Pro to take some pictures for you. Otherwise, It can turn into a huge legal hassle and possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Citing owner alone does not get you off the hook for infringement depending on the purpose of the use of digital work and whether or not it isn’t Creative Commons Iicensing or not. If photo is being used for commercial usage then you have to get permission. Also if the photo has a likeness of someone you also have to have their permission.
I have made more money in finding people who have been using my images through “copyright infringement” over actually licensing.
I won't use an image if I can't figure out who to cite, but I believe (though I'm not a lawyer) that there is room for use if a good effort has gone into finding and notifying the source. Before relying on that, though, I'd check copyright law and in the meantime, avoid using images that can't be sourced.
Try using google images to find the source of the image. You can search by an image just you can search with words.