Hi all, two quick blog-related questions for you - I'm pretty new to blogging, though I have a few regular sites up -

1) If, for example, I'm writing about "product A", and I would like to include a picture from a press release or other picture of product A, from a copyright perspective, do I have to take my own picture of it, or can I use one from the press release/product review if I copy it to my own server first and then give them credit for it? I'd love to put more pictures in to enhance my users' experience, but don't want to step on any legal toes in doing so.

2) How long, after starting a new blog and making 1-3 posts a day, on average, will the blog get picked up in the search engines, assuming it's hosted on Blogger, and has been pinged to Technorati/other blog/ping services?

Thanks for any answers, sorry if these seem like silly questions

-T

1) You could always ask the person/company that holds the copyright of the picture if you cna use it, or just take one of your own. But do not use without permission, it can get you in trouble.

2) Hard to say, but my experience is that it doesnt take that long really.

//Andreas

1. If you are in doubt, just ask.

2. It could takes from 24 hours to a few weeks. If you ping properly, it should not take long. If you can get inbound links from related sites which is crawled regularly, you can see immediate result.

It's been my experience that if you just post the entire press release, along with any photos that went with it, there are no problems. Just name your source.

I've had them listed in as little as 24 hours with inbound links from other related sites (my own). With no inbound links it can take a couple of weeks.

If it's a press release, you can post the accompanying image ... that's why they send it along.

Originally Posted by Telmari

If, for example, I'm writing about "product A", and I would like to include a picture from a press release or other picture of product A, from a copyright perspective, do I have to take my own picture of it, or can I use one from the press release/product review if I copy it to my own server first and then give them credit for it? I'd love to put more pictures in to enhance my users' experience, but don't want to step on any legal toes in doing so.

There's and old saying that I just invented:

"When unsure about legal issues, consult a lawyer"

If you are not 100% sure about the legality... then either find out - or don't do it - or find another way to do it.

Well, definitely some great tips here, thanks guys I'll try to look for free/uncopyrighted images before getting into the legality stuffs. Also, the first page of my blog just got picked up last night by Google... here's to escaping the sandbox quickly! :P

I have to say that if you are going to be writing about something you got a press release about, then I'd be comfortable including those images in my own blog posting. Heck, I include company logos by linking to their original images all the time, and have never had any sort of issue, even if I'm taking issue with what they're saying...