Is it legal to put graphic images found online into logos?

For instance:

I saw a website that had a banner across the top that someone created for them. One of the pictures included in the banner originally was created by someone else and I know they did not have permission to use it. The picture was not copyrighted.

Copyright protection is not always necessary if there is some other means of proving ownership of intellectual property. Taking images online is legal if it's specifically stated that it's royalty-free. Taking them and incorporating them into your own work? That's highly unethical, in many cases not legal, but unfortunately in many cases not explicitly illegal either. The burden of proof rests with the originator of the work.

Not web related....but
they are using images randomly copied from the internet to put on t-shirts and sell to people. Every image on their website was taken off the web without any usage permission, no links provided to sources, nothing.
LOL, I sound like a tattle-tale, but I guess it irritated me.
It just seems different, you know someone copying things onto their personal websites, blogs or what not doesnt seem so bad, but to sell it.....geez.

It is unfortunate, but is becoming pretty commonplace. What usually brings them down is they finally steal from the wrong source.

Originally Posted by PC Catastrophe

The picture was not copyrighted.

In most countries, a photograph is copyrighted the instant it's created. The same is basically true for other types of images, except that a photo might take 1/4,000th sec to create, while a logo, well, there isn't a particular instant you can point to. Which is really beside the piont: you don't have to file a copyright to own one. You can, and that'll make court cases more automatic, but it's not necessary.

Originally Posted by serandfae

It is unfortunate, but is becoming pretty commonplace. What usually brings them down is they finally steal from the wrong source.

Basically. Most people who make that mistake don't repeat it.

Speaking of images...Your work is breath-taking Forrest Croce.

pretty much if doesnt say FREE TO USE, its someones work imo

watermarks are your friend!