Can images of products from shopping sites be used for a blog ?

One should be careful in copying images from other sources and using them in ones blog. Sometimes if one uses a copyrighted or protected image then it becomes a violation of the copyright and problem might arise for the user. It is always better to use images from the sites where these are feely available and are in open domain.

There are many sites where images are available free as well as some premium images are available for a price so it makes sense to download the images from such sites. These sites are operating under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. I generally use pixabay.com for the images I want to put in my articles or blogs. This has a good collection of images available free of charge. Some of these sites from where one can download free images are -

1. Pixabay.
2. Pexels.
3. Picjumbo.
4. Rawpixel.
5. Unsplash.
6. Gratisography.
7. Morguefile.
8. Stockvault.
9. Reshot.
10. Picwizard.

No. I would advise you not to use the images of products that are shown at online e-commerce sites. The reason is that many of these are customized images. That is, the retailer or manufacturer of a product who is selling it online may have customized it in a particular manner to be suitable for viewing at the online site. For example, a smartphone's flip cover will have images taken from specific angles that differ from the images uploaded by another seller. Look at something simple like a tablecloth - you will notice that the seller has folded it in a particular way so as to reveal the other side of the design. Similarly, a bunch of table napkins of different colours may not be stacked, but rolled up and shown side by side so that the colours available can be clearly seen. All these types are thus customized images.

One option for finding an image that you want to use at your blog is to check the official website of a product. Many such websites are Ok if the images are used, provided they are credited with it. That is, you should mention at your blog, just below the image - 'Image source: XYZ' (with 'XYZ' being the website URL). So check at the website the headings of terms and conditions or copyrights (these appear generally at the bottom of the site) and see if it is permitted to use the images there, with due credit being given at your blog of the source. You could check #2 of our sites' Help Topic, which explains the guidelines on images taken of gadgets.

Another option is to see if the images you want are available at sites that permit free download and use. Note also that some sites do not allow using their images for a commercial purpose, meaning for making money. You can also check the tips and guidelines given online on how to determine whether or not a Google image is copyrighted.

Finally, I would suggest that you could post your query at the Google Search Help Community forum [https://support.google.com/websearch/community?hl=en] and get advice from the experts there as well. You can then submit an answer over here and share the information.

No. You should not copy the images from commercial sites. It will be a problem under copy right act. So you should not download the images which you like. You have to see whether those images are free for download and it may require some special permission.

When we write some articles to this section we can't use images which are elsewhere published. If we want to use them we have to mention the source and if permission is required the same is to be obtained. In the article we have to mention the source from which we obtained the image. The same thing you have to follow.

You can get the guidance from google as your blog is a google supported blog and you have to follow the guidance given by them.

There are certain sites where images are available for free and if you want to use them you can do that but you have to give the source reference. There are some sites where you can download by making the required payment. Such can be used if they are relevant to your topic

In general, Amazon and Flipkart are using the images from the brand or brand's website only and some exclusive for them only. Few of them available in brand's website and you can take from the brand's official website instead of taking from the e-Commerce website.

Also, Brand won't consider it as copyright since it is for commercial and business usage only and their products getting more popular when someone use it for promoting it.

If brand is not given you authority (where few e-Commerce website only gets it) or if they have not published on their website then don't use such image or source for your blog even if image is available elsewhere.

If any other criteria then contact them to get permission and use their image.

For any articles or posts or blogs, the photos or pictures give the viewer a second thought for them to read it fully as the picture helps them understand it quickly and also helps them to analyze if the post, article or blog has the contents that they are looking for. We know that many of the readers who search for articles do not read the full content but when they see the pictures provided, it gives them the idea that it contains the information they are looking for can be found in this and hence will glance through your post. So, it is always good to post relevant pictures to hold your readers with good and clear pictures or photos about the topic that you have written.

1. Now coming to your query about using images of products from shopping sites for a blog and the straight answer would be, No! Many of the companies charge them for clicking their product pictures and if you want it to be published in your blog, you may need to pay some fees for using it. The second thing is that some companies keep a track of good blogging sites where new products are introduced or reviews are written, for them, they would provide for free in order to get their product reviewed in their blog.

2. If you happen to use any photos or pictures that were uploaded on any sites, be it shopping, Company or any other blogs, Check if it is legally allowed or have copyrighted that image. If it has copywritten, be careful as legal action can be taken against you.

3. As many members commented if you are using it, you need to mention the source of the image by mentioning the site URL just below the image. It means that you are giving credit to the photographer or the site for the pictures.

4. If you are looking for good quality images for your blog for free, you can search for photos or pictures or images in the below sites as they provide good quality free images without even giving credits to the owners of the pictures or image. These are Pixabay, Unsplash, Picjumbo, Picwizard, Pexel, etc.

5. Some of the terms that one needs to understand while using free images:
- Creative Commons (CC): It means that you can use the picture or images from the site but need to give the credit to the site by mentioning the site URL below the image.
- Royalty-Free (RF): It means that you can use it but you are not allowed to edit the content or reuse/ resell it.
- Public Domain(PD): It means that these contents or images can be used without permission or giving any credits to the creator. You can use it as you wish.
- Rights-Managed(RM): It is a one-time license of the image or photo. You can use it once and if you wish to use it again, you need to take another license to use it.

The online websites like the Myntra, Snapdeal, Home Shop 18 etc using the images from the respective brands may have been given the rights accordingly which may not be the case otherwise when being used by someone else, may this be the company or an individual.

Considering the applicable laws, this is illegal & as far as I know anyone involved with this could be fined up to the amount of revenue generated out of the use of copy right entities. One either would have to get the permission for using it for personal or commercial purposes or this must get purchased by the user in order to use the same in the desired ways.

The biggest disadvantage of using it without proper rights could be that the respective accounts may also get blacklisted or blocked for AdSense revenues.

Therefore, the best practices can be is,
1. To use the images that have a Creative Commons (CC) license under which this lets others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the work with the only limitation that the user would have to provide credit to the respective sites by mentioning the web address to the below of the image.

One can also go searching with the below websites for free images,
a. Unsplash
b. Gratisography
c. Morguefile
d. Pixabay
e. Stockvault
f. Pexels
g. Picjumbo
h. Pikwizard
i. Rawpixel
j. Reshot

On an understanding, nearly all the above free stock sites have a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license which means that one can go ahead copying, adapting and distributing the images without consent from the author and even applicable for the commercial purposes. One can go ahead with the needful changes or manipulation that one intends to have but don't forget to mention the credit to them by mentioning the URL to the bottom of the image.

The answer is NO. Most of the pictures in the internet is with a copyright for the person who uploaded the same. So it is better not to use such images in your blog. There are many incidents that the blogger gone into trouble after receiving the legal letter from the owner of the pictures. Usually this will happen after getting popularity to your blog or website
so that it will affect your well being.

Now there is a solution to this problem. You can check for copyright free pics in the website with the help of Google advanced search for copyright of images. Once you find the list of images, you can check many different categories among them. Some pictures can use a second person commercially by making changes in the picture.
Some other pictures you can use commercially as it in the original form. No changes should make in the picture.
Some pictures you can use by mentioning the owner's name in your blog. So there are many sections and you can choose the one you needed. But you should not expect best clarity picture by doing this method.
Also there are some community like Flickr where we can use the pictures without any copyright issues.

It is illegal and wrong to use the images of a shopping websites to your blogs and the images are copyrighted and the owners alone have the rights to use them. Internet images are indexed and each image belongs to one site or the other and though we may not find the details on the image, if we randomly click the images, it will lead to that site in which the image was used. In that case, it amounts to spamming. You can contact the advertisements experts or the blog creators, who might be having their own images which are used in the blogs. Since those images were not reflected anywhere and it will be first used by you, there would be no issues.