Using Pictures from the Internet as Avatars?

A nice avatar:

3bcc0c7563c8e8b45d8a52e583b63933.jpg


Good clean image, and not a thing wrong or bad about it, plus it does not hurt the eyes at all to look at. I really like the style too. Kind of a modern up to date hippy look.
 
Copyright is tricky, but to make it simple: If you didn't either:
  1. Make the image, take the picture, write the text, or otherwise "create" the content
  2. Get explicit permission to use the content created by someone else
... then it shouldn't be copied and/or posted.

There are a lot of nuances around changing images, etc., but one of the biggest issues online with copyright is that people think "If it's posted on the internet, it's fair game." Even without a watermark, copyright symbol, or text saying "do not copy", there is (at least in the US) an implied and enforceable copyright.

There are lots of sites that have images that they expressly say something like "free to use", or say something about "creative commons". Here's an example: https://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/
 
Just save the picture to your PC and then upload it as your avatar.
 
Thanks, everybody!

I did manage to crop and load the image, but then decided against it. The image might not have a copyright, but I didn't get permission. That and the image is of an exotic bird that somebody probably went through great lengths to get a photo of. Better safe than sorry, at least I know how to do it now. I'll post a pic of the bird for everyone's viewing enjoyment.

andean-cock-of-the-rock-peru-2005.jpg


(Kind of bright, might have burned somebody's eyes out.) Andean Cock-of-the-Rock.
 
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