Do the people whose photos you republish here on AT KNOW you have done so? Have they given permission?

Maybe they're all your friends and say it's OK. That's cool.

But I think there is a difference between an individual, like me, getting all excited about a Flickr find, describing said find with text and providing a link for people to see...

...And just taking the image and posting it on an international blog.

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Looking through that person's photostream, it's obvious that many of those rooms are from catalogs. Or magazines. And others appear to be someone's home. Whose home? There are no credits with any of the photos.

I do like the idea of gathering photos together for ideas, just like the style tray suggested in the AT Cure book. And we CAN do that online, for ourselves, and to show other people ideas.

Swiping just the photos is fine for an individual for personal use. I can see using that photostream as a way to decide what is right for wherever I live, using color combinations and arrangements of furniture to achieve the desired look.

But I think it's important if it's going to be public, that the credits be provided on those images. Because again, there is a difference between me, an individual, cutting out pages of a magazine and putting them in a tray to look at, and publishing those pictures as though they were my original content to share with others.

And in that photostream, someone else has come along and asked for permission to link to their IKEA group.

THAT IS HOW IT'S DONE. Ask permission and have it right there on the photo. Also to provide a link back to THIS site from THAT photo so that people browsing those images can come over here to view your review of that photo.

Except that the photos are probably not originally taken (or at least all of them) by the person who has posted them. So they don't really have a right to grant permission to post them.

It's sort of like borrowing my neighbor's car, and then selling that car. I don't have a right to sell that car, even if I am in possession of it.

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Yes, I used to have a HUGE collection of swiped images from online. No, they weren't in any public domain, other than one I had saved and reposted because that bedding style was discontinued, but I wanted to show someone that the combinations of colors/patterns would work.

The image no longer existed online.

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Do you all make money at this? This blog thing? I see ads, so there must be some revenue, I know *I* click on interesting ads and browse products and services. That's where I get all my info, or most of it, via those ads that take me to sites with goodies.

That may well all go to keeping the site up and running.

However...we are now entering a scary part...

If you are taking images that are not yours without permission from someone else who may not have the right to display those images or to give permission AND YOU ARE MAKING MONEY FROM IT...we have a problem.

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I just looked around my apartment, and nope, not one damn thing is worthy of being featured on AT. My stuff isn't good enough to be called just Crap. It's Shabby Crap. (glances over at non-working lamp with two lampshades propped on top, neither one of which fit)

I would want to KNOW if my home was featured. I would want to be proud of it, I would want to tell everyone, I would be excited.

And yet, you don't even KNOW whose home that is, do you? You don't know who has the cool picnic table indoors.

And they don't know that their image is posted here.

I don't know if it's illegal, but it certainly is unethical business.

I recognize that photo as a picture of textile designer Anna Maria Horner's garden. It was taken uncredited from her Flickr photo stream here.

Thanks Lisa!

See, that is GREAT to know, because I get to see other images of that room that is so colorful.

Like this idea, with the colorful pots, used to hold paints for the child:
http://flickr.com/photos/annamariahorner/2382262051/in/set-72157594538968778/

What a great idea.

And Anna Maria Horner should get the credit for her own images, her ideas.

I LIKE ideas. And *I* think it's important for everyone to know where they came from.

Notice in this one, folks have asked or stated they have reused the photo:
http://flickr.com/photos/annamariahorner/2382262065/in/set-72157594538968778/

And it's not just a "nobody" posting pictures, this person has been on Martha. Oh yes.

If you love this room, you must check out Anna Maria's blog at http://annamariahorner.blogspot.com/. It's just as colorful and whimsical as her spaces!

TRUE BLUE: yes, we make it a policy to contact the person's photos we post on AT. But occasionally we'll not know who to credit (this one was posted uncredited) or sometimes forget to add the link by mistake. In this case we didn't know who to credit, but added the credit/link once we were informed.

Thank you to Lisa nad prettybirdpress for pointing out the correct information so we could add the link and contact Anna Maria for permission to keep this image up. There's no ill intent except to share inspiration, and we'd quickly take off this post down if she or anyone did not want their images shared on the site.

But you have to KNOW whose image it IS before posting it.

Don't be posting stuff that you just snag and assume is someone's property. Because you say "In this case we didn't know who to credit"...DO NOT POST IT THEN.

Ever hear the joke about the dog? I don't tell good jokes. But, a person approaches a second person standing next to a dog. Asks "Does your dog bite?" and hears the reply "No, my dog doesn't bite."

The person pets the dog. The dog bites. The person says "I thought you said your dog didn't bite." The second person says "This isn't my dog."

This stuff needs to be cleared and approved BEFORE posting it. You can't assume that the image you find is OK to reproduce. (flailing arms around, making mountains out of molehills).

Surely you can't expect the readership to do all your work for you (and I won't call you Shirley again...wait, that doesn't work when it's typed, does it?)?

On this site there is traditionally great upset over ripping off someone else's design. About how a person puts a lot into their creations only to have them recreated with less expensive materials, Target has been the target lately. Ha.

But you are doing the same thing. You took an image and reproduced it, and it isn't yours. You don't have permission to do that. And it's a copyrighted image. (flails arms around some more, knocks expensive vase off table "oops")

But we have a HAPPY ENDING this time. LOTS of new people get to see this home and fabrics and get new ideas, which would NOT have happened had it not been for your swiping the image in the first place.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE happy endings (runs around hugging everyone, getting verklempt)

Maybe you could do one of those house tours with Anna Maria Horner? Or have her describe the images already in her photo set and put them in a slide show here on AT? That would be COOL!!!!

TRUE BLUE: Please note that "...occasionally we'll not know who to credit (this one was posted uncredited) or sometimes forget to add the link by mistake."

When you're posting hundreds of images a week, it happens because we're human. We apologize, we fix, we move on, as that's all we can do. Everyone who blogs regularly runs into this issue several times in their regular schedule (hey, the LA Times forgot to credit me for an image they printed by accident; they fixed it without any drama). We'd be wrong if we never addressed or fixed mistakes, but we try to make sure all sources are credited. If one slips by, we immediately change it. You can't be right 100% of the time unfortunately, especially when you're talking about images online. Fortunately, most people are patient and kind about pointing these out for us to fix, and we're almost always granted permission to use images when asked.

"Surely you can't expect the readership to do all your work for you"
No, but our readers are our site's best resource, and we always recognize that. We've always considered ourselves the equivalent of party hosts and our readers are our guests. And sometimes guests can know more than the hosts and help out so everyone can have a good time. I certainly wished the readership was doing all the work for me...then I wouldn't have to work weekends [sigh]. I'd rather spend my time chatting and discussing more in these comment sections with readers. But back to tending to the party.

gregory: Let folks KNOW what they CAN do to help.

When the site has talked about having parties, it suggests giving people (the guests) something to do.

So give us something to do.

I already overwhelmed poor Leslie at AT-SF with a barrage of links to things *I* thought were interesting... so much so that I think she will never open one of my emails again. Ha!

And that's probably because I wasn't focused at all on any particular task. It's like telling me you're hungry at a Smörgåsbord and then being annoyed when I show up with a trolley of 15 plates of a vast variety of foods.

I wasn't told what was wanted. So I brought everything.

Maybe in the weekly chat threads, for each section (LA, CHI, SF, NY) there could be a question posed. A local or worldwide question. Like "Where can we find ceramic tile?" and it could be specific to be a local source, made locally, sold locally, or worldwide.

This does several things...it does give people something to do. And provides a nice resource list for people looking for whatever that week's task is. And may well provide YOU folks at AT with fodder for posts on their own.

Pick something. Anything. And ask people for their favorites. Must include link to the item.

"What's your favorite flatware?"

Here's one I like:
http://www.momastore.org/museum/moma/ProductDisplay_Caccia%20Flatware_10451_10001_12869_-1_11515_11517_null__

Not because it's something famous, but because I dig three tined forks.

And I prefer that set to these:
http://www.momastore.org/museum/moma/ProductDisplay_Arne%20Jacobsen%20Flatware_10451_10001_45613_-1_11515_11517_null__

That second set looks weird. Mostly because it doesn't look like the forks or spoons could hold much food. Maybe that would be a good thing for me, though, I could stand to lose several pounds.

So, what about that idea? And then you folks at AT could just click through everyone's suggestions quickly to find a new story for the site!

"What's your favorite coffee table and why?"

"What's your favorite table lamp and why?"

"Whose your favorite artist and why?"

"What is your favorite cookware and why?"

Works for the other sections, Nursery, Kitchen, Tech, and Green.

This could be BIG, I tells ya, BIG! :::flails arms all over, knocks over another expensive vase:::

"oops"