Why do many authors use covers that they got from Google?

[S10]

Specifically, I am talking about when authors don't know where the image is from or who made ot and just grab and image and say "All rights to the image go to the artist".
I would rather not have SH taken off the face of the earth by copyright.

 

[Michuyu]

I don't know whether to agree or not because I really don't know where they get their covers. It's a big issue, but really tedious to address, as it is so easy for people to just use a google image...

(edit:

Spoiler: Long rant I guess xD

Cause I like to find ways to procrastinate, I find myself here again lol A lot of people have made good points as to why people do it. I think that they are reasonable. This got me thinking about how I have a friend who came to this site before me and they had a bad experience with several users who claimed that they were making covers with copyrighted images. It got so bad that they decided to leave the site. But, when I decide to come here, almost everyone is using copyrighted images for their covers, so I don't understand why people picked on my friend. I still gave it a chance though, and so far, everyone has been very nice!

Anyway, is it right to use google images without the original artist's permission? No. That's just the hard fact. Can you get away with it? Yepppp. Also, people say that it is a minor issue and that artists won't be coming after you anyway, and that's half true. It's a major issue, and artists will come after you if they want to, but the thing is they probably won't even know. In the art community (specifically among the social media platforms where artists hang out), they take using other people's art for personal gain/use very seriously and get on a lot of people's back. I've seen them get whole accounts taken down for copyright infringement. Usually, though, they simply ask to be credited, then refusal to do so will lead to greater consequences.

I think that if a person really doesn't think they have the skills or money to make their own covers, they still need to at least credit the artist (Asking permission first is encouraged). There are tutorials online as to how to find the original source of an image taken from google. I think it's called reverse engine search but I forgot. This takes absolutely no money or years of learning to do, it might just be tedious, but not impossible.

This is a stretch, but to put it in the perspective of a writer: Imagine you spend hours writing and perfecting a short story, then you post it online, and an artist takes the story and uses it to get attention for their artwork. They may even earn money on ko-fi, patreon etc, because the story to their art gallery is so good that people want to support them to see more art, even art not related to your story now. All the while, you are not making a penny out of your story, nor most of the stories you have written. But that's okay, because you don't even know they're using your story to boost the enjoyability of their artwork and earn profit, right?

I'm not tryna be mean or anything, but I just hope maybe someone who reads this will care enough to at least credit/ask artists for permission to use their artwork. ^^ )

 

[GDLiZy]

 

[Sabruness]

because not everybody has the cash to commission art or the skills to make quality art?

plus i doubt SH or any members would get slammed with copyright as long as they dont legit publish their novels with borrowed art. it'd be just faster to ask them to remove the image. not to mention that i doubt if most artists would actually care enough to go after such a tiny matter.

 

[Mihou]

Specifically, I am talking about when authors don't know where the image is from or who made ot and just grab and image and say "All rights to the image go to the artist".
I would rather not have SH taken off the face of the earth by copyright.

First and foremost, most authors who are starting out don't have the money or convenience to draw or commission a cover. For example, us third world authors don't have much convenience of commissioning a cover for a story that might not be profitable at all.

Secondly, it's faster and easier apparently compared to drawing one and having to learn all those anatomy stuff. I myself cannot draw at all even if I try, I cannot draw human beings for some reason.

 

[Zavha0mnic]

I can draw but not even close to the level of artists online. They got it down. I also lack the tools and motivation.

 

[Deleted member 29316]

Authors grab their covers from Google simply because it's free and it looks great to fit their requirement for covers for their story. I'm not saying it's right, but given the financial situation of some of us, they had no other option but to do it. (Or their story would be without cover)

Also, most are not aware (or just vaguely aware) about copyrights.

Heck, even some government institutions in our country do grab images on Google without asking for the artist's permission.

 

[High-in-the-skys]

Isn't it obvious? The ease and convenience outweighs the disadvantages.

 

[Jamminrabbit]

They should just be coverless if you ask me. If you have enough motivation to write thousands of word on paper, you should have enough sense to write to the original owner of the art to ask for permission.

 

[Aaky]

Everyone is doing it, so either you do it or commission art, else you'll be at a disadvantage.

 

[dvelasquez]

I thought about taking something from Google, but honestly, it's more like I don't find what I want. Today I asked an artist I know, and it would be a minimum of 35$ to commission her for a really simple cover, and I'll probably have to pay like 55$ or more for what I want, and it's still something simple... So... Yeah, that's not money that I have, nor money that I would expend for the foreseeable future as I have to pay for other things. I guess that's why many people just go the easy way, with maybe a little photoshop here and there.

 

[Fromage]

 

[CL]

Hi. I'm currently sick. I'm also not going to be going too deeply into this topic. I just wanted to share a thought.

What would be nice is if we were to make our own covers all the time. I am aware there are a few who do just that, but I don't entirely mean each author having to create their own either.

The hell am I talking about?

The SH community, if they were willing, they could have opened up a shop (they sort of do with the commissions), but also provide a donation system. It would be for authors that can't afford covers.

Then... Well the BIG issue with that wishful thinking is on how abusive that system would become. Those authors (the ones who really can't afford commissions) would be shoved aside by wealthy penny-pinchers claiming (to themselves?) they can't afford it.

 

[TLCsDestiny]

On other sites they specifically ask if it's yours, so I put my own, but with SH it seems it's ok to use others.

 

[CheertheDead]

I don't know about you but there are many artists who do not want anyone to repost their art or use their arts in anyway let alone doing so without asking their permission. They specifically asked in their own media platform's post to not re-up, edit or use it but such demands are usually fallen to deaf ears and people keep posting their arts without even giving the credit.

The moment you go to google, type up your search and take a randomly showed-up picture that do not have credit/source, you are unknowingly having a hand in reposting other people's creative property without their permission.

It's a very poor shield to reason that it's because everyone does it. I live in a country where everyone litter garbage anywhere they like because everyone does that and someone else will probably clean up the mess for them.

I will not condemn anyone but i will encourage that we do not take any art on google to make our cover without even searching for the true creators and asking their permission. Just because everyone does it doesn't make it not wrong.

I myself am not an artist but whatever avatar or wallpaper on every single social media account are either free to use or created by myself (including my own facebook avatar). It sucks to not having a cover but i don't want to be unfair to those who made that arts especially when i am some sorts of author/artist myself.

 

[FADEX]

Specifically, I am talking about when authors don't know where the image is from or who made ot and just grab and image and say "All rights to the image go to the artist".
I would rather not have SH taken off the face of the earth by copyright.

Too few people know about or care to know about royalty free images. There are several floating around on the internet but they're mostly photos and not 'aesthetic' enough for these authors, which is fine because it's their problem if they want to risk getting attacked Online/get sued.

I haven't used a 'google' image since I learnt that they were their owners' intellectual property (and that was when I was 14). I don't have money to commission art so I use royalty free images for my covers, and that's the best thing to do (especially since there are sites with free royalty free images).

 

[BenJepheneT]

I draw my own covers. It's not on par to qualities you'd find on Google but never could I find an image that suits my story JUST RIGHT, you know?

Call it spiteful effort:

 

[Deleted member 29316]

Hi. I'm currently sick. I'm also not going to be going too deeply into this topic. I just wanted to share a thought.

What would be nice is if we were to make our own covers all the time. I am aware there are a few who do just that, but I don't entirely mean each author having to create their own either.

The hell am I talking about?

The SH community, if they were willing, they could have opened up a shop (they sort of do with the commissions), but also provide a donation system. It would be for authors that can't afford covers.

Then... Well the BIG issue with that wishful thinking is on how abusive that system would become. Those authors (the ones who really can't afford commissions) would be shoved aside by wealthy penny-pinchers claiming (to themselves?) they can't afford it.

I sometimes offer doing free covers, but it's highly-dependent on my schedule.

It's my way of contributing to the community.

 

[Mihou]

There are tutorials online as to how to find the original source of an image taken from google. I think it's called reverse engine search but I forgot.

Funny because Reverse Image Search a lot of times tends to fail, this especially applies when the image was shared billions of times on different sites, it will go crazy but most of the time, it will work... I hope but yeah, even if it fails, a lot of subreddit threads tend to have the credits up which is handy if it fails since you could just go to a reddit post that shared the image and see if they handed credits and head there.

 

[Michuyu]

Funny because Reverse Image Search a lot of times tends to fail, this especially applies when the image was shared billions of times on different sites, it will go crazy but most of the time, it will work... I hope but yeah, even if it fails, a lot of subreddit threads tend to have the credits up which is handy if it fails since you could just go to a reddit post that shared the image and see if they handed credits and head there.

Yea, I used to write small blogs and I would look for the original creators of the images I used by doing reverse engine search, so I understand that if a photo has been reposted over various sites without propper credits, it's almost impossible to find the original. So I stopped using images I find on google. Other people have made a good point that there are websites with free images, so honestly there shouldn't be a reason why anyone is using not-free images unless they are not aware of what they are doing. But again, people can get away with it. It's not something anyone can convince someone else out of doing. It all depends on how much effort that person is putting in to using free images or getting original creators' permission. I don't really call anyone out for using google images without proper credit, (unless it's my work, but that hasn't happened xD) because I just don't think it's my place, and it's really just between the person and the creator. I never looked at images in subreddit threads though, it's nice to know they usually have credits to photos ^^