Welcome to the Stock Images community. The purpose of this community is to bring the option for using stock images onto the Hive. Many authors make use of Stock Images in their posts and have had to go to stock image sites outside of Hive for them, but we'd like to give the option for them to find them here on Hive from our talented image creators. So whether you're wanting to find images to use or want to contribute images for use, hopefully we can guide you through the process here.
Finding images to use
If you're looking for images then there are two ways to find them. You can look through our Image Index or our more recently added Search Feature. the Image Index has been compiled manually and images are filed alphabetically using words you might search. The search feature uses the tags that the image creators have added to their posts to search. As the team has less control and input over the search feature, we can't guarantee the quality of the results, but we will continue to work on it to try and keep them as good as we are able. We hope the search experience will continue improve and welcome any feedback to help us improve it.
Using Hive Stock Images
If you find an image from a Hive creator that you wish to use, then please remember to credit them for that image, just as you would if using an image from any other stock image site. We also invite you to use the tag #freeimageshare when you post using an image, so that our community curators can find your post and potentially curate it (more information on how this works can be found here). We particularly love to see image creators be rewarded for their work via a small beneficiary or tip, although few of them ask for a reward. Please check if the creator has any stipulations on the use of their images in their post. Generally you can assume that if it's in the Stock Images community or has #hivestockimages as one of the tags, then you are welcome to use those images on the Hive blockchain. If you wish to use any off Hive, then please consult the creator of the images.
Contributing images
If you are wanting to contribute images for use by the Hive community, you may get rewarded when they are used. However, if your images are photographs then before you start submitting them, there are a few things you need to be aware of. As every professional photographer knows there are legal implications when it comes to using photographs commercially, so let's go through that briefly first:
There are legal issues outside of Hive regarding photography that potentially affect both photographers and those using the photographs. While you are allowed to photograph people in public places and use those photos personally or none commercially, it starts to become a grey area if they are used for any commercial or trade purposes. This is likely to include blogging, because money can be made. So if there are any photos with recognisable people, a model release is recommend or full permission of the model in the photo to allow its use by others. It may be that it is friend, a family member or even yourself in the images, who give their permission. If this is the case it wouldn't need to be an official document but just an acknowledgment in your post that the model is not going to sue the photographer or any other publisher of the photo in the future. Some more information on the legalities and using model release forms can be found here.
My suggestion to photographers is that if you offer the use of photos with people in them, perhaps make it clear that permission has been obtained from them for use, whether it's people you know or you have a model release. If you're someone wanting to use a photo and it isn't clear whether permission has been obtained, perhaps check with the photographer or edit to make sure people aren't recognisable. We will try to make sure that submitted images meet these requirements, but some may slip through.
If a photograph contains pictures of recognisable brands and logos, then you could be in breach of copyright if it is used for commercial purposes and again blogging could come into this category, unless you're doing a review of it. While it seems unlikely that a company would want to sue you for displaying their brand (after all, it's free advertising), they might decide that you need to pay them a cut of your earnings for its display, so again, best if brands don't appear in photographs or they aren't recognisable if they do.
Some buildings and recognisable property (this could include things like art) also require a property release form. This article gives a fairly good idea of some of the times when you'd need one. The key seems to be whether it's recognisable and the sole focus of the image.
This is a rather useful article which gives the reader the ins and outs of what is or isn't legal as a photographer in the US. While it's specific to the US, most of the western world seems to follow the same rules.
With the advent of AI generated images and text, HiveWatchers has added an update to where the line is drawn for what is classed as plagiarism, which we strongly suggest reading through. This explains the stance we take on AI generated images here too. They aren't banned, but we expect that creators disclose how the images are generated and HiveWatchers expects to see at least 50% of the post as original content.
So now you know what can and can't be contributed, let's move onto how you contribute. We now have a search feature, so contributors will need to add relevant tags to their posts which will help users to find their images. See this post to find out more on how to do this.
Tips on submitting
- Use the tag #hivestockimages (as one of the post tags not in the body of the post) so we have another way to find your post for indexing and the search feature, especially if you don't post it in the community.
- Compilation posts on a certain theme would be better than posting one picture at a time with that same theme.
- On the other hand, a post with multiple pictures containing mixed themes may not be very helpful for those looking for something specific, so try to keep to a single theme.
- Add in your post what your requirements might be for people using your pictures. Do you want them to credit you or more specifically the post they sourced it from so others can find that or similar images? You can also state if you're willing to have authors contact you with special requests.
- Try to stick to quality rather than quantity. You will develop a reputation on the images you're submitting and if too many low quality images keep appearing then prospective clients may avoid looking through your work to find the gems. This will also reflect on the community as a whole if someone searching the images keeps coming up with low quality submissions. Therefore we reserve the right to not include low quality images in the index and to mute them in the search feature and the community.
- Keep your tags relevant to the images. For example, while your images may be photographs, if they are images of cats then you shouldn't use the tag "photography" because they don't show a photography theme.
- Lastly, consider doing a little research before you submit. If there are lots of images already of what you want to share, then the chances are your images won't get used unless they stand out from the rest. Have a look at the quality of images used around you in advertising and blogging and see if you can aim for a similar quality. @crosheille has compiled a useful checklist to see if your images are authorable.
Remember, images aren't just photographs, we welcome all art. If you're not sure what to contribute or need some inspiration, we will be running challenges and image ideas are also shared in a channel on our discord server.
Many thanks to @lifeskills-tv for the image and adding the banner. Also thanks to @sitaru for the Hive bee image we use.