Google is not an image source

Through the Hive account@steemflagrewards Discord I've seen a lot of posts that just copy an image from Google image search results and expect rewards. Some try to look legitimate by posting a source link, but those Google results are not valid. Google does not host these images and they can come from all sorts of sources. Some of those may allow re-use, but some may not allow you to earn from them. I doubt the people doing this even check. Some of them even buy votes for these junk posts.

If Steemit gets full of images that are used without permission then it may lead to some legal action. I do think there are cases when you can use images with an open licence, but it should be within a post that has some content of value. If you need a picture then Google provides tools to find them. If it says 'for noncommercial reuse' then I think you cannot use it here. There are some types of Creative Commons licence that allow commercial reuse, but I still think you should give credit to the creator.

Note that this image is a screenshot I made and is used to give context. I make no claim to the cat images.

When I was on the Tsu site we had a lot of people posting so-called 'Google images'. There's really no such thing.

I may have been guilty of some image misuse in the past, but I'm much more wary now. I'll try and use my own wherever possible. If you are using your own images then you should make that clear. Just posting the image means others will check if it's taken from elsewhere. Chrome makes this easy as you can right click an image to search for it.

When it comes to adding value then I think this also applies to reusing a video you did not create yourself. Just posting someone else's video is wrong. I often post music videos, but it's always with some of my own opinions. I'm really not so sure about memes as these can be hard to attribute to someone and searching for them is hard as there may be lots of similar images. What do you think?

In general I think a Steemit post should provide some sort of value in entertainment or information that comes from the post creator. If it's just recycling something that is available in that form elsewhere then it does not achieve this.

I can foresee lots of conversations about this topic at Steemfest, as well as on the subject of buying votes. It will be interesting to see if people turn up who may be considered to be abusing the platform and what reception they get.

Just wanted to get this off my chest. Feel free to express your opinions. If you feel like taking action against abuse then join the Hive account@steemflagrewards community. You can actually get paid for flagging bad content. You can also support them by delegating.

Steem on!

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