Hello all.
I am Bruce Mercer, I am a Network Administrator for the Airbone Laser System Program Office. We run 15 Servers, and hopefully with your blessing I have made screensavers with the amazing Pics you all have done. It is a sight to see with 15 17" Monitors all showing your work. I have made different screen savers so each one shows a different show. If anyone dose not want your work shown, please let me know. Thanks again.

Are these up for public veiwing?

If I'm not mistaken, the correct thing to do would have been to ask permission from the image owners BEFORE using their work to avoid copywright infringement if these images are being viewed publicly.

Hopefully you will post again to clarify.

I don't know, it's a grey area.

The copyright notice states that it is ok to download images for screensavers or desktops. There are prohibitions on public endeavours or commercial use, but I'm not sure the usage mentioned above would come under those categories.

I personally think that, following the spirit of the copyright notice, screensavers on servers are probably ok - I think that would be acceptable use. Perhaps Bruce could furnish some further details?

Sorry about that. No it is not for the public veiwing. It is in my server room and only two of us use the room. I am in it all day the other one is my boss and he is in and out. The screen savers are for my use so I have something to look at. I can remove the pics, I did not mean to upset anyone.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I envisioned. It sounds ok to me, but then you probably haven't got one of my images! I can't see how anyone could object, but that's just my opinion.

When you speak of 15 monitors and ask if anyone does not want their work shown, it does give the impression that they are public. It's always nice to be asked but it does clearly state in the copyright notice what you may do without asking. I'm fairly certain most of our members would have responded to you with a gracious "you're welcome" had they known it was their work you were referring to.

As long as it's only for personal use you don't need to ask permission. However if you intend to use it for any other purpose then you need to get specific permision from each author as stated above. What you describe is pretty much the same thing that anyone visiting caedes would use the images for, that fact that you are using them in a screensaver rather than as a desktop really doesn't make any difference. But thanks for taking the time to ask.

At this point I must humble myself and apologize for a note that I made in frustration when I first logged into this site. I was unable to download images and believed that this site was proving to be yet another site with amazing potential being sacrificed on the altar of capitalism. I was wrong, and I deeply regret my comments of the other day. Not only does this site open one pathway to the communal ingenuity of people, but it helps to beautify the drab office computers and bedrooms of the world, while enticing and inviting the novice to appreciate, and take the risk to experiment with this medium of expression. It even provides commentaries on usable programs and tutorials to help to lead the novice into this fascinating field.
When I reviewed the personal files I could not help but be amazed at the level of quality in this site and the age of it's creator. I am doubly humbled and grateful.

p.s. Samatar, Nicki, Reddawg and Tracyjtc's work (among many others) are inspirational in thier artistic complexity and beauty...... I could not possible rate all of the superior works that I have encountered here.... It would take me months to do so.

That's just cheered my day up a bit.

Sorry if I came off as harsh, but it's good to know that the images are being used properly :) Thanks for the clarification!

Just incase anyone one wants to hear my 2 cents.... I always laugh when these kind of conversations come around. We have all posted our pictures wanting people to use them. I understand how it would be upsetting if someone was selling or using our pictures to make money. With that said i think it is crazy to get angry if something like a school or something with 1000 computers and public users wants to use our pictures for screen savers or such. They arn't getting any money, and i really don't see the difference between all those public users going to this site and downloading the pictures and seeing them on a public computer.
Anywho, im probably going to get alot of comments trying to explain this to me with more clearity, but that was my 2 cents.

Milo - you have hit the nail on the head. Thats so refreshing. I taught a class in Photography and Copyright Law to Auctioneers as part of their continuing education requirements to maintain their license. Once posted on a public site, the user can do pretty much as they please with the image. Please refer to the Supreme Court decision in 2005 of (I forgot the name) a 15 yr old girl, who posted her picture on Facebook. A porn distributor downloaded and used her picture on the cover of DVDs. The girl owned no copyright, but Facebook did. The court ruled in favor of the distributor. Shortly after, copyright laws were changed. Look them up. What remained unchanged is the use of images on a public site for commercial purposes, especially by Auctioneers. Good job Milo.

(*shakes fists at those art stealin' Auctioneers*)


:oP

I feel honored. Thanks.