Publishing images on the Internet

Sharing pictures and videos on the Internet with people you know, and even with those you do not know, is often a lot of fun. Publication gives you an opportunity to share aspects of your life and present your creative skills both in photography and image processing.

When you publish pictures or videos on the Internet, you need to remember copyright issues, and protect your own privacy as well as the privacy of others.

Things to think about when publishing images on the net:

• Is the picture yours? Copyright is also valid on the internet, and image copyright belongs to the person who took the picture. If you publish pictures that are taken by others, you must request their permission.
• Are there other people in the picture? You must ask for their permission to publish the picture. If there are minors, i.e. under 18-year-olds in the picture, permission should also be requested from their parents.
• What impression does the image convey of you? A horrible grin, a cigarette in your mouth or a daring pose may seem like a good idea at the time of publishing, but how will you feel about it later on? If you don't feel that you would show the picture to your parents, think again before you publish it.
• What kind of impression is conveyed of others? Take special care never to publish pictures that will make the people portrayed in them feel uncomfortable. If you publish an insulting picture on the Internet, this can be interpreted as bullying, which is illegal.
• Images from the web can be taken for your own use, but not for use in school assignments, for example. Remember this when you publish your own pictures: What if someone downloaded an image you had published, onto his or her own computer?
• Once an image is published, it can never be removed from the Internet. Pictures you have removed from your profile can be available elsewhere in the Internet, for example on pages where obsolete web pages are stored. Maybe someone else has copied it onto his or her own computer, and now intends to publish it again on the Internet.

For further information:

‘Good to know’ brochure of the Data Protection Ombudsman (in Finnish)
Web site for youth by the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare (in Finnish)
www.tekijanoikeus.fi (in Finnish)

Updated 05.02.2010