Can I use these pictures for my site? Options

[rail01]

will there be a problem if i want to pay or trade users differnt types of pictures from all over the net like cars, celeb's, animals anything basically, like a copyright type of thing. i see other websites and blogs use different product pictures like PS3 or 360 0r iphone that im sure didnt get permission from the copany but still use it. whats the rules on things like this?

[Maccabee]

Really I would suggest not posting things that you arent sure dont have copyrights.
I mean like a picture of an ipod is not big deal cause everyone has one and everyone knows apple isnt gonna sue?!And ditto for celebs. If its going around a lot its not to big of a deal. If you have ads on your site its a little more of a deal. if your selling the pics,its a huge deal and its illegal. so just kinda use common sense most of the time.
And when using stuff like font looks for fonts that say free at dafont.com/ That means free for commercial use.

[hi-C]

You can generally use publicity photos -- photos distributed by the company/celebrity/etc -- but that's generally a slippery slope. As long as you aren't charging, it shouldn't be that much of a problem.

Get familiar with fair use.

[rail01]

what if i charge the users a small fee and the one who has the best gets more money in return? I wouldnt know if it was distributed by the company or celebrity or where they got the photo at all. they just send it. how would that work?

[hi-C]

^ I'm not sure what you're trying to say. If you're the one doing the selling, then you need to make sure you have rights to use whatever image commercially. If you're the one doing the paying then make sure the person doing the selling has obtained the correct rights of use.