Beginner Flickr

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I have been enjoying looking at the thread of flickr photos on here.
Can someone explain how flickr works please ?
So far ( not far at all ), I understand that once you join flickr you can upload your photos for others to see.
I have read the terms and conditions, which unfortunately to me are so confusing.
Is it for comments and advice ?
Is it to sell them ?
Does flickr use them themselves ?
Do you still own the photos ?
Can the photos be " used " without permission, or taken ?
Seems a silly thing to ask, but I a may be interested in joining.
Thank you
Sand
 
Basically it’s just a photo hosting site, yes you can mark them as “public” and other can see or comment on them, you can also do the same to others, you can make them private, so only you see them.

it’s technically private or “safe” but that’s about as safe as any online photo, in theory it’s your personal online storage area that you can let other see, make albums and share with friends/family/clients.

In theory no one has the right to your photos without your permission but we all know this is a hard one to stop.
 
Is it for comments and advice ?
No, not really. Though other members can comment on an image of yours if they want to. Mainly it's somewhere to share your pics, though some use it just to store them.

Sharing-wise it functions as a visual sort of social media - and you might get 'faves' but you won't normally get crit or advice there, though it's not impossible.

Is it to sell them ?
No, it doesn't really work for that. There are other solutions.

Does flickr use them themselves ?
Not as far as I know. And you retain the rights.

Can the photos be " used " without permission, or taken ?
Hmmm ... well that's the trouble with the internet - if the pic's on a screen then it can be copied!

However - you can join as a free member & see how you go with it.
 
You can choose to "lock down" your images so in theory others cannot download them.

Try it, it's free and you may like it.
 
I have been enjoying looking at the thread of flickr photos on here.
Can someone explain how flickr works please ?
I'll give it a shot, if I can. It's basically a great big photo hosting and display site, that allows you to store quite a lot of photos for free, or, lots more for a few quid. It's part "community" where there are different groups that you can post in - say, if you're into cats, there's a few (million) cat groups to share your pictures with like minded people. Ditto if you want to look at stuff taken by a particular camera you were considering buying, look in that camera's groups for the kind of pictures you take, and see how good a job (or otherwise) the camera can do. It's not perfect by any means, but its probably the best one out there at the moment - though, it's been through a rough time with previous owners not understanding it either... hopefully the latest in a long line will "get it" and keep it on an upward curve.

So far ( not far at all ), I understand that once you join flickr you can upload your photos for others to see.
That's true - or, you can set them as private, and keep them as a private online gallery. It's up to you really.

I have read the terms and conditions, which unfortunately to me are so confusing.
That's why they write them like that, to keep the Solicitors in nice BMW's and Mercedes's. Main thing is, Flickr DOESN'T OWN anything you upload, all the rest is flim-flam.

Is it for comments and advice ?
It CAN be, some groups are particularly active in that respect, but most are more "nice picture" ego boosts but of no real aide in improving - fortunately, this forums available for comments and advice, and you can easily link from Flickr's storage to here, and ask any questions you want, and get (often) helpful critique on your imagery as well if you ask for it. In return, all we ask is that you listen and don't just throw a hissy-fit if someone says something isn't quite perfect.

Is it to sell them ?
I've had people approach me asking for a full size print of some images I've got on there in the past, though I don't really think that is the core of the business or the real intention. If you're out to sell your picures there's probably many better options.

Does flickr use them themselves ?
I think they probably have some clause in the terms to allow them to use certain images in their own promotional materials, though I'm pretty sure that they would limit use to images marked as being Public Domain, to save them getting a bill for royalties...

Do you still own the photos ?
Yes, most emphatically. Unless of course you're a blithering idiot and expressly give away rights to it by putting it in the Public Domain - I'd strongly suggest setting up your account so that by default everything is marked as Copyright - All rights reserved.


Can the photos be " used " without permission, or taken ?
If they're on the internet, anywhere, they CAN and probably will be taken. But, if they're marked as all rights reserved, you can use various services to go after the people using them and recover usage rights payments - i've probably made more money that way than I have in selling the images as mentioned above, if i'm honest. Just don't expect it to work with China as they have an "interesting" interpretation of copyright - as in, they just ignore it, rip you off and the government backs them...


Seems a silly thing to ask, but I a may be interested in joining.
Thank you
Sand
The only silly question, is the one left unasked.

Hopefully this has been some small amount of use...
 
Many thanks to all of you .
You have explained a lot !
I think I get the idea now.
Thank you also for the prompt replies.
I have been looking at the Flickr photos on this site, and I must say they are all very remarkable.
Sand
 
One other point it’s a good way of displaying your work to the world ,I have according to my stats on there over the course of around ten years had over 8,000,000 views that’s right 8 million plus ..

Beware also that pictures can be used from there without your permission . I have just this morning in fact had another payout via pixsy of just over £200 for image theft .. better than selling the photos for pennies
 
I have just this morning in fact had another payout via pixsy of just over £200 for image theft .. better than selling the photos for pennies

yeah, I think I may have hinted about that in one of the bits of my reply, but didn't want to be seeming to encourage litigious behaviour as a staff member ;)
 
You can choose to "lock down" your images so in theory others cannot download them.

Try it, it's free and you may like it.
Please don’t believe this (you know that you wrote ‘in theory’ because you weren’t sure it was true)!
once an image is viewable on a computer, it’s stealable.
I thought everyone had accepted this 10 years ago. Let’s not allow doubt over established facts, it’s not politics ;)
 
Please don’t believe this
Hang on, Phil - we all know that if an image is on somebody's screen then it can be copied, but in Flickr there are settings for restricting who can view your images:

As Flickr themselves put it - "Privacy: you can set each photo's privacy to be seen by everyone, no one, or just your friends or family."
 
Hang on, Phil - we all know that if an image is on somebody's screen then it can be copied, but in Flickr there are settings for restricting who can view your images:

As Flickr themselves put it - "Privacy: you can set each photo's privacy to be seen by everyone, no one, or just your friends or family."
That’s not the point I was responding to.
You can choose to "lock down" your images so in theory others cannot download them.
 
But we're talking Flickr here, & its privacy settings are as I stated. There's no other way to 'lock down' images that I know of there.

Terry - what were you waffling on about?
 
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You can choose to "lock down" your images so in theory others cannot download them.

Try it, it's free and you may like it.

There are ways around that, if that's a concern, by going through the source code. Or it might be as simple as 'open image in new tab' and downloading....either way, if it's on the internet, someone so inclined will screenshot it or find a way to download it.
 
But we're talking Flickr here, & its privacy settings are as I stated. There's no other way to 'lock down' images that I know of there.

Terry - what were you waffling on about?

Waffling?

I thought what I'd typed was obvious.

Flickr gives you the option of preventing others downloading your images.

I put "theoretically" as I was already aware there are ways to circumvent the locking down of images.
 
The Flickr CEO sent an e-mail to all Pro members last night which basically said they can't continue with the current model as they are losing too much money. Their solution is to find more people willing to pay for the Pro features.
I'm a Pro member; I think it's around £25 per year which I think isn't too bad. I just use the site for hosting my images I upload to forums and occasionally look up a photographer if their images on the opening page catch my eye.

This guy does some good stuff with Lego Figures : https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelmgf/
I like the this watch photographer : https://www.flickr.com/photos/kr1sp1/

Hopefully they can find a solution and don't shut down.
 
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Waffling?

I thought what I'd typed was obvious.

Flickr gives you the option of preventing others downloading your images.

I put "theoretically" as I was already aware there are ways to circumvent the locking down of images.
The fact you had to add ‘theoretically’ means that you knew the first part was nonsense. (So why bother?)

In 2019 it’s pointless mentioning that a web page gives an option to not allow downloads. Just because you can choose that setting, doesn’t mean theres any point in doing so.
 
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