Legal Question in Technology Law in Canada

Re: Copyrights

You cannot use pictures or text that is owned by someone else unless you have the owner's permission. All pictures on the Internet are copyrighted, even if they do not have the little notice, unless they are in the public domain. Pictures only go into the public domain after a long time or if the owner says so. Do not take anyone else's word that a picture is in the public domain, because relying on bad information from someone else will not save you from liability for copyright infringement. If you have doubts about whether a particular picture is in the public domain, you can hire an attorney who will render an opinion for you.

To sum up, you need written permission from the owner of the picture before you can legally place it on your website, even if your website is not for profit.

Re: Copyrights

Copyrights on the internet work like copyrights other places. You cannot legally make unauthorized copies of a copyrighted item just because it is on the Internet. If you do you have probably committed an act of copyright infringement. Call or email the author or owner of the site where they appear and get permission. Anything less is asking for trouble.

Hire an intellectual property lawyer (me for example) and an analysis of the facts can be made which will likely allow you to develop the artwork you need from the image you choose with certain changes to avoid infringementliability.