Small business owner here. Got a question regarding posting pics on Instagram and Tumblr: What's the deal with copyright? I heard you can be sued just for posting people's artwork and memes on your account, even if you credit them. I repost people's artwork, quotes, image macros, and memes on my accounts. I try to credit them if I can read the watermark but usually I just let it go. Can I be held liable for copyright infringement? Should I go back and delete them? Can I really be sued for reposting memes? And should we include a disclaimer in our bios that say something like "we do not own these images"? Thank you!
What is the name of your state, TheQuestioner98, or if not in the US, what is the name of your country?
What's the deal with copyright? The deal is that copyright laws protect original and creative works from copying by others, without the express permission of the creator of the work.
Crediting the author/artist of the work with having created the work DOES NOT protect you, the copier, from an infringement lawsuit. You can be sued and, in the US if the copied work has been federally registered, you can be held liable to the copyright owner for statutory damages ranging from $750 to $150,000 for each work infringed. If there is a watermark on what you are re-posting, you are almost assuredly infringing on the rights of the copyright holder.
Disclaimers do not prevent lawsuits. They can, in some cases, mitigate the damages that are awarded a copyright holder in a suit filed against you.
I think you would be smart to delete all works posted that are not your own or for which you have not received permission from the copyright holder to use - or you can have an attorney in your area advise you as to your (very real) risks of a lawsuit being filed against you.
