Image rights

[Newjabber]

What are the rules for using images that you find in google image search?
Some are free and some or not, but i cant really figure out how it works.
I have been using iclipcare which costs money, and is that the right way to go?
Is there a free sollutions thats worth anything or is a paying for images the way to go?

Recommendation for free or paid services please

[TheShortStack]

I've been a member of stock.xchng - the leading free stock photography site for a while.

It's free to use - just requires registration. The range of images isn't as good as the paid sources, but it's a reasonable place to start and the image quality isn't too bad.

[GregW]

Google image search shows images that are found on websites. So really you're not allowed to use them as they belong to other people. There will be stock images in the image search results that you can use, but as a starting point you should assume that most images belong to someone else.

For free images, try sxc.hu or flickr. With flickr you just need to give a link back, which is fair. It's not like you're linking to a bad site.

Paid option is istockphoto. Some really good quality stuff here, although it's pretty generic, which is only to expected from any stock site I guess.

The best free service is photoshop (after you've bought it of course). I'd recommend that to anyone. Even if your skills are lacking a custom image is always nice and gives your article some character.