Illegal and Legal Celebrity Graphics

So we all know the deal. Yes, it's true. Celebrity images are illegal, as this article will tell you.
However, it depends largely on what you're doing with the graphic. This article explains the fair use of celebrity graphics.

For example, an unfair and illegal use of celebrity images is to make coded layouts with them and use them for profit - basically, to sell them. To use them in coded layouts that are offered for free is okay enough, but that's redistribution. That is probably why these graphics are considered illegal:

• a) because they are not your own images,
• b) because you are redistributing them, and
• c) you are editing them

So, let's face it, it's best not to get involved with this kind of stuff. So, what do you do about your celebrity images?

What Do You Do?

Even with appropriate credit (as to where your images came from), celebrity images are still considered to be illegal, as they are generally not for your use in your graphics - as I stated in the three points above.

Whether or not you are using these images "legally", isn't it unoriginal?

Unless you took the images yourself, anyone can access the site you did and use the same images. It doesn't matter what you do with the graphic - chop Miley Cyrus' head off (good ridance), or if you add a few brushes or textures, or cut pieces out and put onto another background. Someone will be using - or will have used - the same graphic as you.

Do you want that?

I've seen countless sites with the same Katy Perry images. Even if you're using them fairly, don't you want to stand out?
Do you honestly want to load a page and see the Jonas Brothers plastered on the page, well aware that you have used the same images, yet here we have someone else using them?
Wouldn't that annoy you?

Because that would annoy me.

Sure, it may be fun to use celebrity images - especially on fan sites. But to be honest, it's not hard to be original. Try using images from a legal source - the link will direct you to a page listing one hundred sites with stock images. You can use stocks from other sites, you can use your own photos and drawings and scan them in. Just that little bit of effort can really make your site stand out.

Stock images are just images of anything - flowers, landscapes, cities. And they can look amazing when edited - and they are legal, too.

Let's face it: wouldn't you prefer that? It's more original and unique. And even if you are a major My Chemical Romance fan like myself, why not draw out the band? Wouldn't that be a more unique way of using "celebrity" images?

After all, originality is the key.