On illustrations

 My photo -- use it if you like, but please acknowledge the source.....  and I carry no 
responsibility for Felix's wellies.

This blog is an open access site designed to encourage friendly debate and enquiry -- so it is educational in the broadest sense of the world, and not commercial.  As with thousands of other blogs, I try to make it interesting through the use of appropriate illustrations.  Wherever possible, I use my own photos.  Others are generously provided for my by their owners, but I have to cull many photos and sketches from freely and publicly available resources, using Google image finder as my main tool.  Sometimes it is possible to tell where these photos have come from, and sometimes not -- many photos have been reproduced so many times and in so many versions that the copyright holder appears to be lost without trace!  That having been said, of course I seek to respect copyright -- and where it is clear that a photo has a commercial or "restricted use" tag on it, I always try not to use it, and to look for another photo instead.  Sometimes I seek the copyright holders consent and obtain it prior to posting on the blog.  Wherever possible, I try to give names and/or to provide a link to the original source.

So I try to stick to the "fair use" rules for educational purposes, and to use material that is available within what we might refer to as the "media commons"  - ie material placed on the web in the expectation that it will be admired and also used by others.  But it is not always possible to know the intention of the copyright holder -- and if I have ever used any material on this blog in contravention of the copyright holder's wishes, please let me know and I will apologise on the record.

Where I use an illustration from a published article in journals, the source is normally obvious from hyperlinks and citations, and I assume in general that the copyright is held by the academic institution that employs the author.  Conventionally, universities and other institutions do not enforce copyright, and allow free use of illustrative material for research, debate of educational purposes.  

It's my intention at all times to behave in a responsible manner with respect to intellectual and media property rights.