Is it against the law to use free pics and fonts from the web in ads?

Actually, some of us are lawyers. I am.

You do not have to make your own fonts; using the fonts that are installed on your system is fine, as is using fonts that are free to download off the Internet. You may not use commercial fonts that you haven't purchased, though.

Whether pulling and using images off the web is legal is a difficult thing to assess, since there are many websites that lack copyright notices. Generally, unless you are using images from sites that provide free images and clip-art and state that they are doing so or the images are in the public domain or are licensed for commercial use, you may not use images pulled off the web in commercial work without the owner's permission. In terms of photographs, there are numerous stock image sites that license images at very reasonable rates. The same goes for clip-art.

While a large percentage of web developers have "borrowed" images from others without permission and suffered no consequences, you should be aware that tools have now been developed that allow copyright owners to search the web for copies of their images, which makes it trivial to find pilfered content. See the links below. In terms of liability, if the copyright owner actually registered their images with the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress, then an infringer could be in a world of hurt (up to $100k plus attorney's fees and costs), but otherwise the most they can claim is actual damages, which in most cases is next to nothing.

Best practice: if you see an image that you want to use that isn't clearly in the public domain or licensed as Copyleft or Attribution, contact the owner and seek permission to use it, negotiating and paying an acceptable license fee if necessary before placing it in a life site. Most companies expect these sorts of fees to be passed on to them when they outsource design work -- all my clients do, and I incorporate the cost of image licensing into my bids. If the companies that you do design work for are providing you with content, be sure to include an indemnity clause in your contracts with them to protect yourself in the event that the content they give to you to use isn't actually owned by them -- that happens a lot.

Why the big surprise ? Obama is a thug from Chicago who has for a long time been called by the people of Chicago "The Prince of Corrupt Chicago Politics". He didn't get that name for being a nice guy you know. It's no coincidence that he always managed to get people running against him taken off of the ballots. He uses the usual thug tactics of coercion, bribery and intimidation. He lies like there's no tomorrow and the debate was a perfect example of that. Even when Sen McCain pointed out that he was not being truthful, he just shook his head and said "that's just not true John" over and over again. Hell, he knew he was busted and as usual tried to spin it. Now he's in Missouri pulling the same old intimidation stunts. Well, if it were me, and I were McCain, I'd have the U S Attorney for Missouri checking out Obama and considering charges for unlawful use of a state agency. Any way you cut it, Obama's a crook and anybody with the brains God gave a rock can see it ! RN

If the images are copyrighted you will need permission to use them, however if they are public domain or the site gives permission to use the images then you should be in the clear. If you have questions about an image, contact the site owner and ask permission to use the image or font.

There are a number of sites out there that offer free content. They tend to be filled with ads, but if you don't mind clicking through some ads, you can get some pretty decent stuff.

The person above me is correct - But you need to read the fine print on the "free" sites as most of them have a clause that states they are free for non-commercial use only. If you are using them to make money in any way, they won't let you use them without paying royalties or at least giving them the credit.

10 Big Myths about copyright explained: http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

Recommend that you do NOT listen anyone posting here as we are not lawyers and can not provide you proper legal advise. If your business may be liable for any type of lawsuit, check with a lawyer who practices in the correct field.

Ron