Railways in the Niagara Region - Train Gifs

Train Gifs - Use of Images

Since train gifs first began appearing regularly on this site in 2000, there have been many requests to use them in areas outside of this site.

CN locomotive in the works

Train gif images are the culmination of many hours of research, brainstorming, graphic design, and discussion sessions – and that’s only for a few images! Just ask any of the respective wives, of those that were lucky enough to find such understanding and devoted women, and you’ll get an idea of the processes that go into producing high-quality computer art.

There are positives and negatives to the issue of outside use. While the vast majority of users (upwards of 90%) take the courteous and polite route by e-mailing site owners first, before using the images, to obtain permission, there have been a few bad apples:

After downloading several dozen images and displaying them as 100% original artwork, a young railfan sent his father to bully and harass several graphic artists (myself included), culminating with attempts to contact victims in their private homes by telephone and mail, and the threat of legal action against any victims that attempted correspondence with his son.
A local rail-related site webmaster, impressed with graphic representations of local railroads, lifted several images from this site and displayed them without permission (a violation of copyright laws). When contacted about them, he quickly removed them from the home page (but not the server) and acted that nothing was amiss.
Many years ago, when a common scale was still in its infancy and the variety of graphics was significantly less, an admirer with either a twisted sense of humour or severe anger problems began e-mailing train gif owners death threats, describing several grotesque ways they could meet an untimely end if certain locomotives and rolling stock were not produced.

Using images of any kind that are downloaded from other websites without permission or payment is a violation of international copyright laws. On top of that, it is morally wrong and a form of theft.

While no owners of train gifs, to my knowledge, have ever sought payment for their images, the majority ask that prospective users obtain permission first, and display some form of credit for the images used. Rarely are any requests for use denied.

If you plan to use images from this site displayed in the train gifs section, there are several criteria you must meet in order to do so:

The gifs must only be used as clipart, in scenes, etc. They may not be displayed in any sort of gallery or showcase setting.
Proper credit must be given: this means a line on every page that the gifs are used, in close proximity to the gif(s). The credit line must indicate that the gifs are courtesy of Railways in the Niagara Region, and must have a working link to the site.
Finally, if any visitors to your site ask to use them, please direct them to Railways in the Niagara Region.

When browsing the site, you’ll notice that there have been several steps taken to ensure that image theft is curtailed. These steps are purely for personal protection. If you wish to use any of the images, you can hit the E-mail link, describing which specific images you wish to use, for what purpose you plan to use them, and where you wish to use them. It’s just that simple.

I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read this far. Some simple consideration and politeness on both sides goes a long way, and both parties will realize tremendous long-term benefits when cooperation like this is exercised.