I made a graphic, and i took images from other various sites , and combined them to make one new totally different graphic. Now, i was wondering, am I violating any copyright rule by taking those images?? I mean, i made them into something of my own and altered them, but I wont use the graphic if i am. Although, I did make a statement in a page that i didnt make those images and that i dont take credit for them...?

It depends on what those sites say in their terms of use/rules/usage policy.... If they allow you to use their images in other works, then no ^^

If i take graphics from other sites i usually ask the owner first, e-mail him/her for permission before taking them. Leave a msg on their guestbook or tagboard or something. Or if you don't you must give them credits for it...link them back..create a thank you or credits page. That would be a nice idea.

I have this friend and recently she just made a new layout and she took some images/graphics from a certain site and she wrote a little information about her new layout (like where she got it..blah blah) on her WWW page.

Personally, I'd be miffed if someone took something of mine without asking...ya know? A lot of people are like that...I suggest you ask for permission, maybe even send them the pic you intend to use and see if that usage of it is OK with them.

so you can take a layout from someone and colorize it to a different colour then put it online and link to the person "thanks for your layout"?

i don't think so. It's wrong. People worked hard for it. Unless you get permission i wouldn't suggest using it, because i would feel bad if someone took graphics from me, EVEN if they linked me. Because they did where out of ideas somewhere, so they stole something from me.

try to get other ways to make your images. One tip: if you have a digital camera or webcam, take your images with that. In that way your copyright is with you and you can do with it whatever you want.

Love,
Mirna