My blog is about setting up a website. I’d like to include tutorials of what I learn whilst setting up the website, with screenshots of each step eg how to set up a Facebook page, or a board on Pinterest, or a web page in WordPress. These tutorials are useful to the beginner website owner and I presume would be classed as ‘educational’ but is it OK for me to use screenshots of the step by step process without first having requested permission from each company, ie Facebook, Pinterest etc?
Alasdair Taylor's Answer
It does depend upon exactly what is shown in the screenshots, but I would usually expect this kind of usage to require permission (under English copyright law at least).
It would be worth checking the website T&Cs of the service providers in question to see if they offer standard permission for this.
Of course, many people do use screenshots without permission, and legal action is only likely where the service provider is suffering some material loss or damage.
