Galleries and groups are different things.

A gallery is just a Flickr function that allows a user to create a private collection, so that he or she can find them later. As Flickr provides this functionality, I don't see why using it would not be legit. It's really just a kind of electronic bookmark. Your rights to a picture included in a gallery are not compromised in any way.

To the best of my knowledge, inclusion of someone else's image into a group without the permission of the owner of the image is not possible and also not authorised by Flickr. If you have solid evidence of that having happened with a picture of yours, you should send a complaint to Flickr, giving all relevant details. Maybe you did receive an invitation, but inadvertently clicked on "Accept"?

In your Settings, Privacy & Permissions section, you can choose whether your photos can be added to someone's galleries.

Thank you. Yes, a few times my photos have appeared in "groups" without my being asked. Per MKK's advice I will lodge a complaint with Flickr if it happens again. Thank you both.

C.D. Stewart:
Flickr may add any photo classed as “Safe” and “Public” to Explore—not a group—without asking permission. Following that, the “in explore” group and several others offer admin invitations. Never before heard of addition to a group without consent of the photographer.
People routinely add photos to Galleries, which does not require permission of the owner. Most people appreciate inclusion.

Not in the group pools! Not possible, as far as I know.
In group discussion, that's another matter. But your settings make that not so easy to do for beginners.


But the owner can preemptively deny that permission here:
www.flickr.com/account/prefs/galleries/?from=privacy

Okay, folks, You've got the subject well covered, and thank you. I have seen the logo for an unknown group appear in my "groups" list on a couple of occasions, but if this is simply not possible, then I must have been hallucinating, or something. I've never had a big problem with it, I was simply a little taken aback. And yes, I'm generally pleased to have an image included in a "gallery", though I always check out the gallery in question to ensure I want my work to be associated with it.
Thanks again for these replies.

C.D. Stewart:

Out of interest: when that happened,. did the groups in question, in which you think your pictures ended up without your permission, look somewhat shady or weird?

This is indeed possible, when a photo gets invited to a group, but unless you accept the invitation, your photo will not show up in the group pool.


E.g. I just invited this photo to a group. You will notice the group on top of your group list under that photo, but other people will not see it, and the photo will not show up in the group pool until you accept.

Edit: He accepted.

C.D. Stewart:
On the other hand, I blocked a guy who added my work to a gallery entitled “Stock Photos”, and removed the photos from the gallery.

I use galleries as another form of applause. It's gotta be a hellapicture for me to add it to a gallery. And some folks don't allow it. Which is OK - I don't care. I just wish Flickr would set things up so there isn't even an option to add a picture to a gallery as opposed to letting me try to add it only to get a message saying no.


And every once in a while, I see an odd group that my picture has been added to. I just figure it's a Flickr glitch. After all, Flickr isn't known for its flawless functionality.

Jim Frazier: So in fact, you use galleries exactly as they are intended to be used, as a sort of organised set of bookmarks. You do that with pictures you liked; I assume with the intention of being able to find those pictures and look at them again.

So do I, but my "thing" is that I collect cameras and I like to look at other people's pictures of certain cameras that I find particularly droolworthy. It's never happened to me that I couldn't add a picture to a gallery of mine. I suppose that is because those people whose pictures I add are of the same mindset as I am: we like others to look at each other's cameras and to talk about them. And talk, and talk....

If there no longer were that functionality, I would see it as a significant loss. And if there were no groups, I'd probably leave Flickr altogether. A collector needs well-managed groups. I was on a different website before and left because it offered no group functionality.

That said, if I suddenly saw pictures of mine appearing in strange groups without my consent, I'd lodge a complaint for sure.

I pointed this out to staff several times: Do not invite us to add a photo to a gallery and then say the owner does not allow it. How difficult can it be to let this invitation appear only on photos of people who allow it?

Viejito:

It's probably on the programmer's to do list. But there's only so much a guy in Yazoo City, Mississippi can do at his kitchen table with a dial-up connection. 😜

Jim Frazier:
Are you sure that the “odd group your picture has been added to” is not just an admin invite?
I turn down a lot of invitations—closed groups, restricted content, awards required. Flickr is glitchy for sure, but not all things possible.

WalrusTexas:

I frequently check the stats on my recently posted pictures, to see which groups are contributing to views. And I compare that to the number of groups I've posted in. Since I rarely post to more than 10 groups or so, it's relatively easy to spot something unfamiliar. And when I'm invited to join a group, I almost always check it to see if it's not some weird group that I want nothing to do with. So yes, I'm paying attention and I've seen groups on the list that I've never heard of nor added based on the invitation.

And also, as mentioned, I just shrug and carry on.

And yes, I need to spend more time taking pictures. 😁