Is your first reaction, “Of course not!”? Well, even if you think you’re sure about this, I recommend you read on …
Webmasters use images all the time to create logos, help illustrate the point of a subject, break up text on a page or just to make a website more visually appealing.
But is use of these images legal? Maybe, maybe not.
What???
Here’s the deal: If you use images obtained from the internet to create your logo or for use on your website, you could be guilty of copyright infringement and not even realize it.
Copyright infringement is illegal and can get you in a huge tub of hot water. While you might be “free” to use these images, there are still rules to be followed to ensure you don’t infringe on copyrights.
There’s a common misconception that if an image is out on the web it’s “up for grabs.” Even if you purchase a “stock” image, it’s crucial that you adhere to an end-user license agreement.
Internet Images
I love how Google has its “Images” menu item. Whenever I want to see a picture of just about anything, I use Google Images to find what I’m looking for.
But while this may seem obvious to some, believe it or not too many webmasters will grab these images for their own use and republish them without permission. This is copyright infringement whether intentional or not.
If there’s an image you want to republish, you MUST get express permission from the copyright owner before you can legally use it.
What Are Copyright Free Images?
The term “copyright free images” is overused and leads people into believing they can take these images and then call them their own. The only way you can stake claim to an image is if you create it yourself and it is truly an original.
If you Google “copyright free images” 930 million results are found. The truth is the only images that can really be deemed copyright free are those that are in the public domain because public domain works have no copyright.
And even though you are free to use an image from the public domain, it will always remain in the public domain, copyright cannot be restored, and it will never actually be yours.
How About Royalty Free Images?
First of all, understand that royalty-free does not mean copyright-free. If you use a royalty-free image, the creator of that image remains the copyright holder. And royalty-free doesn’t necessarily mean free of charge.
Creators of images will often allow others to use their works for various purposes. For example, I used to publish a travel magazine and would sometimes publish pictures taken by professional photographers.
I would be charged a royalty fee based on my planned use of the photo. If I wanted to use the photo again in a different issue of the magazine, I’d have to pay the photographer another, separate royalty fee.
So what does “royalty-free” mean? It means you are free to use an image as many times you want without having to pay a separate fee for each use. Usually you will pay a one-time flat fee and can use the image as many times as you wish, as long as you adhere to the license agreement attached to it.
The terms of service and license agreement will spell out exactly how you are permitted to use an image. In shutterstock.com’s license agreement you can use their images on websites up to 800×600 pixels without copyright notice or credit, but if you want to use an image on t-shirts for resale, you are required to have an “enhanced” license and must include a copyright notice and credit the creator.
In other words, they are giving you permission as long as you abide by their rules.
What About Free Graphics?
There are tons of free graphics available in software and on the web. A good example is Microsoft’s free clip art. Anyone can use these images for whatever they want, right?
WRONG. While Microsoft isn’t charging you a fee, there are still terms of use with very specific restrictions on the use of these images.
Pretty much every free graphics resource will have some restriction on the use of their images. Some will require credit to the creator or inclusion of a copyright notice. Some even have watermarks embedded already so the copyright will always be included. Some will say you can use images for this but not that.
These Images Are Not Unique
Copyright-free, royalty-free and free graphics can be used by anyone. Even if you’ve paid for the use of an image, that doesn’t take it “off the shelf” – tomorrow someone else can purchase it for their own use as well.
So if want an image for something like a logo and you want your logo to be one-of-a-kind, it’s a bad idea to use anything other than an original creation. This is especially true if you intend to trademark your logo!
The only way to have truly unique and original images is to create them yourself or hire someone else to create them for you. But if you hire someone else, realize that artist will retain copyright of the creation unless you have a copyright assignment agreement.
What Can Happen if You Violate Copyrights
Copyright infringement is serious. If you’re caught, at the very least you will be forced to remove the infringing images from publication.
If legal action is taken, you can be subject to a civil lawsuit in the copyright owner’s jurisdiction and actual and statutory damages that could be financially devastating.
And with certain deliberate violations, you could be subject to criminal penalties carrying massive fines and long prison terms.
The Bottom Line
Plain and simple, don’t take any chances. Don’t use images you have no rights to without express permission, and read end-user license agreements carefully so you understand permissible use.
Lisa’s Note: I use Photos.com for all my images. Yes, it’s expensive but I have the piece of mind that I have rights to use my images commercially.
Be careful of the sites that say they are “free for commercial use” because often times every image source has not been verified. Photos.com scans and verifies every single image to ensure they are clear for use.
hi i was just wondering if i had website and other people posted pictures of other people on my site and started judging them is that illegal? because the thedirty.com seems fine with it…
Hi Jimmy, it’s always recommended to get permission whether it’s for profit or not. What some people do is add a byline below the picture with a link back to the author’s site. Nevertheless always better to be safe than sorry.
Hi, I just wanted to know what the protocol is with images which you find online but then modify to an extent where they hardly look like the original? Is permission required for the use of these images also?
Is there a way to look over your website that was built by previous employees in your position and find out what pictures are legal vs illegal? I haven’t figured out how I can do that yet.
There is a term in web design something like ‘googling images’ I saw that on a paper of web design, answer was clear ‘using illegal images on your website by googling it’
Any one know the term?
Thank you for the valuable information. I am currently writing a blog post and for the first time I wanted to use an image that was not mine. I am happy I found this post or I would have been in trouble.
Hi,
I was wondering about posting official released promotional photos?
I have a blog of my own, and I’ve often wanted to post photos from upcoming TV episodes or films. They get released and re-posted all over the web. Every entertainment site/blog seems to use them. Here are 3 links that are all using the same photos:
http://www.hollywood.com/news/Peter_Dinklage_andEmilia_ClarkeDevise_Their_Plansin_New_Game_of_Thrones_Images/16526805
http://www.tvequals.com/2012/02/09/omg-the-game-of-thrones-season-2-photos-are-out-and-they-look-awesome/
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2012/02/game-of-thrones-season-2-first-photos/
Would it be considered illegal to post such images on my own site? Obviously I wouldn’t edit them or claim they are mine, and all details about the photos – if included – would be posted as well.
What are your thoughts?
I own a printing company where we produce custom letterhead, envelopes, postcards, posters, labels, etc. We’ve printed a lot of products over the years, and for some pretty big companies, with their logos on them. I am in the process of taking my printing company online, and creating an e-commerce printing website. My question is, can I use images of products I’ve produced for the various companies, even if they have their logos on them?
Jerrod, probably not as they may own this work if they paid for it. But this should have been set out in the contracts between you and the companies that paid you for the work. I’ve written freelance articles for certain companies and when it’s sold to them to be used on their website then they own the rights not me because it was a term of our contract. Check the contracts if you have any. If there were no agreements or contracts then you may be okay, although verbal contracts can also be binding, in the UK anyway.
I’m wondering if someone can help me.
I’m putting together a music project entirely for promotional use only. I won’t be profiting off of it. But I want to use a photograph taken by a well known photographer as the cd cover. I’ve tried emailing her for permission to use the image, as well as her P.R. people but no reply. Since It’s a well known image and it’s all over the internet, will I be able to you use without getting permission? Another thing is I want to pay a website to post the music project so that it will get more plays and views but again, I won’t be profiting in anyway…Can someone help me and tell me if this is acceptable?
Hi Jimmy, it’s always recommended to get permission whether it’s for profit or not. What some people do is add a byline below the picture with a link back to the author’s site. Nevertheless always better to be safe than sorry.
I’m sorry! Get written consent to use an image from google images that’s most likely been posted on the web millions of times…?
This is so ridiculous, if you run a website or even a small blog you do regular post on whatever it is you write about and if you had to mail and wait for a reply (which you can try and see how long it takes) form some photographer who took a pic of Jlo’s ass at some award show, then you can hang up your blogging hat now, because you will wait for ever and by the time you get your post up it will be old news!
I work on the simple priceable that, if I use “your” info/images/ideas on my sites, I will ref you or link back to your site, and if you still don’t like it you can ask me to take it down and I will do so if you provide proof that this is your work.
We live in a digital age where news travels instantly to even corner of the world…if CNN reports a disaster in Japan and I copy that info onto my site does that mean I should first email CNN and get their consent to use the info/video/pictures?
Just my opinion, but if you have time on your hands to wait for consent from every single person who’s work you somehow used then “power to you”.
This is a great article and I’m glad someone adressing the issue.
I recently designed a site for a client as a favor and they decided to go another direction. Am I legally within my right to leave the site up with all the copyrighted images. Despite the fact that I have recieved a cease and desist order requesting I remove the site can I claim fair use and leave the site up, if anything it would be free advertising for there work?
thanks
Hi,
I think it comes down to the fact that you don’t own the images, and they do. I would just replace the images and leave the site up as an example of your work.
You can also offer it as a free website template to attract traffic to your website.
I have a site about my ‘classic’ cars (not the way my wife describes them). To finance the restoration of these cars I plan to sell some of my vast CD and vinyl collection (I’ll probably put around 15,000 of them up for sale). I don’t like Ebay and Amazon charge way too much so I’m going to sell them either on my car site, or I will start another one. Who knows, if it takes off I may take it to another level. I plan to scan the front and back of each CD (low resolution) so potential buyers will know what I am selling. If I do this would I be breaking any copyright laws? I’m based in the UK but I guess there are international laws regarding this.
I have a question regarding some new legislation coming up to do with websites being responsible for copyright infringement of its users. I cant help but think of how social news sites like reddit.com and digg.com will be absolutely destroyed by the legislation but a blind eye would be turned to facebook as its a much larger entity. Do you have any thoughts on where the line should be drawn and if a fair system could ever really be in place to discern the legalities of it. Thanks
Hi Guys,
So what happens when you embed youtube video into a blog saying something like, “check out this cute cat video”. Is this a problem.
Also, again, in a blog, what if you comment that there is a great article in todays newspaper, and provide a link to it, I’m assuming that ok as long as you dont imbed a photo from the newspaper with the link.
I wonder how Facebook gets away with everyone sharing photos links etc.?
Hey Neil, Linking to other sites is fine. As you said, just don’t add the photos. If the YouTube video has the embed feature enabled then the owner is giving permission to embed it.
Wow, thanks for the prompt reply!
I am in a business networking group and I just sent a email out with a link to this page, but no photo 🙂 because I really don’t think many people are aware of this issue. The Dentist in our group had photos taken of his office for his web site, and then got an email from the owners of the posters on the wall in the background of his photos requesting copyright payment !!
Regards,
Neil
This is an older topic, but after doing some research I found that many websites get away with using copyrighted images under the fair use clause, 17 U.S.C. 107. It’s worth looking into.
Hi
What if you dont know who it author is? If it is a generic image that might be used in many websites?
I am new to blogging. I am recommending books, movies, etc. to my friends. I have used pictures of all of the above and I also want to put up pictures of art work that I like. I don’t think I need permission for this since it’s obvious none of it is my work, and I certainly give credit where it is due. I have also included my poser copies of classic pieces of work. I have admitted they are posers. Am I doing wrong, or am I okay with what I am doing?
Thanks,
Nancy
Hi Nancy,
Most people don’t think anything of it when they use pictures that they find on the internet. It’s refreshing to see that you are conscientious.
Pictures are property, and should be regarded as such just the same as if they were a cell phone, TV or car. You wouldn’t use or take them without permission.
As a rule you should only use pictures that were created by you, permission was given, or the copyright has expired. Any picture taken before 1923 is in the public domain because the copyright has expired.
okay so i’ve got a question, im also in web designing..and i use google images..let say i use a photo of a cellphone..right..so its a blackberry phone against a black background..who can say that the image belongs to them if it has no name printed on the image? as for logos and celebrities-i stay away…
Was wondering if royalty free images can be used by photographers (say by amateur photographers wanting to start a business that can’t create such a good quality image themselves) claiming they took the photo to reel in potential customers?
Thanks for posting this article. Very useful info!
Better safe than sorry as they say. Unless the photos I use are ones I have taken myself, I buy photos from one of the various stock agencies available in the internet. They’re very low cost and I feel confident in using them.
Thanks for the article…To be on the safe side, I think it is best to always pay for the images that you use on the internet.
I use several pay sites for the images that I use on my site.
Great post Lisa! I appreciate the fact that you took the time to make people aware of this issue.
For those of you that are interested in keeping things on the up and up, here’s an outstanding resource for FREE PICTURES:
Wikipedia.org!
They host tons of photographs and pictures of artwork with expired copyrights. Every image in not up for grabs, but many of them are. Just click on the image, and read about the conditions for reusing the file.
Nice article. Look at public domain sites but make sure there are no intellectual property rights attatched. Some useful stuff…
I use stock photos and crop them. Until I get my own images. If I get contacted by anyone about a photo that many people have I’ll just take it down. Soon to writing blog about
romantic birthday ideas. Once I get some supplies for staging I will take my own photos soon. My brother knows how to draw really well and I was thinking about asking him to create my unique logo. How do I get the logo onto the computer so that it doesn’t look like a drawing that’s been done in pencil? How do I get the logo to look like a real computer graphic? Thanks
I always think people make too big of a deal out of that copyright stuff. But with America’s dumb suing culture I guess its always possible and you should never take chances. Usually I never put images on my website because I don’t want to worry about it.
Gotta say.. It’s something I’ll never worry about. I use Google images in everything I piece together. What’s the worst that can happen? Someone emails you and demands you take it down. No biggie.. just take it down! Nobody’s going to sue over 1 image on 1 of 10 million blogs. If you’re msnbc and grab an illegal image.. different story. To everyone else, share away. I’m not about to pay $25 for a stock photo for every story.
Your site was great with interesting resources. Those thoughts is a huge help to anyone! keep sharing your ideas!
JK
I just don’t use images from google images anymore. I use images from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Aren’t the images from this site free??? If I can use them what should I do in order to show the origin? Is just a link to the page enough???
Only 23 posts, I would of thought there would be alot more because I reckon that a lot of people do it. I think if most people were honest they would admit to doing at least in their life. To clarify, famous people what about them. If I took a photo of a celeb and put it in a post, then someone “saved image as”
1. Is not that the same as me taking a photo of the person and using it with out the celebs permission?
2. how would I know its being used with trawling the internet for months on end and probably still not find it? ( This question doesnt condone it, but still it shows how people get away with it)
Great Blog!!
What if you link back?
Technically this is still not enough. Always get WRITTEN permission.
It is hard to know what is free though. For instance, I googled in :”FREE [bla bla blah] IMAGES”. Hundreads of images appeared. Naturally I thought they were free and got ready to put some on tee shirts in a well known souvenir shop, only to be told by that shop that the images were not free; (eventhough as I said before, they appeared on Google as “Free Images”.)
Hellooooooo!?
It doesn’t matter what Google search spills out, it’s what’s on the image or on the web site. And if there’s nothing, the law says it’s fully copyrighted.
Actually it’s required by law to have a copyright notice and TOS. Otherwise there are no grounds for them to come after you.
However each country is probably different so I’d be better off to stick with Wikipedia and other sources I know have a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Or create my own.
Nice Informative Article. Will be cautious now 🙂
I agree that this post is made to frighten people. I file DMCA complaints for image copyright infringements every day so I know my stuff.
All you have to do is remove the image or replace it with another one, that’s it!
Do you know a good free email responder? Please send me some information on the sudject if possible. Thank you the magnificent service you offer newbies like me. I would not be as knowlegeable about making money online without you. Do you accept donations. If you do where would I send it. Thanks again Lisa.
This is a lovely post. I don’t use copyrighted images. I use free images on stock.xchng but then again I should inform the author what, and where I will use the images for. They’d be more than happy to know that you appreciate their work.
ThnX for telling us Jun about stock.Xchng .
My question is how to know who exactly that image is belonged to? I use Google images search to supplement my post but almost time I could not find who is exactly the creator of that image as it is shared from different sites. Any suggestion Lisa?
I always try and use Flickr images for my blog posts and give the user credit and a link back to the photo but for website logos etc I just use what I can find that is associated with them.
What if you give “credits” to the image and use it in a blog post?
For example, I post about a laptop and then use an image from Google. If I say photograph from (insert website) or photographed by photographer *insert name*.
Is that fine?
Some would say you can get away with this, but if you want to make sure you are safe it’s always best to get WRITTEN permission from the owner.
That’s illegal. Many people do that, mostly because they think it’s OK. And most of them get away with it. Usually because most of the owners doesn’t care.
“Giving credits” is OK if the image has some form of CC license. Then you have a legal permission to use the image (with possible other conditions met) without even asking. Though many people consider it nice netiquette to leave some note with a link to your piece of work. After all, it’s about sharing and connecting.
I don’t understand why so few people is not using CC licensed images. There is some great and quite interesting stuff on flickr.
Hi, Great post! I actually had questions about some copyright issues and this information is a great jumping- off point. I wanted to ask a question though because I have read some about items in the public domain. I have read that if someone takes a work in the public domain, and then alters it enough that it constitutes a different work, then that person can own the copyright on the altered image. There has actually been legal precedent for this before although from what I read, it is largely up to the courts. What have you heard about this topic? Thanks in advance for your comments.
Yeah this is why I don’t use images anymore, apart from photos taken of me or by me.
A guest post from a DMCA take down service? There are far better ways to explain this topic. Some of the information provided is incaccurate or misleading, and appears to be designed to frighten rather than inform. I’m unsubscribing from your RSS feed, and your videos.
This is a great article and I’m glad someone adressing the issue. Because you “find” an image you like on the Internet does not give you the right to use it!
One of the most interesting copyright stories has to do with a famous piece of writing called “The Desiderata”. Google it and read the story of its legal battle. Most people think it’s anonymous. It isn’t. But the author forfeited his rights unknowingly.
I’m so conscious of copyrighted images, that I just draw my own. I can draw almost anything I need in an hour or two. It’s worth the effort for the peace of mind. And it’s way funnier than trying to fit someone else’s art to my writing.
Related to this, the information I was seeking, which led me to this discussion, was regarding drawings and other likenesses of copyrighted images. Would anyone here happen to know whether it is illegal to use one’s own artistic rendition of popular or copyrighted images in sales? For instance: if one were to make handmade “Transformers” cupcakes for a bake sale or embroider an accurate picture of a Disney princess onto a handmade craft and sell it (without using names at all, mind you) would that be grounds for legal action?
Hi Kayva,
I’m an amatuer artist as well as the owner of several websites. I have a few thoughts to offer you. I hope they are helpful to you.
Technically, every product using a character created by someone else needs to be licensed be you, if you are going to use that character in a new product – such as cupcakes or handcrafts.
Andy Warhol’s famous images of Marilyn Monroe were created from a photography. Had he asked the copyright owner of the photograph for permission before selling the work, he would have been fine. Unfortunately, he didn’t, and he wound up in court.
Disney Studios appears to allow artists to create fan art and sell it without expressed permission. I visit the blogs of several Disney artists, and see the work that they are creating for galleries. If it weren’t okay, they wouldn’t continue to work for Disney.
In conclusion, I would say that your “Transformer” cupcakes will probably never be an issue. When you make your handmade crafts, however, I would limit yourself to Disney characters. If you decide at some point to mass product these items, you should obtain a license.
Hi Jennifer,
Wow, this just happen to me ther other day. I have a celeb blog site, and I put a picture up of someone that I found on a message board. Well I didn’t know the picture belong to a certain photographer or company. Well I ended up receiving an invoice for that picture that I posted. I thought since I found it on a message board, and all over the internet, it was free to whom ever.
Thanks for discussing this!
Thanks for the reminder. I actually started off many years ago using images from the internet without giving any thought to ownership and copyrights. Since learning the legal implications of using images without permission, I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on stock images and even started my own photography. I eventually plan to offer some of my photos for FREE to those who may find them useful.
copyright is an interesting subject and you see it discussed on adsense threads…and how google will police it…but a large % of google’s publishers are celebrity type sites and what do you think they have on their sites? and i mean a large % which produce millions of views for google adsense. i’m assuming people write a public domain notice. if the rights’ holder complains…then they remove the image or photo. i think with celeb type stuff it’s more or less free publicity, and if it is done in a positive way, i see winners at both ends. anyway…interesting subject. obviously…company logos and content is another can of worms.
While I agree with most of your points, I must say that most of the copyright licenses applied on the web are just damaging for all the sides involved, publishers and copyright holders included. Copyright law is made for the first half of the 20th century, not for this age and time. We need a new set of laws and rules that will make sense in the digital world and that will, as their aim should be, make benefit for the community.
Hi Jennifer,
Nice to see you guest posting here on Lisa’s blog. It’s great that you are focusing on this topic because many people are ignorant to their misuse of images. I recently saw a post where someone downloaded the thumbnail image from iStock – with the watermark still in place! I wasn’t sure if they didn’t notice or if they thought no one else would notice but that was a definite no-no. Thanks for the advice.