Image Copyright: A Rough Guide to Staying Safe

I was getting ready to write a LinkedIn post a couple of weeks ago. My goal was to drive home the benefits of backing up your website in case it all goes a bit “Pete Tong” (wrong). I was able to locate an image of Pete Tong off Wikipedia, but it wasn’t his best.

So I went to some of the popular stock image websites. There was a great selection of Pete Tong related images, but these were all marked Editorial. This means that the image could only be used for reporting and non-commercial only.

I could of course argue this was the case, but in the end decided to abandon the whole piece just to stay safe.

All about Copyright

The first instance of copyright law dates as early as 1709, to protect the interests of publishers. In time this has come to protect artists, writers and photographers. A website is no exception. Printed material may only reach a limited amount of people for a short time. A website is there all the time for anyone across the globe to stumble across.

Twin that with reverse image searches in Google Images and monitoring services such as Pixsy or Tineye, and you could find yourself in trouble very quickly.  And it can get expensive.

The first experience I had of web copyright was as far back as 2005. I worked with a local manufacturing firm that told me his story. He bought 2 images from a well known stock company to use on his brochure. When he came to create his first website, he thought “oh let’s use the 2 images I’ve just bought for my brochure.”

Two weeks later there was a dull thump on his doormat. In the form of a hefty copyright bill for £7k per image. Ouch.

Of course this is the story I tell to advise my clients to not full foul of the same fate. After all, a lot can be done with £14,000. Paying a disgruntled photographer or artist shouldn’t be one of them.

That goes for Artwork as well

This isn’t limited to photos, this can be videos, graphics and so on. I recently complimented one of my clients for the graphic for one of her product hampers. When she announced “Oh I just did a Google search and copied it”, I took it upon myself to recreate a graphic that was just as good but wouldn’t potentially cost her 5 figures. 

Deviant Art, one of the largest art galleries online does a pretty sterling job of explaining copyright on their website .

A quick word about celebrities

I have recently called out someone who I was going to work with by pointing out he had an image of a popular tennis player on his website. As this was a PT, it could be implied that he trained them.

I was shot down in flames due to the fact that he had included this image on his site for several years and had not had any issues. In fairness the image has about 100 pixels wide and very bad quality.

But why even take the risk? As I found out from my Pete Tong expedition, the only images are editorial. To include them on your website unless you are a news resource is a very dangerous game.

Celebrities (and their photographers) take a very dim view on having their work exploited and as Kendrick Lamar said at the Oscars, are “lawyered up”.

So what can you do?

There are a number of ways still to include images on your website and stay above board.

• Original Content. This is the best method. Take your own images, make your own graphics. Or enlist on the help of a professional to create something that is truly yours.
• Get written permission. It nevers hurts to ask. A polite email or letter might lead to a “no” but how would you know, if you don’t ask? If you’re selling products on behalf of a company, they should give you consent and probably even point you towards a trade website allowing you to take what you need. If not, then just get an ok in writing, even as an email.
• Popular stock libraries. If all else fails, there are many stock websites for photos, videos and graphics. The top ones are iStockPhoto and ShutterStock. Generally you can get an image for about £7-£20. I would however read the licence agreements prior to using any stock website. Unsplash.com is also a good library to check out. Mostly these are free for commercial use. Access to premium images are available for £10 for a month.
• Try free stock libraries.  I have had some success using some of the other free options, such as FreeImages and Pixabay. Again read the small print first, just so you know whats ok and what’s not.
• Check Out WikiMedia. If you are that adamant on getting a celebrity image, try WikiMedia which look after the images on Wikipedia. It can be a bit hit and miss, BUT read the Reusing content link first and follow the instructions thoroughly. Chances are you will be asked to add an attribution.

Conclusion

We all need content for our website and social media, but you cannot just Google an image and swipe it for your own use. By following my guidelines, certainly gives you better guidance into getting what you want without being my next horror story.

If you need help with your website then contact DVH Design today for a free no-obligation review.

Taking Stock of Web Images

Go to any business website and chances are there will be at least one stock image, maybe more on the pages. A stock image can save you the time and trouble of taking your own images, gives a visual representation of the theme of your web pages and clearly portrays your message. Stock images can be bought from reputable stock image websites and vary in price from £1-£30.

The early days of the internet saw a lot of shameless copyright infringement:  Images were plucked from other sites and used; content was copied off other websites and passed as their own. Around 2008, the image companies said “Enough!” and began to clamp down on anyone seen to be misusing images.

The one story I tend to share with my clients when emphasising the importance of image copyright and how it can all go wrong, was from the MD of a local company: Before we got called in to help with his website (I must stress that this all happened long before we were on the scene!) He bought two images to use on a corporate presentation about 10 years ago. When he came to updating his website a couple of years later he used the same two images on his website thinking that this was ok.

Two months later, two envelopes landed on his doormat.  Both were royalty bills from the photographer for each of these images: £7,500 each or the special offer price of £15,000 for 2. Money that is better spent elsewhere for any small business!

In this case, the person involved didn’t read the small print, because if he had, he would have known that these images were not permitted for web use. This is just as big a problem as using Google Image search and pinching the image for your own use.

There are many stock photographs website out there that provide a wealth of stock photography at various sizes and formats for you to get your message across. the main two being www.istockphoto.com and www.shutterstock.com.

It is free to register on both websites and then you can either pay per image, or pay in advance by, purchasing credits (iStockPhoto) or subscribing for a fixed time (ShutterStock). The unit price does get cheaper if you buy more or subscribe for longer, but my advice is only buy what you will realistically use.

There is also www.sxc.hu which is a free stock photo website, but the quality is not always as good as the paid stock image websites. Also still make sure you read the Standard restrictions and availability first as some photographers do ask to be notified and/or credited.

Here’s a few pointers to make your credits/subscription go even further:

Check out the free section: Both websites have a free section. If you have a clear idea of the image you want, see if you can find it here first.

Read the small print: Before buying anything, take the time to read through the Website’s Licensing terms. It is a lengthy document but stock image websites do make it a bit easier for you by listing what you’re allowed to use their images for and what is not permitted. If you’re planning to use an image or graphic as a logo, you will need to buy an extended license, which does cost a bit more. Most sites permit you to use their images for small-scale printing but check the impressions limit given as this varies from site to site.

Size and resolution: Each image comes available in about 3-5 different sizes, from a small 500 pixel image version to use on a web page to a high resolution, 6000 pixel wide image ideal for posters. If you know you’re going to crop an image then buy one slightly larger than you need to. If you are only using the image for the website then opt for a resolution 72 dpi (Dots per inch) which is more affordable than the ideal print resolution off 300dpi.

Get it right: I know a lot of you are probably saying “Duh!” and slapping your foreheads at this one, but it is one worth mentioning: Shutterstock do not have a refund policy and as of 1 July 2013, iStockPhoto will no longer issue refunds for errors. So if you don’t check you have the correct image, size and resolution, it’s your loss. So just double check again before before hitting the download button.

Steer clear of Editorials: Most stock websites include images used for editorial purposes. These are found under a separate section but may appear if you are running a search. These can include, logos, people, places or events. If they’re highlighted in red or have clear warnings on their page, then find an alternative because these are strictly for non-commercial use.

Conclusion

Just by following these basic guidelines, then no one needs to receive any hefty royalty bills for thousands for an image you realistically only need to pay a fiver for.  If anyone can think of any other good tips or something that I’ve missed then please do feel free to leave me a comment below.