Looking for free graphics to use on your blog? Think again. There’s no such thing as free images for blogs.
Picture this: A young writer has recently taken over writing the content for his family’s successful travel agency blog. It’s a dream job; he’s able to feature new destinations daily. He’s learning about the world around him, and using his mastery of language to write killer copy. Plus, this young writer knows well enough that you can’t just use free images for blogs.
He steers clear of sourcing photographs from Google’s image search and other search engines. Instead, he uses graphics sent to the travel agency by partner companies or even takes pictures travelers post to other travel blogs, but always credits the original photographer for their work. Then one day, he gets an email from a lawyer informing him that the travel agency is being sued for copyright infringement for thousands of dollars.
Don’t think this is old news or couldn’t happen to you because you’re a small-time blogger or have a brand new company blog. It is happening, and you need to prepare yourself.
Just a few weeks ago over on the website BlogHer, blogger Roni Loren posted about getting sued from a photographer for one picture she uploaded to her personal blog after searching Google for free images. For blogs, there’s unfortunately no such thing as free images, unless you’ve taken the pictures yourself. Besides having to deal with the lawsuit at hand, Loren also had to change 700 other images on her blog to protect herself from future litigation.
[Tweet “According to “Fair Use,” if a picture is copyrighted, your intentions for using it do not matter. “]
It’s even more important to ensure that you’re using the proper graphics on client blogs or websites. The Content Factory just faced an $8,000 lawsuit for a photograph they used on a client’s new blog. This “crappy photo of Nebraska” was live on the website for only three months, and viewed less than a hundred times. Yet, the client received a notification from a lawyer that they were being sued for $8,000 for using a copyrighted image.
Almost the same story happened to Webcopyplus, where they were forced to pay approximately $4,000 for what could have been a $10 stock photo. Both companies considered the pictures good enough to post with the blog but “nothing spectacular.” Yet, they were forced to pay the big bucks for an avoidable situatoin.
According to “Fair Use,” if a picture is copyrighted, your intentions for using it do not matter. It doesn’t make a difference if you’ve linked back to the source and credited the photographer or even if your site is non-commercial. Some people may think that it is fine to use a copyrighted photo as long as you don’t use the full-sized version or didn’t upload it to your blog’s server. None of that is true. In fact, even if you take a copyrighted picture down immediately after receiving a DCMA, you’re still liable to be sued for using it. Why? Because you never owned the rights to the photograph in the first place.
[Tweet “Don’t want to get sued? Don’t use Google Image Search for your blog images.”]
It might be an important time to point out that I’m not a lawyer, and neither is anyone else on the Lantern staff. Everything we’ve learned about free images for blogs (or should I say the lack there of) and copyright law hasn’t come from years of law school, but it has come from extensive research to be sure that we are following the rules and using images correctly. There’s so much murky information on the Internet, that you really need to put in the effort to make sure your blogging best practices are up to par. If you have the monetary resources, you may even want to consult a lawyer if you’re still unsure.
Think about it it this way, everyone you read here on the Lantern blog is a professional writer. We make our living out of the words we choose, and we certainly wouldn’t want anyone to pilfer our words and use them as if they were their own. We get copyright. The photographers whose work is being used unfairly aren’t getting compensation for their efforts.
Here are some of the ways we ensure that we are using proper blog images:
Hire an Illustrator or Photographer:
We try to often work with illustrators to create blog graphics. The real reason we do this is because we simply love supporting artists and small businesses. If possible, we’d like to make sure our money is going to a hardworking artist. Another benefit of working with an artist is that you can converse with them directly about the type of image you’d like to use and work together until the finished product is exactly what you both were hoping. Always create a contract that is clear about who has the copyright. If it’s not you, then make sure you have permission to use it however you intend to use it.
Take Photographs Ourselves:
Unless you have multiple personalities, it’s safe to assume that you’ll never be sued for using your own photographs or graphics on your personal or company blog. We like taking pictures, and we’ve had the opportunity to highlight many of them on this blog. One thing to consider if you’re the CEO: Be sure to get your employees’ permission in writing if you happen to be using their photos. This can be written into their employment contracts, that anything created while working for you, is owned by your company. This protects you and the clients that you work for. You don’t want a rogue employee changing their mind, and forcing you to have an uncomfortable conversation with an old client. Be sure you can continue using the photos on your blog in case these employees ever leave your company.
Purchase Stock Images:
If you are posting regularly – and you should be – you may not have enough of a budget to hire an illustrator or enough time to take your own perfect picture. This is where the beauty of stock photos comes in. There are many websites where you can purchase stock photos to use on your web pages. However, be sure to check and see if there are terms or conditions that come with purchasing the stock photos. Some sites still require you to link back to the website the graphic was purchased from or to credit the photographer – even if you’ve purchased the photograph for commercial use.
For the record, we use PhotoDune, which does not ask for or require credit.
What are your thoughts on free images for blogs? We’d love to know where you get your graphics from, and if you have any tips to share about copyright law. Let’s take this conversation to the comments section!
Thanks for the info. I’ve tried figuring this out for quite some time now, but could never find what I considered to be reliable information. I always try to find images that are labeled “free” and always include a link / credit to any website information available. It sounds like we really have no legal options unless we are financially able to purchase every image we want to use . . . . and that will put lots and lots of bloggers completely out of business. Appreciate the heads up!
“…using his mastery of language to write killer copy”
Why is it that ‘writers’ believe their creative work has more value or should be afforded more protection that the creative work of someone who takes photographs?
Any writer would be the first in line to sue a web site or other publication that outright reproduced their written work and used it as content on their site – EVEN IF ATTRIBUTION WAS PROVIDED.
Yet many of those same writer thinks either nothing [or finds it questionable enough to debate] the same usage of the works of a photographer. What makes ones’ written word more valuable than a photograph someone took? Even if that photographer is a amateur, on vacation – posting photos of their trip? It is their work and it can not be used without their permission – which may or may not include a payment [license fee] to do so.
A writer would expect the same of any other website / content producer intending to use THEIR [written] work.
Is it OK if I create a ‘travel website’ and post the entire blog post written by the young writer you described in your article if I ‘provide attribution’? I’m assuming without thinking about it the answer would be either ‘No’ or to request permission from the author. Yet when it comes to work I do as a photographer, most people don’t even think twice about using my work – with or without attribution and those who might stop for a moment to think about it – are simply debating of it is/isn’t should/shouldn’t be ok. Yet no one stops for a moment to consider whether it’s OK or acceptable to copy and post on their own site an entire blog written by someone else.
I don’t understand [this isn’t directed at you personally btw] why writers who hold their own creative work to be deemed as protected without a doubt – think so little of the creative work done by someone else simply because it exists in another medium. Copyright Law is Copyright Law. The creator of a photograph holds the same rights to their work as the creator of a written blog post. Whether it’s written / taken by an amateur, professional, someone with years of experience or simply a one-time creative outburst.
If writers considered photographers [something they obviously need – hence the situation we find ourselves in] to be creative equals, then there would be no question about whether or not it was acceptable to use a photograph. It’s someone else’s work – ask their permission. Sadly most [amateur] photographers might very well allow the use of their work in exchange for attribution and a link. Or a nominal fee to [amateur] to compensate the cost of their hobby. It’s when writers decide that a photographer’s creative medium is somehow lesser than their own & demonstrate that by failing to ask permission before using a work that you see many of these lawsuits.
For those of you who find the cost of those lawsuits to be very high, ask yourself this – if the photographer [or attorney on behalf of] had settled for a small nominal amount of money, would those bloggers who’ve been sued for thousands of dollars have bothered to take the time to write about their experiences and explain to others that it is NOT OK to use the work of someone else [with or without attribution]? The likely answer is that they’d have paid it off as an inconvenience and never given it a second thought. I applaud those photographers [and their attorneys] for ensuring that the settlements were enough to justify the writing of articles and bringing awareness to protections afforded by the US Copyright Law to photographers. If not for these experiences, writers wouldn’t be giving a second thought taking the photographic creative work of others. How many times has questionably ethical behavior been justified with the thought idea that “it’s not like anyone’s ever been sued over it”.
Alas someone HAS been sued for it and in doing so sets an example that it is NOT OK to use the work of others without their permission. And they’ve been sued for enough to encourage them to share their experience with others and educate others that in the eyes of US Copyright Law – the creative work of a photographer is EQUAL to the creative work of a writer.
I often find myself wanting to write to some of the bloggers belittling the work of photographers and ask them if they’d mind if I ‘borrowed’ one of their blog posts to accompany my photographs on my website because I have beautiful photos but am not very good at writing and somehow feel like the photos need articles to go along with them. Maybe I’d provide them attribution as the author of those accompanying words, maybe not. I’m sure they’d be OK with it either way right? [I don’t actually do that – it’s just the idea of proposing the use of their work in the same way they use the work of a photographer and seeing how they feel about the suggestion that they shouldn’t be bothered by the idea of my doing so] It’s sort of the same thing. I wish people who wrote blogs would put themselves into the shoes of a person [at least for me who takes pictures as a hobby] who takes photographs and tried to justify why their work is more valuable or deserves more protection when it’s very much the same and legally has equal protections as the works of photographers.
I apologize for my poor writing. I have difficult organizing my thoughts & expressing myself via written word – but having read numerous articles [by writers] belittling or questioning lawsuits / judgements / settlements regarding their copyright infringement of a photographer and find it quite upsetting to learn how little they value a photographers work. Yet were the tables turned and their written work was ‘borrowed’ ‘stolen’ ‘used’ or otherwise copied in its entirety and posted it somewhere else [with or without attribution] without requesting their permission or paying them a a fee – they’d be the first in line to file a hefty lawsuit.
Hopefully the point I am trying to make is buried in my ramblings somewhere and you realize that I wasn’t writing specifically towards you or this article in particular but to the masses of articles [written by bloggers] that question, belittle or otherwise suggest that the creative works of one person should be ‘fair game’ but creative works of another deserve full protection simply because the medium [written word vs photography] is different.
Thanks for the article. I just heard from a blogger getting sued for a picture she had permission to use. Problem was: the original poster (it was a link-up) didn’t have permission to use.
She’s getting sued for thousands for a link-up that didn’t even get much traffic.