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Finding and Using Legal Photographs Online
Copyright laws are getting stricter and the means photographers and agencies have to find their images is getting much better. Don’t think you’ll ever get caught. Stay on top of it.
The best photos you can post are the ones you take locally. Take a day or two and devote time to building a local repository of local images. Schools, police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, post offices, city buildings, police/fire stations, courthouses, stadiums, parks, major intersections, etc. Don’t wait until you need them.
Never ever use images from a search result - regardless if it says "labeled for re-use."
What are “royalty-free images”?
Royalty-free images aren’t necessarily free. In most cases, you’ll have to pay a one-time fee to obtain the rights to use the image. Then you can use it as many times as you like. The “free” in “royalty-free” only means that you do not have to pay royalties to the owner of the image every time you use it.
If you would rather pay for every photo you use, there are a few dozen sites to choose from including Shutterstock (https://www.shutterstock.com), Adobe Stock, iStock, Depositphotos, and Getty Images.
You may only want to use one of these services for artist or concert photos. If an artist is coming to town, typically labels will provide specific images for promotional use, but restrict that image for any other use. ~40 artist images may work years for you refreshing them only as needed.
Our Top Four FREE Image Sources.
At the publish time of this podcast, you can download and use any/all images from these websites for free without giving any mention of the website or photographer, BUT you are not able to resell the images or sell something that includes the image.
Pixabay, Unsplash, PikWizard, Pexels
IMPORTANT: Give credit on every image you don’t take, regardless! If you are using WordPress, use the “Caption” meta field of the image to paste this information into. You never know when you will be asked for proof.
Are you importing RSS feeds from outside sources?
If images are contained inside those feeds, make sure that that you have specific rights to display them. If you are unsure that you have those rights, then do not import the feeds. (Stop now and delete every post you have imported.)
Beware of e-mail scams claiming image copyright infringement
Read this for details: https://www.skyrocketradio.com/business/phishing-scam-image-copyright.
Learn about PicRights.com: https://copyright-demand-letter.com/picrights-ltd-copyright-letters-making-noise-in-the-us.
The main takeaway from this episode is to use photographs that you or your team have taken. When you do use any stock photography, credit the source no matter if they require it or not. And, have a sharp eye when it comes to online scams.
Have a great week making your radio website better.
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By Jim SherwoodCopyright laws are getting stricter and the means photographers and agencies have to find their images is getting much better. Don’t think you’ll ever get caught. Stay on top of it.
The best photos you can post are the ones you take locally. Take a day or two and devote time to building a local repository of local images. Schools, police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, post offices, city buildings, police/fire stations, courthouses, stadiums, parks, major intersections, etc. Don’t wait until you need them.
Never ever use images from a search result - regardless if it says "labeled for re-use."
What are “royalty-free images”?
Royalty-free images aren’t necessarily free. In most cases, you’ll have to pay a one-time fee to obtain the rights to use the image. Then you can use it as many times as you like. The “free” in “royalty-free” only means that you do not have to pay royalties to the owner of the image every time you use it.
If you would rather pay for every photo you use, there are a few dozen sites to choose from including Shutterstock (https://www.shutterstock.com), Adobe Stock, iStock, Depositphotos, and Getty Images.
You may only want to use one of these services for artist or concert photos. If an artist is coming to town, typically labels will provide specific images for promotional use, but restrict that image for any other use. ~40 artist images may work years for you refreshing them only as needed.
Our Top Four FREE Image Sources.
At the publish time of this podcast, you can download and use any/all images from these websites for free without giving any mention of the website or photographer, BUT you are not able to resell the images or sell something that includes the image.
Pixabay, Unsplash, PikWizard, Pexels
IMPORTANT: Give credit on every image you don’t take, regardless! If you are using WordPress, use the “Caption” meta field of the image to paste this information into. You never know when you will be asked for proof.
Are you importing RSS feeds from outside sources?
If images are contained inside those feeds, make sure that that you have specific rights to display them. If you are unsure that you have those rights, then do not import the feeds. (Stop now and delete every post you have imported.)
Beware of e-mail scams claiming image copyright infringement
Read this for details: https://www.skyrocketradio.com/business/phishing-scam-image-copyright.
Learn about PicRights.com: https://copyright-demand-letter.com/picrights-ltd-copyright-letters-making-noise-in-the-us.
The main takeaway from this episode is to use photographs that you or your team have taken. When you do use any stock photography, credit the source no matter if they require it or not. And, have a sharp eye when it comes to online scams.
Have a great week making your radio website better.