Do you use photos in your website or for your book covers? If you haven’t bought the right licensing, you could be in big trouble!

One of my side jobs is website editing, and I’m compelled to post this piece because I’ve lately come across a few people who were using photos on their websites, book trailers, and even book covers (!!!) that they didn’t own the rights to. If you use photos in anything, even your blog, it’s really important that you understand photograph copyright and licensing!

Many people, when they want to place an image in their website, do a search on Google Images, download a photo they like, and then re-post it, thinking that if it’s ‘out there’, it can be re-used. Not so!!! Under international copyright law, the person who took the photo owns the copyright, which means that if you use the photo without their permission, you could be sued for using it. Think of photo licensing as similar to software licensing: a company produces a piece of software (like MS Word), and many people buy licences to it. If you download a ‘cracked’ copy… that’s illegal!

The good news: there are many photos out there that people are allowed to use for free, same as there are hundreds of free software programs. How do you know if the photo you want is a ‘free use’ one? First of all, STOP using Google images and start either buying stock photos or only searching sites that provide free photos (more on these below). And don’t download photos off other people’s websites and blogs! Even if they bought the rights to the photo, it’s not up to them to give you permission, it’s up to the copyright holder — which means you still have to buy your own rights (same as with software).

A lot of people figure they can ‘borrow’ photos because the internet doesn’t have a photo police force, so what are the odds someone’s going to bust you for using their photo? Well, it doesn’t happen often, but it can. So why risk it? Yes, it’s easy to take a photo down if someone demands that you do so, what if you’ve used that photo in your book trailer? Now you have to redo the whole trailer! Or even worse, what if you used it in a printed book? The photographer might suddenly feel a lot more litigious…!

What if I’m reviewing books or other products? Can’t I post photos of those?
Yes you can, because of a clause called ‘fair use’, which allows you to use images that are “for the benefit of the public”. You can post the book cover along with your book review, because the review is for the public’s benefit. But if a photo is promoting your product or service, that wouldn’t count as ‘fair use’. You might think your service benefits other people, but if the first purpose of the photo is to get you customers (or sponsors or advertizers), this is benefiting you. If the dividing line seems a bit hazy, that’s because it is; this article explains it really well.

I recommend playing it safe by making sure all your promotional photos are licensed. There are a few ways to do this:

1. Buy stock photos from sites like Shutterstock, iStockphoto, and 123RF. Their licensing agreement states what you can use the photo for, and how big a print run you can do (yes, you do have to read the fine print!). I like iStockphoto because I can use the photo electronically and/or for print runs of up to 50,000 copies. (Which means that if my books sell more than 50,000 copies, I need to buy additional licensing for the cover photos… but at that point, I can afford more licensing!) Some stock photos sites are more affordable than others; the three I just mentioned are very affordable.

2. Use Creative Commons 
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools. Which basically translates to: people post their photos and make them freely available. They still own the copyright, but are giving you a free license. However, there are certain restrictions, so make sure you read and understand these. If the photo has a ‘Non-Commercial’ license, this means you can’t use it for commercial purposes (such as selling your product or service). So, no using these ones for your book cover! Or even your website, if your website is promoting your books that are for sale.

If you need photos for commercial purposes, make sure you’re searching the ‘Attribution License’ ones – which means you can use them commercially but must give credit to the photographer (like I do on my Frankincense Trail website).  Make sure you read the license for each photo, because if you’re searching on Flickr Creative Commons, you can sometimes ‘slip’ into the Non-Commercial section without realizing it!

Complicated? My recommendation is to go with stock photos, because this way you can be sure you own the right license. A small photo for your website only costs a few dollars – well worth the price of avoiding a lawsuit!