The Pitfalls of Free Image Sites
Social media is an image-driven medium. From product photos to team videos, the more visually dynamic your campaigns, the more attention they receive. More views, comments, likes and engagement are great for your brand. But where should you obtain the best images to go along with your message? There are a few options, but some have pitfalls.
Paid Licensed Video and Images
There are services such as Adobe Stock Photos and iStock Photo that offer video and images for licensing. Upon payment of a small fee, a user is permitted to download and use an image, or a collection of images, even for commercial purposes. The terms of the license are on the page, and are fairly straightforward.
The companies offering images in this manner are generally reputable, and users should not expect to run into any copyright issues as long as they follow the prescribed terms of use for that license.
Free Images via Creative Commons License
A new trend has emerged, where a site will aggregate a number of images submitted by various photographers. The images can be used at no cost, subject to a Creative Commons License (CC License). Under a CC License, there is no charge for the use of images, or even altering such images. An example of this type of site is Google™ or Flickr™.
However, the user must comply with attribution requirements set forth in the license. Failure to provide attribution in the exact manner specified in the license can lead to a copyright infringement case.
This is where I must warn you about the copyright trolls, who are just waiting for you to make a mistake in attribution. Using AI search tools and digital watermarking, all of these images are protected and can be found with a simple search. This gives the copyright trolls the capability to quickly find all uses of an image, and hone in on the ones that have potential for litigation. Recent developments in AI tools allow these companies to reach even further back to find infringing use from many years back. Courts have allowed photographers to collect significant damages when the attribution has been omitted or done incorrectly.
Free Image Sites
Sites such as Unsplash, Pexels and Depositphotos offer images free of charge, and do not require attribution. Photographers submit their photos and give up their copyright rights to allow the use of their images at no cost. Attribution is entirely voluntary.
Sounds the perfect solution for those marketing on a tight budget, right?
Unfortunately, these sites come with their own sets of intellectual property use pitfalls. The companies offering the images are simply accepting the submissions, with no warranties. If the images include an identifiable person or some other protected element, there is no way to determine whether a release has been signed that would allow your use of the photo.
Certainly, you can use images on these sites, but I warn you to be very careful of the images you choose. Select images that are more generic in nature, such as commonly used landscapes, animals or locations. A photo that includes a person facing away from the camera, and therefore unidentifiable, are generally safe to use. Try to avoid anything that can be specifically identified to a person, or any potentially protected work.
Avoid the risk of copyright infringement claims by reading the fine print and understanding the requirements for use of any image on a free image site. If you still have concerns or questions, consult an attorney with experience in this area of law for assistance.
