Happy Late September! Can you believe this year is finally on the latter end? I know what you’re thinking, “It can’t end quickly enough!”. I get totally get it. We have to just keep pressing through and come out of the other side.
Without any further to do, I want to write about a common problem I see with other graphic designers and I personally encounter. Sometimes, we just want to throw things together quickly just to put something up as far as a visual impression. Or maybe we’ve been searching far and wide for that perfect image to go on our website and we do manage to find it. But it’s a Getty, Shutterstock, or iStock image on Google that requires licensing purchase to use. Well, that can get expensive after a while, so we want to forgo what’s procedurally correct and just download it so we can use it how we want. Also as a side note, I’m not talking about famous company logos. 99% never allow the use of their logos for any reason at all unless it somehow promotes the brand. In any other case where there has been no written approval for usage of their logo/branding elements, it’s copyright infringement which is a violation of Federal Law which can result in civil and/or criminal charges.
Sometimes I get this request to use an image or I’ve even been provided images from clients in the past, in which they were unlicensed photos. In all honesty, most of the time people don’t realize how this is actually NOT ok to do. It’s innocence combined with a simple convenience of Google that seems like its ok. After all, if those images weren’t on Google, they wouldn’t be able to be used right? Wrong. Although Google has gotten better at preventing any of the images on their search engine to be downloaded by anyone on their Chrome browser, unlicensed images are still on display and they can still be downloaded on other internet browsers. Just because something is convenient doesn’t mean it’s always right.
Photography represents someone else’s work of art that they created, which means that there are ownership rights involved. Whether to the photographer or the company/organization that legally obtained the rights to the photography, that image is owned by someone. Therefore in order to legally obtain and use that photo, you usually need to purchase a license for it. It gives you the ability to use that photo in your print ad or website. However, when you don’t have the license or proof of purchase of using that image and you use it, you put yourself at risk of being caught.
It can happen. Some firms have what are called “trolls” and “spiders” which are systems dedicated to searching the internet for images that have been used without a license. Upon the discovery of an unlicensed image being used, the firm usually has the option to send a demand letter to whoever is the perpetrator. Those demand letters can vary from just a couple hundred dollars to as much as $5000. Very simple question: Do you want the legal hassle and liability just because you wanted one free image you could’ve purchased for maybe less than $70? I would think not.
With all of this being said, no, I cannot just take that one image you found on Google or Bing and just throw it on the website because you like it. At least not without proof that you obtained the proper licensing for the usage of that image. If I were to do it, it would a potentially high-risk liability hazard for both you and me. So I wouldn’t say no just to be a jerk, it would be to protect both of us and help maintain our respective credibility and reputation in our fields. Just because it’s easy to do doesn’t make it right. You can only cut corners so many times until there just isn’t enough corners to cut, and then you end up getting caught. If you really like the image that much, purchase it one time and you will be fine. Do good.