5 Tips for Safely Using Images on Your Website - STADLER IP LAW — STADLER IP LAW

It is quite easy to capture an image from another person’s website and post it on your own website. We all know people who do this all the time.

However, a person that takes images off of another person’s website and then posts them on his or her own website may be in trouble. In particular, the person that takes and uses such images without the authorization from the owner of the images is almost always committing an act of copyright infringement. The unauthorized user will oftentimes receive a cease and desist letter from the copyright owner demanding that the images be removed and demanding a large monetary payment. Indeed, under U.S. Copyright Law the unauthorized user of the images may have to pay statutory damages (to the copyright owner) that range from $750 to $30,000 for each unauthorized image he or she used.

The major problem for the unauthorized user is that it is oftentimes difficult/impossible to defend against such a charge of copyright infringement.

In addition, there are many online service providers that can track images as they move from the owner of the image to unauthorized third parties. These online service providers catch many people committing copyright infringement in this manner. The technology these online service providers utilize is becoming more sophisticated by the day and the number of unauthorized users being caught continues to grow on a daily basis.

So, here are easy 5 tips to prevent this from happening to you:

1. Take your own pictures and use your own images on your website. You, as the photographer, own the copyright in the images and can do whatever you want with them.
2. Do a background search on the image you want to use before using it. Try to find out who owns the image. If you find the owner of the image find out if he or she is willing to license or sell the image to you.
3. There are many websites that license images for a reasonable fee. So, you can check out these websites and license the images you want to use.
4. Do not rely on putting your own disclaimer on your website giving credit to the website where the image was taken from. This will rarely work as a defense in a copyright infringement lawsuit.
5. There are many public domain websites that provide free images. One can use such images, but carefully read the policy pertaining to the use of the images because some uses of the images may not be permitted.

In view of the above, the simplest way to use images on your website is to use your own images.

*Please note that this information is shared as guidance only and is not intended to be legal advice for your particular business and circumstances. For more information on IP and to access videos about IP, visit our youtube page.*