Images & Copyrights: What’s legal?
This is a topic that people often overlook when designing a website, brochure, business card, or any other type of marketing piece. When in fact, how you use an image you’ve “found online” could be the one thing that lands you in the hottest legal water you might ever dip your big toe in.
Many people are tempted to just go straight to Google Images, type in what they need, and “borrow” one of the first images they see to complete the look of whatever project they’re working on. Or, they tell their web designer and/or marketing person, “just find something online.”
Finding something online is easy, it’s the making sure you pay for the image you want to use that isn’t. There are various stock photography and clip art sites that sell the rights to images for mere cents on the dollar, or actually offer their imagery for free as long as you give credit where credit is due. Depending on what you need the image for, the resolution you require and the size, the small investment upfront could help you avoid potentially a great deal of headaches in the future.
Need help finding images to use on your website or in your marketing materials? Not sure if the images you’re using fall in the “safe to use” zone? Contact GnomeMedia today so we can help.
