Images play a key role in a website – let’s face it, a website featuring plain old text would be pretty boring!
If you don’t have high-quality images of your own to use on your website, it can be all-too tempting to do a quick Google search and copy and paste some images from there. However, this seemingly innocent action can have disastrous consequences that can result in you needing to pay thousands of pounds.
Whether or not they’re free to see in a Google search or on a website, most images on the web aren’t free for you to take and do as you see fit with them, as they’re protected by copyright. Using a copyrighted image without consent or a valid license from the owner can have huge repercussions. You could be presented with an official fine, but more likely, you’ll be approached by either the copyright owner, or a company acting on their behalf, demanding you pay either compensation and delete the image(s) immediately, or you pay a hefty license fee to cover the usage.
These teams can be very sneaky too, as they don’t just trawl the web, find an image being used without permission and then serve a fine straight away. No, more often than not, these companies will bide their time from when they first discover an offending image, waiting years and racking up a huge sum of money to be owed. This can then result in thousands of pounds needing to be paid when they do make contact.
Many people think that because their business or website is small, no one will come after them – but for these companies, their whole business model involves trawling the web and identifying offending sites, so trust me, no site is safe, no matter how big or small.
So, how can you avoid this, and what should you do instead?
The most simple and effective solution is to use your own imagery on your website. Not only does this mean you own the images, giving you peace of mind, but using your own photos also helps to create a connection with your website visitors and establish trust. An image of your own team members, as an example, will be much more engaging and trustworthy than a generic stock photo of a group of people.
It may be that you don’t have high enough quality photos, or you don’t have any photos at all just yet (particularly if you’re just starting out). If this is the case, and taking some photos or investing in a photographer’s services isn’t an option, you can use images from the web – you just need to be careful where you’re sourcing them from.
There are plenty of free images available on sites like Pixabay and Pexels, and some free imagery available on Adobe Stock too. If the free offerings available don’t fit your needs, another option is paid stock library sources, such as Storyblocks and iStock.
However, if you do use images from a premium stock library, you absolutely must make sure you purchase the required license and ensure it will cover you to use the image on your website, not just personal use. Check the time period that the license covers too – ideally, you want to be able to use the image in perpetuity. When you’ve purchased have the correct license, make sure you keep a copy somewhere safe, because the companies that trawl the web won’t always know that you have a license, and may approach you anyway. If this does happen, providing you’ve purchased the license correctly, all you’ll need to do is present your proof of licensing and the claim will be dissolved, with no fine to be paid.
Here at Engage Web, we always source images for our clients from copyright-free sources, or from libraries we hold a valid license for. If you need help in putting together a compliant, engaging website for your business, get in touch today.
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