You really should purchase your imagery.

If you’ve ever used an image on your blog or website that you just sort of “borrowed” without asking permission from the author, you are guilty of copyright infringement. Copyright infringement is defined as “the unauthorized or prohibited use of works covered by copyright law, in a way that violates one of the copyright owner’s exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works”. Yes, I copied and pasted that from Wikipedia. I’m probably guilty of copyright infringement myself! Ha! Just kidding.

Listen, we’ve all done it. You know who you are. Yes, I’m talking about you! Sometimes you just don’t have $800 for that perfect image that conveys anything and everything you’re trying to say without having to actually say it. Just keep in mind that if you do “borrow” an image from another website, blog, or stock photography website… *cough* Getty Images *cough* … you could face some serious fees and/or legal actions.

For example, the other day one of our clients called me in a fit of panic babbling on about “I just received a letter…”, “OMG! I think they’re going to sue me…” and “What do I do? What are they talking about? What pictures?” I quickly told her to calm the eff down and fax me a copy of the notice she received. Sure enough, Getty Images sent her a demand for $1,700+ (I’m rounding) for the unauthorized use of a handful of stock images.

Not only did they find the images that she had used on her website, along with item numbers and author information, but they also included screen shots of her website to point out the instances in which the images were used. All of which I thought was absolutely fascinating. What’s even more fascinating is that they were demanding that she pay them within 14 days of receiving the notice, seven of which I’m sure she spent stressing out about what to do.

So! The moral of the story here is this: If you’re going to use stock photography on anything you are personally responsible for creating, make sure you purchase it. I’ve also upload a copy of the settlement demand from Getty Images (parts of it are obviously omitted).