Using Stock Photos For Your Wellness Business? 3 Must-Know Tips To Protect Yourself From Scary (And Common) Lawsuits

By Briena Sash of Wellness Stock Shop   Imagine being contacting out of the blue by an attorney serving you  with a several-thousand-dollar lawsuit for using a photo you downloaded online. If you’ve ever downloaded and used an image from the internet without knowing the original photo source or usage terms, this could happen to you. This potential of this situation is very common and very real. Now, you might be thinking: But Briena, everyone downloads photos they find online. It happens all the time. I’ve been doing it for years and nothing’s happened. The truth is that downloading and using imagery without permission is stealing. And although I know you would never intentionally steal, even doing so innocently can get you into a real pickle. Here’s something many business owners don’t realize… illegal image usage has become so rampant that there are now attorneys making a living by hunting the internet for illegally used photos and encouraging photographers to press charges. And it’s not just big companies who are getting dinged. It’s the small people too. In fact, chances are very probable that you know someone who knows someone with a small business who’s been served for photo usage infringement. “I’ve heard of other acupuncturists getting popped by Getty Images for illegal use of photos. It’s opened my eyes to a very real situation and reminds me that it could happen to anyone, including me. As a solopreneur doing all my own marketing and branding, the images I use for my website and social media are very important to me. I’ve found it can be difficult to find quality stock images that haven’t been overused by everyone else in my profession or images that don’t have huge fees attached.” – Allison Blaisdell Chalifoux, acupuncturist Think you’re not at risk? Let me ask you this: Do you know the original source for every photo you’re using on your website, your blog, on social media, and in your promo materials and videos? What about the photos that have been “gifted” to you? And the images used in designs you’ve hired out on Fiverr or to other professional designers? More importantly, are you positive you have the legal right to use them in the ways you’re using them? If your answer is: I’m not sure (head scratch), but I think so… Then I’d encourage you to think twice before posting those photos in representation of your business. In case you didn’t know, not all images you find on the internet are free to use – even if you found them in a search on Google for “free photos” – in fact, most aren’t. So, what’s the cost of using a photo illegally? You might want to sit down for this. Drumroll… you can get sued for up to $8,000 per illegally used image. Yep, you heard that right. Well, but what if the photos were gifted to me by someone else, or if the photo was used in a design I hired out by a professional designer? The answer: You’re still liable. Yep. I know. It’s true, and it sucks. Briena THANK YOU so much for bringing the ‘royalty-free’ confusion to light. At a recent event I ran into a woman who was frantic she has been served with a several thousand $$ suit for improper use of photos from a web/print project she bought through Fiverr. After hiring a lawyer and paying what she has to it is going to be an expensive lesson- what a mess. It was a REAL eye-opener for me, I had no idea and felt very naive myself. … Please spread the word!! I spoke with my attorney about this and he basically confirmed what you said. This is the ‘new form of ambulance chasing’ there are attorneys that make a living in front of a computer looking for such infringements and infractions. – Felicia Mill And before you say: Well, I give photo credit and would just take it down if someone has a problem with it, let me tell you – it doesn’t matter. In fact, there’s no mercy, even if you:

• Didn’t realize you were using the image illegally
• Thought you were allowed to use it
• Offer to pay the regular usage cost
• Found the photo on someone else’s website
• Were “gifted” the photo as a bonus with something you purchased or signed up for
• Got the image from your friend/colleague who purchased the photo
• Got the photo as part of a design you commissioned on Fiverr or elsewhere
• Received the photo as a “filler” image in your website template or other design and didn’t realize you needed to purchase them
• Remove it from your site immediately
• Give proper photo credit and/or link back to where you found it
• Downloaded it because it came up in a google search for “free photos”
• Downloaded it because it said “royalty free”

Even if you plead to any of the above, you’re still legally liable and there’s no way around it. Mostly, these usage terms and additional license fees exist to help protect and compensate photographers when big corporations profit from their work. But in all fairness, all businesses – big and small – use imagery to brand, market and bring in profit. Professional imagery is a strong and effective sales tool. So even if you create a video that doesn’t directly link to product sales, but still use “illegally” downloaded photos – it’s still a form of promotion, it’s still illegal, and it’s still stealing. It’s important to give photographers love and respect. Photography is a skill that takes years to learn and perfect and working as a professional photographer is extremely expensive in both time and money (believe me, my photography gear alone was a $20,000 investment). It’s important to compensate photographers for helping you to promote and market your business in a professional way. After all, photography is a profession just like coaching, copy writing, massage therapy and any other profession requiring dedication, skill and investment. It’s important we respect and support each other, and doing so helps allow us to continue to do so in the future. That said, there are things you can be aware of and do in order to protect yourself from photo infringements. Here are 3 must-know tips to help prevent scary (and unnecessary) legal situations:.

1. Understand this: “Royalty-free” does not mean free-to-use.

 There’s a popular misperception that “royalty free” means you can download and use it however you want – for free. Let me set the record straight right here and now, because this is a very dangerous misperception: “Royalty free” does NOT mean free-to-use. Read that last line one more time, because it’s super important to know and understand. Here’s what royalty-free typically does mean:

• Royalty-free typically means you don’t have to include “proper photo credit”, like a photographer mention or a link back to the photographer’s website.
• Royalty-free also commonly means, after legally obtained, the photo can be used multiple times without paying additional fees per each use or per volume.

Here’s what you can do to protect yourself: Never download photos you find on a Google search for “free photos” or “royalty free photos”. If you find a photo you wish to use, be sure to click back to the original source and scout out whether the photo use comes with a fee. Make sure you know what type of usage is allowed with purchase and whether there’s an expiry date.

2. When in doubt, ask for the original photo source + usage permission

  If you’ve hired out a design or have been gifted a set of “free photos”, it’s a smart idea to ask the designer or gifter for the original photo source and for proof of usage permission. They should be able to easily supply this info. If they can’t supply proof of usage permission, you can reach out to the photo source for confirmation. If the designer/gifter can’t supply any information, assume it’s not safe to use the imagery. “I worked for a super small local marketing team and one of the girls started grabbing images from Google to use with our client’s blog posts. The client was contacted by Getty Images with a Cease & Desist and a $6000 fine. Photo rights are no joke!” – Cami Williams, Owner/Virtual Assistant at VAology

2. Choose 1 or 2 go-to stock photo sources and get cozy with their usage terms

It’s important to know that every photographer and photo site is different and has unique licensing and usage terms for their imagery. Many big stock photo sites even have unique licensing and usage terms per photo. This makes things SUPER confusing, especially when downloading multiple photos from multiple different sites which all have different usage terms. How can you remember which photo came from where and what the specific usage allows? I’m a photographer, and even I get confused by this! When I was researching stock photo sites during the dream phase of starting my own stock photo source, the different usage terms from site to site sent me in a head-spin. I had a wave of relief when I realized –  I could make my own rules with usage terms that are clear, simple, and cover most common daily usage needs. But not every photo site is the same and this is one reason why I recommend to choose  just 1-2 go-to photo sources that are on-brand and that you trust for your business, get to know the usage terms, and stick to those sources so things don’t get so confusing and messy. Another smart thing to do is to create stock photo folders with titles that indicate the photo usage terms of the images within and make it a strict habit to organize photos by licensing terms.