Copy. Paste. Screenshot. Download. Save. Repost.
Billions of professional, exciting, vibrant images, memes and illustrations are right at our fingertips each and every day.
Whether it’s through social media, websites or stock libraries, accessing images has never been so easy.
Put your hand up if you have:
- Shared, reposted or pinned someone else’s image
- Paid for or used a stock library to download an image for your social media platform, school work or business website.
We guarantee a larger number has said yes to a) and no to b).
But did you know it’s illegal to use someone else’s image? Yes – we did use the word ILLEGAL!
Screenshotting an image perfect for your Instagram theme, discovering a gorgeous Pinterest post that would look sensational as your Facebook cover image, copying that “just right” image from a website. Isn’t it so satisfying when you find just what you’re after?
But STOP. Hold your horses! It doesn’t matter how satisfying it might be, you’re actually not allowed to do any of those things.
And if you are, you need to brush up on copyright infringement.
We sound like the fun police but no one wants a multi-thousand-dollar damages bill for using a pretty image found somewhere in Instaworld!
Don’t think you have anything to worry about? We’re sure the Melbourne travel agency which used a photographer’s image without his permission thought the same thing before the Federal Circuit Court hit the travel company with damages totalling almost $24,000 for using the photograph. And that’s just one example in a growing list of many, many copyright cases.
Copyright is automatic. An image or blog doesn’t need that little © to prove copyright. Copyright is automatic. The moment you press share or post for a photo you took or an image you designed, it is automatically considered copyrighted by you! In the words of the Australian Copyright Council, copyright protection is free and automatic from the moment your work is on paper, or disk, or otherwise put into “material form”. And that includes social media, blogs and websites.
At school we are taught about citations and appendices, we are encouraged to state the author or origin of the information but even that is not enough when using somebody else’s material online. You are actually required to seek the direct approval from the author to use their image. So no, “reposted from www.example.com” doesn’t give you the right to use their image and a shout-out to the owner doesn’t cut it, either. Email and ask!
You wouldn’t go into an office, take their car keys and drive off with their Merc because it goes with your outfit would you? That’s theft, and taking a photo from a website or social media to use on your own is not really any different. It’s theft!
Using the share function which shows the origin of the image is often appreciated as free promotion by the author but is no guarantee you have the right to use the image. We still strongly suggest you ask for the author’s permission. You can find the original image by using Google’s reverse image search then contact the author.
The best way to save yourself from copyright infringement is to assume when you find an image, you cannot use it apart from in the following instances:
- You purchase an image – but please read their terms and conditions because there are restrictions on the use of some purchased images.
- It’s your own photo, image, words, illustration etc.
- It is specified you are able to reuse it, such as via Creative Commons
GOOP Digital strongly suggests you seek legal advice if you’re worried about using an image or believe somebody has illegally used one of your images without your permission.
For in-depth details on the do’s and don’ts of copyright, go to the Australian Copyright Council.