Because the Internet is a visual medium, you automatically add pictures to liven up your blog postings and website articles. You’re used to doing this from your experiences with social media and emails, so you don’t even give it a second thought. You may not even realize that you need to photo rights before you incorporate images into your professional web design.
You’re actually also supposed to get the rights to pictures you post for personal use. However, most image owners don’t object in that case because you’re not making any money and have a small audience. But once you use images for commercial purposes, the picture owners assume you’re out to make a profit and want a piece of that action.
If you’re using your own camera to get shots of people, you can ask them to sign a release form so you can use their image. You’ll find examples of such simple releases with a search on the Internet. You can also find reasonably priced graphics that are royalty free from stock photography sites. If you have money to spare, your third image option is to hire photographers to take your shots – they will obtain and give you the rights to the photos.
What you cannot do is simply copy an image from somebody’s website and put it on your own pages. However, you can always ask website owners for permission to post their photos. Many will approve, if you put a link back to their site.
The easiest way to avoid worrying about royalties and permissions is to have us manage your business site. We’ll take care of all of that for you. Contact us for more information.