Clarifying Copyright – What It Means for Imagery

Johnny Hernandez/Getty Images

We know that the legalities associated with licensing images can be scary. It’s not an easy subject for anyone to completely comprehend. To help make it just a little easier for everyone to understand, we’ve turned to the guidance of our internalcopyright and intellectual property experts (aka lawyers).

Below you’ll find some copyright and licensing tips they so kindly put together in regular, non-legal language. With these key tips in mind, it should make using professional images for your business a little less intimidating.

Whenever you use an image, it’s important to be smart about it. A copyright exists the moment an image is created by the photographer, and images are subject to copyright laws. If you want to use an image that you did not create, securing permission or a license is necessary.Don’t equate the Internet as “Public Domain” – just because it’s out there, it does not mean that it’s free for anyone to use.

By law, as the end-user of the image, you are ultimately legally responsible for insuring that you have obtained the appropriate rights to use the imagery. Because of this, you need to do your homework if anyone is designing communications for you or for your company. Be sure they are licensing imagery appropriately. Ask for copies of license paperwork.

Continues @ http://blog.gettyimages.com

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