Copyright Images Used in Web Design
Most recently stock image photography companies have been checking through various web designs of businesses in order to check whether or not any of their images are being used without their permission or the correct license in place.
It is extremely important that before an image is used on your website you do have the right license or permission in place so that you can avoid any unwanted copyright claims being filed against you.
Where you have to be careful is that even if a web design source and upload the image the liability for the copyright infringement will actually all fall to the owner of the website.
A popular site known for their stock image photography is Getty Images and they are hot on the heels of any website owner using their images without the appropriate permission.
Like many other stock photography companies they are tackling this problem by sending out demanding letters which request payments from website owners due to any copyright infringements.
People have the wrong perception about image selection, they think that because it is available so freely on the internet they can just right click, save as and then reuse it however this isn’t the case.
There are various technologies now in place which are cheap, easy to use and extremely effective at finding out when images are being used without permission or the correct license. Technologies such as these are finding their way into the hands of those who do own the rights to the photos or pictures and thus it is only a matter of time before they find inappropriate image use.
Take this as a warning, check through your web design thoroughly and ensure that any images that you do not have permission to use are removed or replaced with one you do have permission or license to use.