IMAGE COPYRIGHT LAW IN SIMPLE TERMS – WHY YOU NEED FREE STOCK PHOTOS
According to copyright law, you are financially liable for using copyrighted images on your website. Instead – use free stock photos.
It doesn’t matter if:
- You link back to the photo source and give attribution to the photographer
- Your website isn’t for business use/you make no money from your blog
- You did it innocently / accidentally
- The picture is licensed to your Web developer/designer
- You have a disclaimer on your site
- The photo is embedded instead of saved on your server
- The photo isn’t full-size
- You found it on Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram/Facebook/etc.
- Another business or blogger used the photo
Unless you’ve received express permission or have legitimately purchased usage rights, you can’t post copyrighted photos. Period.
Grabbing that perfect image for your next blog post may seem harmless, especially if you’ve seen it used all over the web, but it can hurt you in a big way. Don’t you dare do that to yourself or the business you love.
WHERE TO FIND BEAUTIFUL FREE STOCK IMAGES?
While the standard advice to avoid all this trouble is “just take your own photo,” that solution is unrealistic for many businesses. Taking photos is time-consuming! Plus, you can’t always capture exactly what you want.
I understand what a hassle it is to find an excellent free stock photo, so below I’m sharing some of my favorite free image sources. And yes, all are 100% free to use commercially.
