So that Royalty Free photo that you got way back when and not sure where… you’ve used for this and that without much thought, because after all, you were smart and purchased Royalty Free.
But are your Royalty Free photos really free to use for anything, anywhere? Probably Not. Did you know that your Royalty Free photo actually came with a license? Probably Not. Do you know any of the actual limitations on use you got with that Royalty Free photo? Probably Not. Did you really understand that much about copyright and licenses when you purchased your Royalty Free Photo? Probably Not. Did you actually read the End User License Agreement (EULA)? Probably Not. Are you surprised when an 800 lb Gorilla comes pounding on your door demanding payment for unathorized use? Probably.
That’s just what’s happening these days, so if you’ve used Royalty Free photos in the past, you better check to make sure that your using them in an authorized and correct manner. Why? Because the 800 lb Gorilla knocking on your door has a name: Getty.
Again with thanks to someone on one of my professional newsgroups, I bring you the tirade of the angry masses; people that have received demand letters from Getty for using their RF images improperly, or without authorization via payment and license. This is a forum thread on SitePoint, and it’s a very long forum thread. As of this posting, it’s over 14 pages long, with 350 posts to date. I suggest just taking a read over the last page (14)
After reading, I couldn’t help but think of how many people would have saved themselves hours of angst and frustration, not to mention the threat of possible collections or lawsuits, if they had just licensed only the uses they actually needed. No Fuss, No Muss, No 800 lb Gorilla.
I didn’t realize royalty free had restrictions either. I think they should change the name to something less misleading then in that case. Most of the people I know are graphic designers or art directors and none of them have bad intentions. The entire publishing / creative industry should set mandatory standards that everyone follows that way there’d be less confusion. And that new Rights-Ready licensing is confusing even after reading about it on several websites. I think they should scrap that. No advertising creative sits there counting the days left they have rights to an image. They’d probably moved on to their 3rd, 4th or 5th agency after ten years. Heck, I’ve worked at three already.
great post. I agree that Rights-managed should be the only option that way everyone knows an image can only be used once. No confusion there. Plus it’d be better for my checkbook. 🙂