How to Use Photos Online Without Getting in Trouble

Question: How can I  use other people’s photographs on my blog?

“I’m not necessarily bothered about real weddings… it’s more pictures of the flowers, cakes, etc. that I’d like to use, but I’m really unsure about the rules. The more I look, the more confused I get. Some people say don’t do it, others say get permission beforehand, others say just reference them and send a link…. I wonder if you could clear this up a little for me?”

Answer:  Always ask for permission before using a photo on your website or blog.

You need permission from the owner or an image with a creative commons commercial license.

What I’ve done in the past is to use it, post the link and credit, then send an email saying, “Is this okay?”

This way you can have your post live FAST (which is the point) and you don’t have to wait for a response. Plus, you’re showing them that you’re promoting them, and you can always remove the image if it’s not okay with them.

Make sure that the blog owner also has permission to use that image. If it’s theirs, it may be watermarked, or they may include an attribution credit and link to the creative commons license.

You can check for licensing of an image by going to http://images.google.com and in the search box, there is a camera icon. Click on that and it will ask you for the URL or you can upload an image.

If the same image file was used elsewhere, you will find it this way and maybe find the original photographer’s site where it was published. There you can see the licensing, or contact the owner of the image to verify permission.

The best thing to do for networking purposes is to use the photos of local photographers, so you can promote each other.

Here are a few places to find free and cheap images:

• 15 Places For Free Stock Photos Online
• Royalty-Free Stock Images
• 12 Places to Get Free Images
• Two Bright Lights – connect with wedding photographers who are willing to share their photos for free

Don’t let the technicalities stop you.  Blogging can be an amazing way to attract targeted leads, when you do it right!

How do you credit photos in your blog posts?

Photo Credit