A relevant, smart image is a great way to reduce your bounce rate and increase your conversion rate. It gets people to read your content, so they’re likelier to buy something from you. But you can’t just grab an image from Google and hope the copyright lawyers won’t find you!
They might… and you DON’T want that.
More and more companies that specialize in stock images are using sophisticated software to catch people who use their images without paying for them. Even if you take the tiniest, littlest piece of Jessica Simpson’s big toe, they can find you. And if they do they’ll ask for WAY more money than it would have cost to buy rights to the image in the first place.
But you CAN find free images, and use them with no worries.
You don’t need to be a photographer — or even own a camera — to add a free, eye-catching, relevant image to your content. All you need is the Creative Commons, also known as CC, and this handy guide.
CC has four different licensing conditions:
Attribution: You may copy, distribute, and alter this image however you like, as long as you give credit for it, in the manner requested by the photographer.
Share Alike: If you want to distribute alterations of an image — if, for example, you crop it to put it on your card, you have to allow others to freely use YOUR image, too. It’s sort of a pay-it-forward condition.
Noncommercial: STAY AWAY FROM PICTURES WITH THIS CONDITION!! You cannot use any Noncommercially licensed images for your business. No exceptions.
No Derivative Works: You can use these images only if you do not change them in any way. Images with this condition are probably not suitable for your purposes.
These four conditions make up six different kinds of Creative Commons license:
Now that you know what all the symbols mean, you can head out onto the Creative Commons and find that perfect image — one that will capture your readers’ attention and make them want to stick around to find out how to buy your products!
CC on the street image from Flickr user Giuli-O, some rights reserved
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
This is a great tidbit of info — I never understood any of this stuff before! Thanks so much.
Great info, solid explanation: it’s bookmarked!
Thanks for a great post that will save the businesses of several marketers who may be ignorant of the conditions of image usage you have enumerated in great detail. And those tips about using images on your websites–they are just superb.
This is a great info — I never understood any of this stuff before also!
Thanks for a great post that will surely save the online marketers from potential legal wrangles who may be ignorant of the terms and conditions regarding the use of images etc… the info is just superb. Thank you IMC
Nice article on Creative Commons. Creative Commons licenses are definitely a great starting point for getting free (with attribution) images. If you are a photographer who provides Creative Commons based images to the community you should also consider using http://www.youtils.com for offering online based images to see how they are being used in addition to attributing your Creative Commons license.
Was searching the web for free pictures too, but couldn´t find what I was searching for. So I made them myself and created a free fotostream at flickr,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carworld/.
If you are searching flickr for free pictures
1. typ in what you are looking for, see the results and in the
2. step use “Advanced Search” for creative commons
Thank you for discovering creative commons. I have book-marked it for future reference!
This is my first time to this site and I find this very useful info on the use of images. This site is definitely worth return visits.
I would love to use images without the worry of being treading the line of legality. Unfortunately i am stump about how to find these CC images. Please help!
We usually and always use images to our site, but we don’t know exactly why? You will got rhe answer know after you read this article..
Thanks
Yes this is great info, often im stuck when designing sites and trying to find good royalty free images. Fotolia is ok, but can be expensive, especially if you’re buying the images and then the customer isnt happy! ouch!
Sorry, could you also see here and tell me if the images are ok? http://www.northdigital.co.uk thanks
Something I always wanted to know.Good stuff.
As a professional photographer myself and a former full-time web designer, I can tell you that commercial licenses to awesome images are dirt cheap. GettyImages, the biggest player in the stock industry, is selling royalty free images for $5 a pop. They also sell rights-managed images, which cost a bit more, but the whole point of an RM license is to keep your direct competitors from using the same image as you and diluting it’s impact. (Imagine if two pharmaceutical companies used the same smiling family in their billboards!)
iStockPhoto sells images for even less… you can BUY a license for a whole dollar. Creative Commons is a great idea that I support, but you just can’t beat the selection and legal security of cleared stock.
Creative Commons is GREAT and I fully support it, but there can be some legal issues with clearances for some uses beyond simply getting permission from the photographer. When I submit images to iStock or Getty, I’m required to provide a signed release for all people in the image, a property release for any buildings I shoot, and I’m required to photoshop out any logos or trademarks that appear in the image incidentally. The release indemnifies the end-user of the image for using the person or property in a way that could possibly be offensive to the model or property holder. Using a photo of a person without a release, even if the photo is CC-licensed, can get you in legal hot water if the person in the image doesn’t like the context that their image is being used in — same with architecture. The agencies in this case take responsibility for “clearing” the rights to the image which can save you a lot of trouble later.
And now a plug for myself. If you use this link here:
http://www.istockphoto.com/?refnum=7481
You get 10 free credits to use on iStockPhoto, and I get a referral fee kicked back to me.
If anybody has any questions about image licensing, I’d be happy to answer any of them. I make a living now providing stock photography to agencies like Getty and iStock, and I totally love my job.
You can find my website here:
http://www.halbergman.com
Hey Hal,
Thanks for added insight from a professional. We really appreciate your input. (Love your photos, too!)
Wow…that’s big time. I didn’t know there is a way to catch someone stealing images. I think it’s better to create your own images….more neater.
wow…this is most helpful and best of all simple to understand. really appreciate it as I’m a new to blogs & still finding my way around. Now I can start finding photos to ‘jazz’ up my blog http://www.successmumonline.wordpress.com which aims to help parents & businesses/services related to families.
God bless!
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