Images on Websites

Do you have images on your website? Do you know where those images came from? Recently Getty Images and other image storehouses have cracked down on companies and individuals that are violating their copyright.  In a typical scenario, an image was licensed from Getty years ago and then forgotten.  A careful reading of the fine print of the agreement reveals that the license was only good for a short period of time (1 year, 2 years, or three years).  Unfortunately, the image lives on after the license expired and therefore, Getty is now claiming copyright infringement and pursuing those companies and individuals to recoup their “loss” of licensing revenue.  Getty threatens to sue for the “loss” revenue and the amounts can be quite steep (thousands of dollars). 
 
If you are using images now, be sure to read the fine print – did you purchase the image for use in any way you want for as long as you want? Or did you simply license the image for a period of time for a specific purpose?  And to put a fine point on this, even if you alter the picture (remove the background, take a person out of the shot, change colors) there is software out there that can look at a picture and still find the part of the image you are using which could subject you to back licensing fees. Better to pay a little extra upfront and buy the rights picture in perpetuity then for a limited period of time.

Division websites hosted on APA’s new system are royalty-free and fully licensed to be used on the websites upon which they are placed. However, for websites hosted independently of the new APA system, websites hosted on the old APA server, and for images placed on brochures and documents uploaded to the new APA system, it is the responsibility of the division to manage copyright access on all images used.

APA's Central Office can provide Division leaders with legal or finance support. For additional questions, contact:

Legal/Contract Questions: Jesse Raben

Finance Questions: Richard Payling-Wright