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Image copyright question

by Arun Chandran
7 replies
Hello warriors...

I have a teeny question. If you order an ecover or you buy a product that comes with social media images, in most cases, the designer would have used a stock image to create the ecover or added words to the social media image (stock photo).

This image might have come from any of the royalty free sites that they are a member of. So, they have rights to use the image.

But what about the person who ordered the ecover? We do not have the rights to the image... So, is it ok?

Do things change once the image is used to create another product such as an ecover?

Thanks for any suggestions.
#copyright #image #question
  • Profile picture of the author spearce000
    It depends on what rights the photographer (or the site) granted the original purchaser. Find out where they got it from and purchase your own copy; then you know you'll be in the clear.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Arun Chandran View Post

    But what about the person who ordered the ecover? We do not have the rights to the image... So, is it ok?
    The answer depends on the rights the supplier bought.

    A premade cover artist recently had a DMCA notice served by the creator of an image licensed through Bigstock: https://kdp.amazon.com/community/thr...hreadID=213169

    Apparently Bigstock sees premade book covers as templates (even if just one cover is sold), and now wants the artist to hand over the names of authors and books currently using the artist's covers. DepositPhotos, apparently, has also told someone else that they require an extended license for this. I'm no lawyer but my own understanding is that this specific problem applies only to pre-made covers advertised on the web, not to custom-made covers. I may be wrong.


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    • Profile picture of the author Arun Chandran
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      The answer depends on the rights the supplier bought.

      A premade cover artist recently had a DMCA notice served by the creator of an image licensed through Bigstock: https://kdp.amazon.com/community/thr...hreadID=213169

      Apparently Bigstock sees premade book covers as templates (even if just one cover is sold), and now wants the artist to hand over the names of authors and books currently using the artist's covers. DepositPhotos, apparently, has also told someone else that they require an extended license for this. I'm no lawyer but my own understanding is that this specific problem applies only to pre-made covers advertised on the web, not to custom-made covers. I may be wrong.


      .
      Thanks Alexa. This is confusing. If I sell PLR products with covers that someone on fiverr created... then the customers will end up using those. Now I've to wonder if those become templates.

      Maybe I should just email one of those stock websites and see what they say.
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  • Profile picture of the author richarddaris
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    • Profile picture of the author Arun Chandran
      Originally Posted by richarddaris View Post

      I think there's so many solution out there,... just google it.
      Very helpful. Thanks.
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
      The repliers are right, it depends on what the rights are that the original creator authorized the stock photo agency. And what rights are passed on. And what countries everyone involved live in. Royalty free is just a way of saying you don't have to pay per use. Sometimes these are free to use, sometimes not.

      It has been my experience that many times designers do not understand what rights are involved with using images in their creations. This is an enormous when you are outsourcing. Think about it like when you get a piece of writing outsourced and you want to make sure it has not been plagiarized. Except with images it is 10 or 100 times harder to find out.

      There are really no digital images they way we think about images like a photograph or a painting. A digital image is just a set of computer instructions that tell your browser or image viewer software what to display. An image is really like a script or a small software that only does one task display the image.

      This is how people who use images the wrong way get caught. There are lines of code in the images that can be searched for.

      As far as social media images are concerned, it used to be that Facebook in particular did not want anyone to use any images other than the official ones they provided. You see custom images all over the place, so either their TOS have changed or they just don't care enough to pursue.

      I do have some experience in this issue, but I am definitely not a lawyer and in my own work, I always err on the side of caution.
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    First, don't assume a provider has a license, or the proper license to use an image. Ask to see the license and be sure he can use the image for clients. Many images allow the purchaser to pass on some of the rights that came with an image.

    For example, some image sites will allow a user a certain number of "impressions," which means that once an ebook or other product has been sold X times the user needs to upgrade the license or face the possibility of monetary penalties.

    Again, always ask to see the rights for an image your designer is using and how those rights/terms apply to you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kurt
    Originally Posted by Arun Chandran View Post

    Hello warriors...

    I have a teeny question. If you order an ecover or you buy a product that comes with social media images, in most cases, the designer would have used a stock image to create the ecover or added words to the social media image (stock photo).

    This image might have come from any of the royalty free sites that they are a member of. So, they have rights to use the image.

    But what about the person who ordered the ecover? We do not have the rights to the image... So, is it ok?

    Do things change once the image is used to create another product such as an ecover?

    Thanks for any suggestions.
    One option is to provide the image(s) the graphic artist will use so you are aware of the license details, instead of simply letting the graphic artist pick and choose. This may include you paying for the images or membership.

    Another option is for the graphic artist to buy a license for you, although some image sources make this more difficult than they should. I know Graphic River has an option to "buy again".

    The hard part is how to interpret whether you can resell your creations using licensed graphics. These terms will vary from source to source.

    Public Domain sites, like www.pixabay.com are also a possibility. The drawback here is that while you can use the images pretty much any way you like, you never know when a member uploaded an image they didn't have the rights to upload. Also, I don't trust the "model" releases on the Public Domain image sites, so I never use a face of a recognizable person.
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