Are Your Images Legal?

Recently, I have got into outsourcing some of my free eBook collection. The question of cover images for eBooks is causing me some concern at present; and I wonder how many designers may be unknowingly supplying illegal designs; and how many Warriors may be inadvertently using illegal images. With the caveat that I am not a lawyer, let me explain ...

Whilst looking into the subject of how to obtain completely free images for use on my eBook covers - i.e. whilst considering designing them myself - I began to investigate the terms of use for Microsoft Clipart images. It turns out that commercial use of Clipart images is not allowed. It was when I was reading through their terms that I first came across the phrase 'model release'.

A Model Release (in my own words) is a signed document in which the subject of a photograph effectively waives their own personal rights - allowing the photo to be used without payment of any royalties. Without a proper Model Release, my understanding is that it is possible for a photo to be made available, in good faith, by a photographer, but for a photographed subject to object to its distribution. For sites such as flickr.com - a very popular site which licences photographs via a number of different licenses, this I believe can be quite an issue.

Many photographs are made available - at flicr and other photo/art sites - through a Creative Commons Attribution License, for example. This requires anyone making use of the photograph to acknowledge its original source. I have no problem with that at all, but it seems that many of the photographers currently making their photographs available under this license don't seem to understand the subject of Model Releases. You have only to ask them to realise this.

The subject turns out to be quite a minefield too because if the subject is a child, for example, the Model Release needs to be signed by the parents. And it doesn't stop there because if the photograph contains logos, landmarks, attractions and certain other things (again I am not a lawyer) you can also run into legal problems.

OK - so I had got this far when I decided that perhaps I should turn the problem over to the professionals. These difficulties should obviously be something that any professional designer would know about and with which they should be able to work - right ? Well, now that I have started asking eBook designers whether or not they have Model Releases I have got some interesting replies that lead me to believe that there are many people designing eBook covers - and no doubt other web graphics too - who don't seem to understand the foregoing.

Now to the purpose of my post ... yes - I know it's quite lengthy, but I feel it's necessary too: supposing you were approached by someone at some future time who claimed that you were using an illegal image. Being an ethical person, you would, of course, state that you were absolutely not doing so; your images were all professionally designed; and you paid good money for them.

You approach your designer (if you can still remember who designed them for you, that is) and you pass-on the query; only to find that the designer does not know what this person is talking about when they say that a model release was not obtained for the images you are using. You are now firmly in the legal clag; and ill-equipped to deal with the copyright issues that arise. You have no legal defence in this situation either because the buck has to stop with you! You are the person who perpetrated the offence - it makes you think doesn't it?

So my friend, my advice is this: ASK the designer you are thinking about working with about copyright issues including, but not limited to, the matter of Model Releases. In my opinion, any good designer, worth their salt, will not mind being asked such questions. In fact they would probably welcome them. After all, it is their opportunity to separate their services from those less professional outfits to seem to think that any downloadable image is fair game for use in their projects. If you don't get a sensible reply, then perhaps you are asking the wrong person

I hope this post stimulates an interesting discussion around this important subject. I would be very interested to hear what other Warriors have to say on the matter.

Will