Is this ILLEGAL?

Probably.

But they hardly ever look like real customers anyway...which kinda blows the whole 'credibility' deal.

Fact: Most people can spot a fake testimonial a mile off. Especially when endorsed by 'Winking, Thumbs Up Grinning Guy'...or whoever is flavour of the month at iStock these days.



Cheers,
Steve

I don't think it would be illegal. If you purchase a photo from istock you can use it however you want for your own personal use.

I have a portrait I purchased as my 'about me' picture on one of my sites, simply because it suited the niche buyers type of person more than a picture of myself would have.

I don't see a problem with it.

Well, if it's a self portrait then I don't see why it would be a problem since presumably you would endorse your own product, right?

A portrait of someone else is a different story. I doubt whether the question of legality is going to cause many problems but as Steven said stock photos tend to look like stock photos which is more of an issue with people giving it any weight.

i dont think its illegal, but i dont think i would trust a guy, who is using a photo of someone else to represent them.
you know what i mean.. why not use their own photos?

Guys i think you misunderstood what i was saying I meant is it illegal to have an istock photo of someone else and write a little testimonial next to it on your sales page promoting your product?

Thanks for the replies tho i appreciate it

So it would be a fake testimonial then????

Well, its not illegal to use a photo from istock on your site next to a testimonial. I don't even think its that bad to use a purchased photo as some people don't like using their own.

But...... I don't think you should write testimonials for your own product. Its not illegal, but immoral maybe. That's the sort of thing that makes all testimonials lose credibility, because there are too many fake ones out there.

If you're product is good, then have a wso on it and get some real testimonials.

Testimonials are supposed to be genuine. A fake picture is not.

So I imagine it could be considered misleading.

Whether it's actually illegal or not will depend on the trade laws of your state/country.


Andrew

I'm not sure if he was saying he wanted to do it, but that he was wondering about it because he knew some other people did.

IMO Sheryl Polomka hit the nail on the head with the 'immoral' bit. You can get legit testimonials from WSOs, giving it away free to 5-10 people in an event in exchange for testimonials (I say event, because you're more likely to get people that will share if you give it away randomly/first come = first served), etc.

Oh, and family. Unless you have a really straight-up no bs type of family, you could get some testimonials with a slight advantage this way... but imo on the ethical-train you should mix these in with less/unbiased reviews too.

It is against most TOS and license agreements.

From: iStockphoto License Agreement | iStockphoto.com under section 4:


And I don't have a source reference at the moment but I'm almost positive it is illegal (aka against US law) to use fake testimonials. I believe the FTC/FCC or one of those "F" agencies will come down hard on you for it if caught.

In july of this year the ftc is going to set stricter guidelines for testimonials . Some of the ppl I background jv with are going all to video testimonials for this reason .

Typically to feature a person in a way that depicts their endorsement of a product you would want something called a "model release". istock standard licensing does not provide this as pointed out above.

Almost all stock photo agencies have something in their TOS about not using one of their images to represent someone else--just like GuruGazette showed you. And, I'm not criticizing you--I'm trying to help, but writing your own testimonials--well, I just can't believe you are serious about that. I'd rethink that seriously before you went down that road.

IANAL, but pretty sure if you use a fake testimonial in the US the FTC and a state's attorney general can sue you. Not sure about the photo thing, but sure about using a fake testimonial. You may not get sent to jail, but I would think getting sued by the state or the Feds would not be fun.

And as Troy wrote - the rules get even more tricky this summer. Fellow warrior Jack Duncan has a thread on this topic here:
http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...-solution.html

Finally, even if its not illegal, as others have said if is very unethical and unfair to your potential customers....

peace,
--Jack

Sorry I just realized my last comment might be more confusing than helpful.

An editorial photo can have people in it and be used without a model release, BUT it can only LEGALLY be used for editorial or educational purposes (aka a breaking news story). It cannot be used for commercial purposes such as advertisements and sales pages.

Despite this, many editorial publications require model releases these days just to be on the safe side and cover their legal butts.

Any people photos you find at a reputable stock photo agency WILL have legal model releases on file. They will not accept, display or sell commercial stock photos which have people in them and no model releases because it could get their business in major legal trouble.

They will NOT give you a copy of the release when you license the photos though, because that violates the model's privacy. Those documents are kept on file and brought out on court orders.

Professional stock photographers also keep model releases on file for any photos of people which are being licensed for commercial uses. Some photographers may display non released photos as part of their portfolio but those will not be licensed to clients because they can get into huge legal trouble doing so without a model release (and so can the clients).

Whether or not a picture of a person has a model release on file does not change the stock photo agency's or photographer's TOS though. If they do not allow the pictures to be used as "endorsements" then it has nothing to do with whether there is a model release or not.

It's not illegal but you should contact istock just to make sure sometimes you can't use all images for testimonials but there is a very slight chance that someone will actually know that you grabbed the image form istock

Here's an idea ... instead of ruining your credibility and doing the same old fake testimonial BS that most people do, why don't you give away a few samples and get real testimonials? Just a thought.

Here, I have a great solution. Ask somebody to write testimonial and provide you their pictures.

Not illegal ... but not appropriate!

Andy

Rules on using fake endorsements (testimonials):

USA - http://www.ftc.gov/os/2008/11/P03452...mentguides.pdf (scroll to page five)

EU - EUR-Lex - 32005L0029 - EN (scroll down to Annex 1)

UK - http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/bus...gs/oft1008.pdf (scroll to page 25)

Regardless of whether the use of the photo is illegal or not, the use of fake testimonials is according to the FTC, the OFT and the EC. Probably best to simply go get yourself some real endorsements, and save yourself the headache.

No it's not illegal. But not so good also.

The FTC has internet marketing in their crosshairs. I agree with other posters that this is pretty clearly illegal in the U.S. Frank Kern had some trouble with the FTC a few years back over something similar (false claims for products, I think - I'm sure there are people here much more intimately familiar with what he went through).

Any testimonial that doesn't include a legit way to contact the testimonial giver should be considered worthless. I mean, c'mon people. I say if you buy a product because of testimonials that are just signed -John S., Topeka ... you DESERVE to be scammed. Sorry, but that's my honest reaction. Ignore testimonials unless you can contact the people who gave them.

Geez IM is really out to market itself as unethicall money grabbers ( not everyone) but with people looking at posts like this if you spend the time and money to get real testimonials they are just going to browsed over as fake. Humans are sometimes there own worst enemies.

How could the OP post something so ludicrous?

What are you thinking?

Why not just post "How To Scam"

Testimonials should be genuine. If you don't have any
make a useful product instead of ripping people off...

Oh wow, I can't believe those weight loss pictures, that is terrible.

There is just too many lies on the internet these days and so many poor people that believe them.

I think it is not illegal. It is moral question.