Using Stock Photos
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Today I begin using images in my posts. Most of them will be from a stock photo service - places that have been around for a long time, even before the internet (oh my!). They charge varying fees for their photos, some are even free, but they save the user money over hiring a photographer to do a custom photo. However, the user - that means you - must read the license that you are being given. You may not have unlimited use of the photo. And more importantly, you may have use of the photo but not the subject of the photo.
The photo on this post comes from Stock.xchnge (sxc.hu). Below is a clause from their standard license:
“Since SXC does NOT require a written Model Release for each Image that has identifiable people on it, We cannot guarantee that you will be able to use the Image for any purpose You like. Also, if there is a model release for the Image, We do not represent or make warranties whatsoever as to the legality or validity of it.
Each photo on the site has a sidebar with various information, including a notation as to whether a model release is available or not.
The issue here is the right of each individual to control the use of their image or likeness in some instances. It’s a right that goes beyond the copyright of the photograph itself. Which means that the person in the photos has to agree to let their likeness (the photo) be used in the way that the user wants to use it, in addition to the user obtaining permission from the copyright owner of the photo itself.
Got it?
Sometimes the issue is about commerce - if my picture is being used by a business to help their bottom line, then I probably want to be paid for it. But sometimes, the issue is about privacy and control of your own fate, as the situation with Allison Stokke so clearly illustrates. Allison had not agreed to have her photo used this way, contrary to the intent of the “Girls of the SEC,” who presumably signed all the necessary releases.
And by the way, the reason I have a photo of a fingerprint up is that a fingerprint is one of the truly unique images in the universe. You can copy a copy of it, but the actual thing will never be copied again. Only one person per finger, please.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
[...] elmangahentoi wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptBut sometimes, the issue is about privacy and control of your own fate, as the situation with Allison Stokke so clearly illustrates. Allison had not agreed to have her photo used this way, contrary to the intent of the “Girls of the SEC … [...]