![]() ![]() Whether you use free or paid royalty-free stock photos, you need to check their legality. ![]() Unless stated otherwise by the website or creator, all original work is protected by copyright law, even if there are no copyright symbols visible on the image. Copyright LawĬopyright law grants the creator exclusive rights to control the use, distribution, reproduction, and sale of an original work. Understanding the legal implications of stock photos will keep your business compliant. Here are some laws you should familiarize yourself with to ensure you’re complying with copyright. If you aren’t familiar with copyright law, you may run into some jargon that looks unfamiliar. However, using stock images legally is easy once you understand copyright law. These fears aren’t unfounded.Ĭelebrities are often sued for using photos of themselves without asking for permission from the photographer, and in most cases, the photographers win their lawsuits. There’s a right and wrong way to use stock images, which we’ll expand upon later on.Ĭontent creators may shy away from stock photos because they can come off as cliché, or they’re afraid of the potential legal implications if they misuse stock images. That doesn’t mean stock photos will automatically make your content look the same, but there’s a higher possibility you’ll find the same photo on someone else’s blog.Īny visual medium comes with its own positives and negatives, and stock photos are no different. If you have the budget, working with a photographer or illustrator can make your content more unique and topic-focused. You can edit most free or paid stock photos to fit your branding if necessary.Įven with all these positives, stock photos shouldn’t be used for certain branding visuals (website icons, logos, etc.) or if your brand is your own image (celebrities or influencers).What if you need a picture of the Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival, but you can’t pay your personal photographer to take these photos? What if you missed the festival? Free/paid stock photos offer immediate access to limited or inaccessible locations.What if you need a picture of a celebrity? When you’re starting out, you may not be able to afford a photographer or illustrator.Free stock photo sites have plenty of options that fit with your content.You can easily find high-quality stock photos for free on sites like Freepik.Professional Photographerįinding images for your content is important, but should you opt for stock photos instead of hiring a professional photographer or illustrator? We think you should. When used correctly, high-quality images can improve your brand’s messaging, pull more social media visitors to your website, and help you rank higher on text-based search engines. Your followers are more likely to engage with photos that are high-quality and relevant, which feeds into the Google algorithm. From an SEO standpoint, wouldn’t it make more sense to focus on other image-based ranking elements, like alt text and image caption?Īlthough the Google algorithm can’t tell if an image is high-quality on its own, Google still tracks image engagement, image shares, and image relevancy. The fastest-growing social media channels are visual-basedĪs necessary as images are to your brand and blog posts, Google doesn’t crawl images based on quality they only care if an image is included.Posts with images produce 650% higher engagement than text posts.81% of educated people skim instead of reading online.Visual IQ is rising than any other form of IQ.Here are some more incredible reasons why visuals are important for your brand: A relevant, unique, or expertly edited feature image can tempt visitors to click on an article or engage with it.Īll well-thought-out, consistent brand must include high-quality images. They also found that visuals attracted more users to their content. Creators found that embedded images made text posts look less intimidating to readers. Even when blogging was still in its early stages, writers would upload cell phone-quality photos to spruce up their journal entries. We live in a visual world, especially in spaces occupied by text. When to Credit the Photographer/Creator.Best Practices for Editing Stock Photos.Why Your Brand Needs High-Quality Images.If you want to make sure you pick the best stock photos for your content, keep reading. Choosing the best quality photos for your brand is another. A majority of content creators use stock images if they can’t hire a photographer, but if you’ve never used them before, you may not know how to navigate the legality of their use. All blogs, social media profiles, and websites use visuals to bring out the best in their content. ![]()
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