Until now, if you copied an photo from Google Images and put it on your website or blog and it was licensed by stock image library Getty, you would have been breaking the law. Worse still, the company’s advanced image search technology would have meant they would have quickly found out – leaving you open to potential legal action and a massive fine.
Well that’s all changed dramatically. Faced with the kind of widespread piracy that decimated the music industry a decade ago, Getty has led a tactical retreat down the Spotify route that’s great news for website owners. Put simply, it’s made around 40 million of its professional photos available for you to embed on your site or blog – without paying a cent.
You’re still not allowed to right-click and ‘Save As’ – to meet Getty’s terms. You need to use its embed tool, which inserts a credit to the photographer and Getty and links back to Getty’s own site. Essentially, much the same as embedding a YouTube video.
Who can use it?
Importantly, this service is only available for non-commercial use. However, the good news is that Getty’s definition of commercial is quite specific: “in advertising, promotions or merchandising or to suggest endorsement or sponsorship”. So it doesn’t include, for example, editorial websites, even if they derive income from ads. These fall under the umbrella of ‘non-commercial’ and can embed the photos for free.
The embed capability will be supported anywhere HTML can be posted and users will also be able to share images on major social platforms including Twitter and blogging platforms like Tumblr and WordPress.
