Y’all are gonna have to bear with me on this one as it’s part blog/part journal. As all this was happening I kept soothing myself with “When I share this others will learn and it’ll keep it from happening to them. That’s why this is happening to me.” I even insisted the gag order be removed before settling because otherwise I just couldn’t make sense of the experience.
Ok, let me back up about a few months. During an individual consultation with a practice-building client, my client mentioned that Aaron from Legendary Lion, her web designer, told her that some of the stock photo sites aren’t legit and can get you into trouble. I told her to definitely listen to him since Aaron knows his stuff but I honestly thought, “hmmmm, good to know, maybe a little paranoid, but I’ll spread the word”.
About a month later, in early September I got an email from an attorney telling me I was being sued for copyright infringement and they were willing to settle for the amount of a nice new car. I got this email while at the grocery store and tried not to lose my shit. Literally. Apparently if a tiger ever comes after me my only defense is an intense need to poop and profuse sweating. How’s that for keeping it real?
Now let’s go back to 2014 when I opened my practice in Asheville. I don’t remember everything, but going to Google was likely my first step and whether I entered in “free stock photos Asheville” or “stock photos Asheville” is the only thing up for debate. I have no idea where I got the beautiful skyline picture, or if I paid for it, but I do know that it would have been through a stock photo site that I thought to be legitimate. And there the photo sat on my business FB page for years.
Back to September: having successfully not defecated on myself in public, I commence to freaking the fuck out in the silent, weird way I freak the fuck out. Big smiles, wide eyes, overly polite, shaky hands, so much sweat. Strangers look at me and want to give me a valium.
Two important things about my personality that are relevant here: 1) I’m a rule follower. I can’t remember the last time I knowingly broke a rule or a law. I even drive the speed limit most of the time. 2) In the Locke/Hobbes debate on human nature, I’m wholly Team Locke. Like, more Locke than Locke was. People don’t only know what’s right and try to do the right thing but they’re pretty and smell good, too! So you can imagine this scheme threw me. The feeling of being in trouble is foreign and highly distressing. I kept imagining that if I could just get lunch with the guy, explain that I meant no disrespect or harm, surely he’d drop the suit. Right? I’d removed the picture and sent an apology as soon as I caught wind that it wasn’t ok to have it. 4 hours later I got the email from his lawyer. Obviously I’m not supposed to contact the guy and his lawyer is calling and leaving me scary enough voicemails that I just wanna live in denial-land until it’s all over & done with.
I talk to a few attorneys, one of whom says he not only knows the photographer in question and his bully lawyer, but tells me how the photographer may or may not plant photos on free stock photo sites after federally copyrighting them. He then may or may not use web crawling software to find them before suing people. He knew of 4 suits going on at the same time as mine. It’s the dude’s business model and it’s all legal. I later talk to another therapist that went through this and apparently this guy isn’t the only photographer doing it. Some of the big agencies will also send emails and threaten suit. But don’t freak out. We’ll talk about how to avoid that in a minute.
An attorney I contact encourages me to call both my general (slip & fall) liability insurance as well as my malpractice insurance to see if they cover “Advertising Injury” which copyright violations fall under. My General doesn’t but my Malpractice does. After a week of not sleeping and feeling like I was in fight or flight on repeat, I was finally able to relax.
And that’s why if I ever have another kid I’d have to name it American Professional in honor of my malpractice insurance. They were incredibly kind and helpful. The attorney they assigned me was also kind and helpful. He gave me the option to fight it, but dragging it out and giving my computer to investigators didn’t make sense for my stress levels or y’know, running an online business. Especially since I was (accidentally) guilty.
After months of back and forth trying to find a settlement number that wasn’t so ridiculous, a check that included 5 digits before the decimal point (as in $XX,XXX) was sent December 20th and it wasn’t fully settled until January. I wasn’t allowed to talk about the suit, so if you saw me seeming overly adamant about anything regarding copyrights or stock photos or American Professional in FB Groups, that’s why.
I’m working on getting a copyright attorney to do an interview with me about best practices. In the meantime, whenever you download a photo from a stock photo site, screenshot yourself doing it & pop that baby in a file. A couple friends have gotten in trouble with Getty Images because they didn’t maintain documentation of the download. Another is being bullied by a company that may just be capitalizing on people’s desire to make this go away as quickly and easily as possible. Ultimately, the onus is on us to prove that we came by the photos legally which I totally didn’t know before this experience.
So for now:
Big Lesson: Only Get Photos From Legit Sites (and probably pay for them) AND Screenshot yourself downloading it (that way if one of the agencies or a photographer comes to you & says “Hey that’s mine!” You can say “You need to talk to Stock Photo Site XYZ about that, not me. Here’s proof I had license to use it & proof that I got it through legitimate means.” I’m getting mine from Canva since they keep track of it for you.
Big Lesson: Wanna totally skip the drama? Take Your Own Photos.
Big Lesson: Malpractice Insurance Covers A Lot and American Professional gets my vote.
So please, please, please learn from my mistake.
Any lessons learned the very hard way you can share for the rest of us to learn from? Let us know in the comments!
Allison!!! I hate that you went through this!!! Thank you for sharing this really hard lesson with us so we can try to protect ourselves. I’m a panic-attack pooper too :(. It does really help me relate to my panic-attack clients, though. I hope you never have to go through something like this again.
The pooping iS a legit part of your stress Response-increases peristalsis in you large intestines. LiGhtening the load so you can run or fight better… i’m so sorry this happened to you. I just bought 260 Photos fOr my stress reduction Class but didn’t screen shot each download. That is really the suggestion? That feels so drastic!
IF YOU BOUGHT THE STOCK IMAGES IT SHOULD BE ENOUGH THAT YOU DOWNLOADED THE LICENSES FROM EACH OF THE PHOTOS AND MAINTAIN RECORDS OF YOUR RECEIPT.
Yep- if you knew to save the licenses themselves. Many people click whatever they need to click to download the image but the license itself isn’t saved as a part of the image.
THAT’S SO VALUABLE TO KNOW. i’VE JUST GOTTEN STARTED WITH A HOBBY BLOG AND WAS GETTING FREE IMAGES ONLINE. i’LL EITHER MAKE MY OWN OR PAY FOR THEM WITH A LICENSE DOWNLOAD. tHANKS FOR SHARING!
Im sorry for this terrible Experience.
Thank you for sharing and helping us avoid this scenario.
Ps. Sweating a lot would make it hard for the lion to hold onto you 🙂
IT makes me So mad to know you were bullied in this way. And that this guy is just going around doing this to people! i am also tEam locke, so i’m like, Huh? thank you for sharing this with us so we can learn from your story. Sending solidarity and support your way!
This is why I have paid for photos from sites that keep a record of my account and where I can see what I’ve downloaded.
I always thought it was worth the investment.
So sorry you’re going through this.
Thank you so much for sharing this. Do not ask me why this id coming out in all caps because my caps lock is off. So i am screaming from the rooftops, thank you! Great to know how this was resolved and that your insurance covered it. It sucks that you went THROUGH it. You rock.
WENT THROUGH IT MYSELF. THE STRESS, THE BACK AND FORTH, THE FEAR. I TRIED BATTLING IT MYSELF ARMED WITH SOME KNOWLEDGE FROM SITES THAT PUSH BACK ON THESE EXTORTIONISTS BUT AT THE LAST POSSIBLE SECOND, THEY SICCED A PIT BULL ON ME. I DON’T THINK MY MALPRACTICE INSURANCE WOULD HAVE COVERED ME BUT NOW I WISH I’D ASKED; I STILL HAVE POST-DATED CHECKS WAITING TO CLEAR MY ACCOUNT OVER THE NEXT YEAR AND A HALF TO FINISH THE SETTLEMENT. UGH.
I’m so sorry to hear that!
Wow!! Agreed, it sucks You had to go thru this, but THANK YOU for sharing your insight and advice!
How do we check If the photos we already have on our website are leGIt?
If I came to you & said “where did you get these? Can you show me proof?” and you can’t, they’re not legit. The onus is on us to prove they’re legal.
Allison I have a few photos from a free website (Pexels.com) on my materials (website etc). I know which photos I’ve used from Pexels and have them in a seperate folder on my desktop. Also, pexels.com has this on their website:
“It’s hard to understand complex licenses that is why all photos on Pexels are licensed under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. This means the pictures are completely free to be used for any legal purpose.
The pictures are free for personal and even for commercial use.
You can modify, copy and distribute the photos.
All without asking for permission or setting a link to the source. So, attribution is not required.”
I wonder if I am safe? Or perhaps I should try to find these photos and pay for them? I don’t mind paying for them, I just don’t know how to find them anywhere else! I would hate for this to happen, sounds so awful, I’m sorry You went through this!!!
Did you license the images?
Oh my! Wow!
Thank you for this information!
Thanks for this Message. I use piXaby and canVa but my website is through therapy sites so i am hopIng my pic are safe that i use on my FB Page. I’ll definitely share this pOst.
Oh my goodness.
I am so sorry you had to go through all of this. I can only imagine your emotional rollercoaster ride because I felt it while reading. Thank you so much for sharing your experience so we can learn from it…. and I’M all the more satisfied with my choice for malpractice insurance. Go apa!!
thanks for sharing. difficult lesson to learn and you are kind to pass it on.
Ugh!!! How horrible. I literally just updated a bunch of pictures on my website…I did download them first so I could name them for SEO as I uploaded them to my website. I didn’t take a selfie though! Do you think I’m okay since I have a download record on my computer? Is there any other way to check for safe photos? Thanks so much for sharing! So sorry for your experience!!!
Wow! Thanks for sharing this information! I can’t believe this happened to you this way!
Thanks for making me be able to laugh at a situation that would likely cause me very similar stress reactions. I appreciate all that I’m learning from your expertise and experiences. Thanks for living into your calling and encouraging the rest of us to do the same!
Yes,thanks for this information. Can’t afford a car as it is so I really appreciate you sharing your painful experience.
Allison, so sorry you had to go through this. Thank you so much for sharing. I definitely will heed YOUr advice.
Has anyone here used Unsplash for free stock images? Their creative commons license made me feel comfortable using a few of their images but this post gives me The heebie jeebies! Anyone have A favorite paid stock photo site to reccommend?
Unsplash was recommended by my website builders, Brighter Vision. They license 10 photos from Bigstock for you with your build, and then point you to Unsplash etc. for further pics.
I also purchased pics from DiverseStockPhotos.com for my site to get a better selection of body types for my new site, which should launch any day now
This has always been a concern of mine. Thank you for sharing, i will be diligent in checking where my photos are coming frOm.
I remember when you were going through this and how scary it was. Thank you for sharing such a vulnerable and uncertain experience with us.
the other (untold) side of this story is that a lot of artists, photographers included, get ripped off by consumers who refuse to pay fair value for artists’ works. next time you try to get something for nothing, or next to nothing, try to remember that someone’s creative efforts went into it. how would you like it if everyone sought pro bono services and left you starving?
As the daughter of 2 artists I fully understand the importance of copyright. That’s why I wouldn’t snag something off google. On a stock photo site, there’s an assumption that the artists have been compensated in some way (financially or exposure).
Thanks for the heads up and for the iNformation. I’m so sorry this hapPened to you. So incredibly Petty. So FRIVOLOUS. Mind boggling.
Thank you so much for this information!!! It is hard to believe this happened, that someone can be so unethical as to make suing people over pLanted pHotos their business model!! I am so sorry. Again, ThAnk yOu so much for this. Major karma points! 🙂
GREAT article Allison. It sucked me in, with a bit of my own paranoia and genuine interest of course. You are an excellent writer too, nice job. Good to know there are resources out there. I try and do my own photos when ever possible, but canva rocks too! Sorry you had to go through this. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Omg. Thank you for sharing. I have worried about this very thing happening to me. I will share with everyone i Know!!
Wow! I’m so sorry you went thROugh this! I know so many therapists who Do this. Thank you so much for this article!!
Thank you so much for this post! I want to pin it to my blogging board, but there isn’t a picture. Could you add one? I think this article really needs to get out to the world of blogging.
I’m CURIOUS AlLison. Supposedly if you drag it out These trolls eventually give up. They do this in volume and the longer it goes on the less profitable the outcome. SOunds like they got quite abit of money out of yOu. What was DIFFERENT about your case?
You might think so, but the tactic is more often to wait until the very last possible second before the statute runs out, then come after you hard. They want to scare you into offering a settlement far beyond the actual value of the photo or what you would ever have paid for artwork on your site.
Wow. This makes me so angry that people do this and that’s how they make money. Total injustice and I’m sorry you had to go through with it! Thank you for sharing your experience.
Holy Crapola! Checking all my photos this minute. UnSplash, SnapstoCk, canva… these are my sources. So yoU’re saying some people on the stock sItes planT pics?!! Arrrgh
I am so sorry you got tagged by one of the world’s many asshats.but I sure thank you for the warning. will screenshot my own ass off from now on.
My heart goes out to you Allison! I Can imagine this fIasco happening to me too sonits so cool that you saved a bunch of us through your nightmare.Its so poop Inducing! I love malpractice insurance!
Another option is Stencil, Which is like Canva on steroids. Its a small one time fee and you get access to tons of pictures and easy editing for creating graphics. Never have to pay per photo. 🙂
IT sucks that people do this. It’s just really bad.
This is also the main reason why I use my own photos as much as possible.
Lately, I’Ve used some free photos but I don’t feel good about IT. Reading this, I’Ll definitely switch back to using my own photos. 🙂 Thank you very much for sharing this.
What a terrible thing to have happen. In addition to legit stock sites and to shooing your own photos, sometimes friends will allow you to use their photos. I’m going to start uploading my own photography for free use on my Unsplash here in case that’s useful to anyone. I will not sue people for using them, I release them under copyright Zero https://unsplash.com/@katlove
AH!!! This is horrible!! I just spent days updating my blog with free stock photos! Do you recommend any other sites in addition to canva?
THANKS FOR sharing. I’m sorry you had to go through that. That guy sounds like a douche.
Sorry this happened to you as well. I try to caution others about copyright infringement. it’s big business and modern culture has a lot of misinformation.
To use an image you should be licensing the image–you typically license an image exclusively or non-exclusively. Some are time limited or limited use.
the person providing the image to you should have legal authority to license the image to you. They should either be the copyright holder themselves or someone operating on behalf of the holder (like a stock agency).
Screenshots are not licenses to use an image.
hoping everything works out as this is not okay.
Yes- the screenshot is only legitimate if you actually have license to use the photo to begin with.
ALlison, i’m happy i read this, even though i am now paranoid. Can you explain what you mean when you say take a screen shot of downloading THE photo?. If im on my computer, what excatly and how am i going about this? Thank you!
On a Mac it’s Command-Shift-4. It’ll take a picture of your computer screen. This is only protective if you’re sure you have license to use it for your intent.
Oh my god im so sorry you went through this! I rArely use stock photos for my business but i see my competitors dO all the time. Super scary :/ wiShing you all the best!
Thank you for sharing, Allison, and I’m so sorry you had to go through this. A silly question: If you take your own photos, and delete originals (for space saving on hard-drives, etc.)… How do you prove your work is your own? Meaning, can someone claim your work is theirs?
Oh man, I have no idea. I think they would have to prove it was theirs first.
I suggest purchasing an external hard drive to store your original photos. These days, you can get a small portable hard drive that plugs into your computer for under $100. As i photographer, i use two external drives to backup my photos.
Great advice and yikes!
I usually take my own photos. But you even havE to be careful with that. As i studied the zoning laws for my community i learned that photos of certain places are prohibited. Also, i’d be careful taking and using pics if strangers without their permission. (Why is this thing in all caps? This is not intentional)
SUCH good info! Thank you so much for sharing because this really could happen to anyone! There are so many sites that offer “stock images” and wow! Who knew!
xx,
Lacey
http://www.theglittergospelblog.com
Seriously i dont get some people. That just makes me sick.
apologies for my ignorance, this is a whole new area for me. When I do workshops, I often use 30 – 60 photos or clipart in my workshop slides or on fliers. I usually just go on google images and on my PC I right click And scroll to “Save Picture AS” which saves the photo to my computer. I avoid those that have a fee associated with them, and assume everything else is fair game. What should I be doing differently? I don’t want to pay a fortune for pictures.
Hi, Barbara! I would replace those immediately; they aren’t fair game. Anything “saved as” and used commercially puts you at risk. Since google pulls from all sorts of spaces it could be from a photographer’s site or someone’s personal photos. I use canva.com and they have free images with licenses as well as $1 images with licenses.
I’m surprised. I thought the owner had to send a cease and desist notice and give you some time to get it off there. Then they sue. Not a lawyer.
The photographer emailed me 1st & I took it down before they even had a chance to send a cease & desist. They sent an email afterwards. I was like “I don’t think legit lawyers send emails to sue someone; I’ll wait until I get a certified letter or something.” Both the attorney & the photographer were real. An attorney friend was like, “respond so he’ll stop pestering you” since he was emailing frequently and calling me. Long story less long, it was real. The back & forth between my attorney & his lasted months (Sept.-Dec. payment; Jan. confirmation of receipt of payment) and it super-sucked. If they had to send a cease & desist, I think my attorney would have used that. It may have something to do with his federal copyrights… apparently the fact that it was federally copyrighted meant it was all turned up a notch cost-wise.
I use depositphotos and they keep records in my account of every download. Is this as good of proof as the screenshot you are talking about?
I would think so. Just make sure you have the license to use the photos in the way you’re using them.
Does this mean we have to backtrack all the ‘free’ images we used on projects and take a screenshot showing its on unsplash/pixabay etc?
I would, while making sure you have the license to use it for the purpose you’re using it for. I’m in super-CYA mode. 🙂
Allison, are you still looking for an attorney to do a podcast with about best practices? If yes, I’d like to refer you to someone.
I am if it’s a copyright attorney. Shoot me an email! hello@abundancepracticebuilding.com
Thank you for sharing. I posted a link on my Facebook page.
So, what exactly do you mean when you say, “making sure you have the license to use it for the purpose you’re using it for.” I use pixabay for my commercial images, and their main page clearly states that all the images on their site can be used commercially. So, should I just screenshot their main page where it states that? Is that an adequate license? another words, because they state that, shouldn’t they be the ones held accountable for making sure of what is able to be downloaded from their site?
That’s something I want to ask the attorney. It sounds legit to me but I’ve already proved I don’t need understand the law. 😉
Actually, registering a copyright with copyright.gov is inexpensive but necessary in order for you to bring suit for more than just actual damages. I’ve taken some copyright workshops and “copyright trolls” as our instructor called them are like the intellectual property’s version of ambulance chasers. I work with graduate students’ theses and dissertations, and they have no money to hire an attorney if they are sued. Often the letters will demand something under $1,000 to “settle”, when really, a redaction would have sufficed. It’s a nasty business model, unscrupulous and takes advantage of those who have tried to do the right thing, or thought they were doing the right thing. By the way, I use Canva and love it.
Wow!!! That’s a terrible experience! now going through all my images to make sure everything is legit! thank you for sharing
Good information. This is so unfortunate.
If the image is listed “CC0 Public Domain,
Free for commercial use, No attribution required” on the stock site, is some protection offered?
Excellent advice. sORRY IT HAPPENED TO YOU, THOUGH I WOULD THINK TAKING DOWN THE PHOTO WOULD BE ENOUGH.IT’S ACTUALLY A GOOD IDEA TO SCREEN SHOT ALL TRANSACTIONS.
I really like your story. however, i couldn’t find out exactly what your business is, and as a copywriter, i advise you (and it’s free) that you have some copy about that before requiring information from your visitors. unless you have plenty of subscribers already. i’d like to suggest you post this on linkedin. i would like to post it, as a lot ofthe ad agencies i work with and clients i work for use stock…
I recently started adding my blurb at the bottom. I do already have a sizable subscriber list, but you’re totally right, it’s best practices and good modeling. Thanks! And feel free to share.
this is so terrible, i’m glad you’re sharing it with the rest of us. I’m also in asheville!
This is so sad, i don’t know why some photographers love ripping off bloggers. It’s just really sad. While, I realize that art is meant to be paid for, some bloggers especially the small are legitimately unaware of the crime they committed but then ignorance does not apply. I use photos from pexels. I don’t have a good phone neither can i afford a camera. It’s just really sad. I’m sorry they put you through this.
Uhg reading this made my stomach hurt, but I needed the info. I’m in the same boat as you regarding always wanting to be in the right, being a stickler for rule following and absolutely not being able to handle it when I accidentally do something wrong and find myself in the hot seat. Thanks so much to enlightening me to this type of insurance. I am looking into it right away!
No more searching for inexpensive stock just because a client doesn’t want to pay for it! So not worth it if people are out there planting their copyrighted photos so that they can sue you. What an awful way to make a living!
The problem with using sites like CC0, Canva, Upsplash, etc. is that although the photographer may have signed a waiver for the free use of her photo, they may not have the permission of the people or property that are contained in the photo.
For example, suppose there is a CC0 photo of the exterior of an XXX-rated theater that I want to use with an article about the demise of such theaters because of internet porn. Great – I have the photographer’s CC0 license to use it. But does he have written permission from the theater owner to feature the theater in the photo? And what about any other business establishments that are identifiable in the photo? They can all sue me and the photographer for the use of their image.
And this same consideration applies if you shoot your own photos. Your right to use your own photo does not automatically cover the content of the photo. That’s why professional photographers require models, businesses, etc. to sign a slew of releases covering everything and anything – forever – that the photographer may use the image for. Free is rarely 100% risk-free.
This kind of thing worries me a lot but I’m not a photographer and I don’t have time to spend ages figuring it out.
I use google images but I select the “labelled for reuse” option.
I don’t know about the “labelled for reuse option,” but I’d make sure you have the license to use it, just to CYA.
This michigas happened to me too. Yep, I paid too. What a catfish way to earn a living. I recommend Kiffany Stahle, Esq. for copyright issues. https://theartistsjd.com/
I’m so sorry that you had to go through something like this, but thank you so much for sharing. i’ve definitely used free stock photo sites for my blog and so will be switching over to paying for photos.
thank you again for sharing!
Allison!
I’m SO incredibly sorry that this happened to you! I was biting my lip in anxiety the entire time reading it and totally feeling for you. I have been hearing a similar story on other blogs, too. I was always careful to only use images from sites that looked to me to be completely legit (Pexels, Unsplash, etc.) but after reading this article a second time (the first time I read it I went right back into the stock-photo-denial-cave) I’ve now officially purchased a monthly Shutterstock membership and I’m happy to do it. You’re right – the best way to have peace of mind in this area is to pay for the images so we never have to worry about this nightmare happening. I’ll be going through and replacing all of the images on my website and blog with legit purchased photos! Thank you so much for sharing this and preventing it from happening to your loyal Abundance followers! You are awesome!
Natalie
Hi Allison,
Thanks so much for sharing your story and I’m very sorry this happened to you. I’m an IP and I work with a lot of entrepreneurs. I have podcast and I’d love for you to tell your story on the show. I just sent you an email.
Wow i’m sorry this happened to you. Thank you for sharing. Also I use flickr and have had no problems, but after reading this, i’m a bit scared to use that site now. If you do use flickr, do you need to just screenshot the image with the type of licence is has, or also the licence page as well?