The topic of images , copyright and copyright is always a hotly debated one, especially on a legal level.
If you have a website (of any kind), you know that images are essential elements to communicate effectively with your audience.
They can be combined with text to attract attention, facilitate navigation on the site, better explain a concept and create storytelling.
But how does copyright work and which works can be used without violating copyright? Today we talk about copyright-free images for the web, existing licenses and which ones to choose without violating copyright.
As we were saying, the matter is controversial because images – whether they are photographs, illustrations or graphics – are found everywhere and often it is thought that it is enough to just share them by citing the author or the source to avoid unpleasant legal consequences.
How to behave for personal or commercial use
Added to all this is artificial intelligence and image generators, which only fuel new doubts on the issue.
So: is it right or wrong to use photos taken online by citing only the source? And why can publishing photos created by a robot be a copyright problem?
Let’s see together what the discipline on copyright for images in Italy says and how to respect it.
When we talk about copyright with respect to a work (whether it is a photo or a video) we must consider that two concepts are always claimed:
the economic one ;
and that of the paternity of the image.
To better understand, consider that an original work is owned by the author from the moment he creates it, so its unauthorized use is prohibited .
What happens if an image is published without consent? The author may contact a lawyer to request compensation.
Of course, a lot depends on how images are used on a site
Images: How to behave for personal or commercial use
As Alessandro Vercellotti (a lawyer specialized in digital) explains, the copyright of images distinguishes between two different situations:
What about images for editorial use?
private sphere
commercial field
In the first case, if you find an image you like online, you print it and frame it to create a painting to put in your living room, you are not breaking any law. The important thing is that you do not make copies and do not disclose them.
In the second case – the commercial sphere – the author’s authorization is always required.
To obtain it, you can contact the artist directly or, if present, you can use a Creative Commons license , always respecting the rules of use.
For example, if a work is attributed CC BY you can distribute and modify it, even for commercial purposes, but always cite the source.
The CC BY-NC license , on the other hand, prohibits commercial use and requires that sources and modifications are always explicit. There are 6 different licenses and all indications given by the author must always be respected.
So, for example, if you want to use an image for your e-commerce with a CC BY-NC license , know that you cannot use it freely.
Be careful when using images for training
zut images for editorial use? Now there is another doubt to be resolved: which photographs and graphics can be used in a magazine or in blog articles?
In this case there is a specific license – for editorial use – which establishes which works can be used for non-commercial purposes.
There are sites that allow you to download photos for free (such as Photopin, Pixabay, Unsplash…) but always citing the source.
Want to know where to download images without paying? Read our article: Free Image Downloads – 23 Sites You Shouldn’t Miss
Photos can also be purchased by subscription from image stocks (such as Getty Images or Shutterstock, which do not require citing the source) or – even better – upload your own photos when possible.
To avoid legal consequences, remember that the ban on commercial use applies both directly and indirectly .
To better understand this issue, consider your blog. If the article you intend to publish has an informative approach and the purpose is not to sell a service or a product, then you can use images for editorial use.
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If, however, there is an indirect purpose, it is better to opt for commercial use.
Be careful when using images for training
Do you need to create slides for a training course and do you need appropriate images? In this specific case, where there is absolutely no commercial purpose, but only training and information , for the use of images it is not necessary to ask the author’s consent.
However, only extracts from the work can be used and the following must also be indicated:
the author;
the name of the work;
the reasons for use.
But be careful, this speech is clear for a lesson at school, where the aim is certainly didactic and educational.
What if you are a trainer and you use the images for a webinar sold on your site? In this case, the purpose can become commercial and an author can claim his rights .
As you can see, the line between legal and illegal use of an image is very thin and it is easy to make a mistake, even without intending to.
For this reason, when choosing list of phone numbers in bulgaria images for a website, a blog article or an e-commerce site, it is always better to rely on those who manage professional websites and who can advise or train you to understand which works to use based on the use you need to make of them.
Also remember that all images on a site must be optimized for SEO. Do you want to learn more about this topic? Find out why you need to do it and what the advantages are, read our article: Some rules for treating images on a site from an SEO perspective
Can AI-generated images be used freely?
The advent of artificial intelligence for image creation has opened a new chapter in copyright.
Currently, international bt lists laws recognize copyright protection only for people . However, this does not automatically mean that works created by AI can be used freely.
In particular, image generators – such as DALL-E 2, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion – feed on data and can process a new image starting from an existing work , therefore created by a person and to be protected.
European legislators are therefore working in this direction, that is, to safeguard the interests and intellectual property of authors.
At the beginning of December, the Commission, Council and European Parliament approved the AI Act (which will probably come into force in the next two years).
Will all this be enough to protect yourself legally?
If there are no changes, thanks to this rule, those who use AI to create images must explain how the system was trained , revealing the sources, texts, images and everything that was used to create the new content.
Every work created by artificial intelligence must also bear the words “created by AI” to avoid fueling the spread of fake news, out of respect for people.
It is still too early to talk about it, but it is certain that you cannot appropriate an image found on the Internet and that AI manipulation is now usable without worries, while waiting for specific regulations on this technology.
Our advice, in general
In general, it is good to pay maximum attention to the images you choose: often even just defining the scope (commercial or not) is a very weak point of discussion .
Our advice is to absolutely avoid images found for example on Google , even if they indicate a Creative Commons license: the author can always change it and it will be difficult for you to prove how things were. Better not to trust.
In order of preference:
It is better to have your own images , taken with your own photographer or by yourself.
Secondly, paid image banks offer a huge variety of professional shots. You pay, you have a license to use them and you sleep soundly.
Free image sites are a resource to be exploited, even if the quality and variety of images are lower (free = settle).
AI comes to the rescue in many cases and allows for fascinating experiments:
with Dall-E, for example, you can also identify the gen-id of the proposed image , so as to recreate images with the same style for your project in the future (maintaining consistency).
PS. The featured image of this article was generated with Artificial Intelligence with the prompt “ Please create an image with minimal style that represents a site that offers the download of copyright-free images. The base height ratio of the image must be 16:10 “. As you can see from the result, the AI was not perfect on the texts inserted in the image…
