Use of online photos

The use of images on the Internet remains a topic that raises many questions. After all, it is easy to search the Internet for an image for your own website and simply copy it. But is that actually allowed and what conditions are attached? In this article, I will take a closer look at this issue.

Copyright

To answer this question, it is important to go back to the basics of copyright law. Under the Copyright Act, the creator of a work has the exclusive right to publish or reproduce his work, such as a photograph. Therefore, a photographer has the exclusive right to publish his photographs on the Internet. This means that photographs published on the Internet may not be used by anyone else without the photographer's permission. The fact that the photos are published on the Internet does not mean that the photographer has thereby released his copyright. The rules of the Copyright Act also apply on the Internet. By simply copying a photograph, the copyright of the photographer is infringed. However, there are certain exceptions.

Thus, copying an online image may seem harmless, but it is not. Even the fact that an image can be found on various websites does not make this any different. In addition, unknowingly violating copyright also constitutes infringement. It is up to the user of an image to make sure whether the image is copyrighted and who the creator is before using it.

Exceptions

One of the exceptions mentioned in the Copyright Act concerns the so-called right to quote. This means that you may use part of a work to the extent that it is relevant to the context in which it is used. The requirements are that the quotation is used for a clearly identifiable purpose, that no more is copied than strictly necessary and that the source is cited. Quotation is possible not only from texts, but also from images or films. Quoting from an image is not permitted if it serves merely as decoration, but rather to discuss it, for example. Simply placing a caption to a photo is not sufficient.

In addition, it is permitted to link to content found on another website. After all, this is not a reproduction or new publication, but merely a reference. It is also permitted to 'embed', whereby part of another website is visible on your own website. In that case, it is not necessary to click on a link before the content becomes visible. You see this a lot on social media websites, for example, using share buttons. The requirement is that the content was already public and accessible to all Internet users and is not, for example, located on a website that can only be accessed after logging in.

Damages

Of course, action is not always taken against the use of images in violation of someone else's copyright. After all, it may be the case that the rights holder does not know about it, does not mind, or because he wants to save the time and expense involved. However, a rights holder has the option of claiming damages from the infringing party. To determine the amount of damages, one often looks at the license fee that the photographer normally charges for the use of his photos. Then, this license fee can quickly be claimed two or three times from the infringing user. If the photographer brings an action to recover damages, the litigation cost award must also be taken into account. In cases involving intellectual property rights, including copyrights, the losing party is in principle ordered to pay the winning party's full legal costs. Therefore, these costs can also add up considerably.

Permission

Copying an image to your own website without the creator's permission is not allowed and infringes on his copyright. It is therefore important to always check who is the copyright holder of a certain image and ask permission before copying the image. If you fail to do so, you may have to pay damages to the creator. Posting a link, as mentioned above, is allowed, without having to ask permission.

This blog was last updated on Aug. 16, 2023.