Use of Photo from Internet

[quickbrownfox]

New York is the name of my state (only U.S. law)?

I would like to use a photo that I found on the internet for the cover of my book. There is no information about who it belongs to. Is it safe to go ahead and use it anyway? I found a few stock photo sites but did not like any of their photos. However, I noted that they charge very little money to use their photos. So I was thinking that even if I went ahead and used this photo and someone contacted me about an infringement, I could just pay them at that time. My only concern is whether I will be required to pay penalties. I would appreciate some advice on this. Thanks.

 

[quincy]

New York is the name of my state (only U.S. law)?

I would like to use a photo that I found on the internet for the cover of my book. There is no information about who it belongs to. Is it safe to go ahead and use it anyway? I found a few stock photo sites but did not like any of their photos. However, I noted that they charge very little money to use their photos. So I was thinking that even if I went ahead and used this photo and someone contacted me about an infringement, I could just pay them at that time. My only concern is whether I will be required to pay penalties. I would appreciate some advice on this. Thanks.

You should not use the photo for the cover of your book without the express written permission of the copyright holder. To do otherwise would be infringement.

If you use the photo without permission, not only can the copyright holder obtain an injunction and have all of your books pulled from the market and potentially destroyed, if the photo has been federally registered, you open yourself up to paying statutory damages of between $750 to $30,000 per infringement (or, potentially, up to $150,000 if found to be an especially egregious infringement).

In other words, you either need to find the copyright holder or find another photo and get permission from that copyright holder or license for use a photo found on a stock photo site or find an old (pre-1923) public domain photo and use that for the cover of your book.

Good luck.

 

[single317dad]

Here are a few tools that may assist you in finding the owner of the image:

Google reverse image search

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/1325808?hl=en

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/1325808?hl=en

Tineye reverse image search

https://www.tineye.com/

https://www.tineye.com/

SauceNAO reverse image search

https://saucenao.com/

https://saucenao.com/

Columbia University Library - Copyright Advisory Office

http://copyright.columbia.edu/copyright/permissions/finding-the-owner/

http://copyright.columbia.edu/copyright/permissions/finding-the-owner/

PicScout used to host a free image exchange app, but appears to be a paid service now

http://www.picscout.com/

http://www.picscout.com/

Some images have EXIF information or a digital watermark embedded. If so, there are several programs available that you can view this information with. These include Digimarc, Irfanview, and of course Photoshop and GIMP.

 

[Zigner]

The OP could also contact the website owner where he found the photo and ask them for further information.

Of course, the OP also has the option of taking his own photograph.

 

[quincy]

... Of course, the OP also has the option of taking his own photograph.

This is an often-overlooked but definitely best way to avoid any risk of an infringement lawsuit.




If as a photographer you have skills like my mother, though, all photos will be blurry and no one will have heads.

 

[FlyingRon]

The OP could also contact the website owner where he found the photo and ask them for further information.

No guarantee. I contacted a person who had some of my copyrighted material on his site. He said he got it from this other site whose owner said it was OK to use it.

 

[Zigner]

No guarantee. I contacted a person who had some of my copyrighted material on his site. He said he got it from this other site whose owner said it was OK to use it.

Agreed - but it's a start.

 

[quincy]

No guarantee. I contacted a person who had some of my copyrighted material on his site. He said he got it from this other site whose owner said it was OK to use it.

At least you had the advantage of knowing who authored the copyrighted material, FR.

It can often be easier to locate the copyright infringers than it can be to track down the author of an unattributed work, although neither are especially easy. single317dad provided links to some excellent tools that can assist with the task.

When an infringed work cannot be removed by the copyright holder through a simple DMCA takedown process, though - as would be the case when the infringed work appears on book covers - a copyright holder is more likely to resort to a settlement demand letter and an infringement suit to stop the infringement. This can be costly for the infringer.

 

[single317dad]

If as a photographer you have skills like my mother, though, all photos will be blurry and no one will have heads.

Sounds like my kind of book.