Free Photos for Your Website
It depends on a few factors. If the photos are available on free resources and do not infringe on copyrights, you can use them on your website. However, some of these photos may already be used on many other websites, which can lower the quality and uniqueness of your site. Therefore, it’s worth considering using your own unique photos or hiring a professional photographer.
Various online sources say…
But can you in any way check the legality of such photos?
Let’s be honest, as a small business owner, you won’t pay several thousand zlotys for a “professional photo shoot”… Let’s talk about something realistic…
From your perspective, it’s the legality of the photos that’s key because if you use an unauthorized photo from the internet on your website, the consequences can be devastating. Fines can reach tens or hundreds of thousands of zlotys, and in light of this, any apparent savings of several dozen or a few hundred zlotys for photos that are legitimate is nothing.
But let’s get to the edge… What are “legitimate” photos?
Legitimate photos are those where, if a law firm were to knock on your door over an alleged copyright infringement, you could show them a receipt or invoice proving you have the right to use them. This usually means buying a license for such photos from one of the numerous stock photo websites. Even if the “stock” itself broke the law by selling clients rights to unlicensed photos – you have insurance in the form of payment for access to these photos, invoices, etc. You bought a license to use the photos on your website in good faith, and no court in this country or Europe would fine you for using them because you can’t be held responsible for the actions of the stock company that operates unlawfully.
So remember this when you want to download some “free” photos from the internet…
By the way, Germans have it worse than us, but let’s not be naive – this law will eventually make its way into Poland. In Germany, there are specialized law firms that scour the internet for such opportunities because why compete with other law firms when you can just browse the web and look for easy money? It really is happening. I have clients in Germany who built websites with me to which these law firms come knocking and try to prove they have unauthorized photos on the site and threaten fines – my clients are safe because they come to me, and I produce a receipt or certificate from the stock company where you buy photos, and the law firm goes… well, you know…
There are many misfortunes in this country who wanted to save money, chose either a low-cost creator and built their website themselves by downloading free photos from the internet or used the services of an unscrupulous contractor who offered them a lower price than me and got them into big trouble (a fine of 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 euros for one unauthorized photo is not uncommon).
It’s worth thinking about what causes significantly lower prices for website creation than competitors because the risk is real, and law enforcement agencies are proactive – they don’t wait for a complaint but actively search for photos used on websites in an unauthorized manner.
Remember that price comes from somewhere – a reliable contractor pays taxes, licenses software, photos, and does not abandon clients when problems arise. (:
If you’re facing the challenge of building your own website, you don’t know how to approach it – contact us, a conversation won’t cost you anything, even if you ultimately choose another offer, you’ll gain knowledge that may save you from many other problems that might arise in the future because if you’re looking for the lowest possible price, unfortunately, you’ll have to sift through many offers that could potentially put you at risk in the long run. In the IT industry, real opportunities don’t exist – acquiring technical knowledge costs a lot, experience even more, there’s nothing for free (: except for branded products, not services, a contractor who knows what they’re doing and doesn’t need to balance on the edge of or outside the law to stay in business won’t lower their price because they don’t have to. It’s worth remembering.
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