Sourcing royalty-free imagery online

Using good-quality images in your marketing is an effective way to attract attention, drive engagement, and boost ticket sales and membership; however, it’s essential to ensure you have permission to use them to avoid copyright infringement. 

While a quick online image search can return thousands of images with a few clicks, many are owned by photographers or agencies and require specific licenses. Misuse can result in formal notices, fines, or even lawsuits. This guide helps you avoid those pitfalls when sourcing online images and ensures you comply with licensing agreements.

In this guide, we use the word 'imagery' - this includes traditional photography, but also vector-based art like icons, logos and clipart (which are made using a graphic design software like Adobe Illustrator, and often come with the same copyright issues as photography).

Contents:

1. Common problems using imagery sourced online
2. Finding copyright-free imagery online
   • Public Domain
   • Creative Commons
     • Searching Creative Commons content
     • CC licences explained
3. The legal trouble
4. Top five takeaways 

1. Common problems using imagery sourced online

Understanding online photography license agreements helps you avoid legal issues and ensures you’re using images appropriately. Additionally, it provides clarity on how to use images creatively and legally, giving you more freedom while protecting your work from potential legal consequences. 

Copyright infringement: Using an image found online without paying or using the correct permission/license could potentially lead to legal action or financial penalties. 

Licensing confusion: Some images may have unclear or complicated licensing agreements, making it difficult to know where and how you can use the image (e.g. commercial use or modification). 

Attribution requirements: Images with Creative Commons licenses often require a very specific license, and failing to apply that correctly can result in copyright violations. 

Misleading 'free' tags: Some websites advertise 'free' images, but some images may require a license or payment – especially in commercial contexts.  

Low quality/resolution: Some freely-available images might be of low quality, which may not meet the professional standards required for your project – particularly for printed marketing that requires a larger, higher resolution image. 

2. Finding copyright-free imagery online

The best way to avoid copyright infringement is to ensure you are searching libraries of copyright-free images. 

Public Domain

Image banks are web resources that contain a library of 'Public Domain' images – free for anyone to use without permission or attribution. Some examples:

• Pixabay
• Unsplash
• Pexels

These websites offer high-quality public domain photos. But be careful, as these sites can also carry image results from other paid-for sites, mixed in with the public domain photos. You can set your search results to filter only the 'Free' images to ensure you are clicking on the correct image. 

Images results will be displayed along with a licence agreement confirming that you are free to use the image, but do check the terms on commercial use – there might be some grey area if you are using this for ticket sales. It’s good practice to make a note of where you sourced the image and its licence, for future reference. 

Creative Commons 

If you fail to find an appropriate image using the public domain image banks, other web platforms can search a wider photography pool, licensed under the Creative Commons. 

Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit founded in 2001, promoting open sharing of creative work. It gives creators – in this case photographers – flexible control over how their content is used. CC was a response to restrictive online copyright laws that limited sharing and collaboration. It provides various licences that allow creators (photographers) to specify how others can use, adapt, and distribute their work.  

Searching Creative Commons content

Google’s built-in image search can be a powerful tool for finding very specific photographic images. However, unless you specifically ask it to search for royalty-free (Creative Commons) images, it will simply return a mixture of copyrighted and free images – creating confusion. 

Google has a feature that allows you to filter images by 'usage rights'. When searching Google by image:

• click the 'Tools' option on the results page; 

• and then the 'Usage Rights' drop-down menu will appear; 

• select 'Creative Commons licenses';

• Google will then search the web for images licensed under the Creative Commons. 

Here are some other sites that allow you to filter their image banks by Creative Commons licence.

• Flickr
• Rawpixel
• Wikimedia Commons

CC licences explained 

Images returned using a Creative Commons filter will carry a variety of licences informing you:

• how you credit the image creator; 

• if you can use the image commercially;

• if you are allowed to edit/change the image and;  

• if you must license the new work in a particular way. 

These are the most common types of licences:

1. CC BY (Attribution): This is the most flexible licence, allowing you to distribute, edit, adapt, and build upon an image/photograph, even commercially, if you credit the original creation. 
2. CC BY-SA (Attribution-ShareAlike): This allows you to edit, adapt, and build upon an image/ photograph for any purpose, even commercially, but you must credit the licence holder and licence your new creations under identical terms.  
3. CC BY-ND (Attribution-NoDerivs): This allows you to redistribute, both commercial and non-commercial, if the image/photograph is passed along unchanged, with credit to the creator. No derivatives or adaptations can be made. 
4. CC BY-NC (Attribution-NonCommercial): You can edit, adapt, and build upon an image/photograph non-commercially, and although new works must also acknowledge the originator and be non-commercial, you don’t have to license your new/derivative work on the same terms. 
5. CC BY-NC-SA (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike): This licence lets you remix, adapt, and build upon an image/photograph non-commercially, if you credit the originator and license your new creation under the same terms. 
6. CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs): The most restrictive licence, allows you to download and share an image/photograph if you credit the originator, but you can’t edit it in any way or use it commercially. 

These licences help you decide how images can be used, whether for sharing, modifying, or commercial use. 

Sourcing high-quality images to market your group’s activities is crucial for growing members and audience numbers. By understanding online photography licences and using Public Domain or Creative Commons-licensed images, you can avoid copyright infringement while ensuring your materials are still engaging and effective.  

3. The legal trouble

So what could happen if you do use a copyrighted image by mistake? Copyright exists to protect creators and help them monetise their skill. If you are using a copyrighted image, even if by mistake, it is not unreasonable for them to ask for payment.  

However, sometimes the agencies who pursue image rights can be a bit aggressive. Read this blog by our CEO Barbara Eifler about a member group who had exactly that happen to them. In this case, an independent agency acting on behalf on copyright holders pursued the group for copyright infringements. The member group in question apologised for their mistake and removed the offending photos from their website. However, the agency still insisted they were liable for hundreds of pounds damages (not a small sum for a leisure-time music group). It didn’t matter that the member may have inadvertently used the photos. 

If this does happen to you, there are some steps you can take:

• Don’t just believe the agency and pay up - especially, as in the blog mentioned above, the agency quotes you a 'early paying discount'. These type of agencies tend to want just a quick payment, not an extensive back-and-forth or a drawn-out legal case.  
• Ask the claimant for proof that it owns or controls the rights in the relevant photos - ruling out some type of scam. There should be a document granting the agency the right to licence the photo on behalf of the photographer. 
• It may be still possible to approach the photographer directly to resolve the issue – so check if the rights granted are exclusive or non-exclusive. The licensing documentation may be vague making it difficult for them to proceed with court proceedings.   
• Take the disputed images off your website/social media – it fixes the total period that any infringement takes place, if indeed an infringement has taken place. This may not reduce any potential fine but it is a sign of good faith even if the claim goes to court. 
• Find out what the company normally charges per image to establish if the demand is consistent with the rate quoted. This information may be available on their website or via an email request. 
• Contact Making Music for support

We hope you find this Making Music resource useful. If you have any comments or suggestions about the guidance please contact us. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the content of this guidance is accurate and up to date, Making Music do not warrant, nor accept any liability or responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of the content, or for any loss which may arise from reliance on the information contained in it.