The Busy Marketer's Guide to Image Rights Management
2 likes7,697 views
The document discusses the importance of managing image rights in the context of increasing visual content demand in marketing, noting the challenges posed by reliance on stock images and copyright issues. It highlights the Duane Reade case as a cautionary example of the legal risks involved in using images without proper rights, emphasizing the need for marketers to understand ownership and usage rules. Recommendations include establishing processes for responding to copyright claims, partnering with trusted image sources, and ensuring clear ownership of the images used in marketing efforts.
![The brand has over two million followers on Twitter and 101,000 likes
on Facebook. The company was even featured by Twitter in a case
study as a business that effectively used social media, promoted tweets
and implemented hashtag campaigns to generate a 67% increase in
followers year over year.
!
However, more recently Duane Reade’s social presence is best known
for its major media rights stumble with an image the brand posted to its
social channels. On March 18th, 2014 Duane Reade published a
photo of actress Katherine Heigl holding Duane Reade bags outside a
store on the company’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. The tweet read:
Love a quick #DuaneReade run? Even @KatieHeigl can’t
resist shopping #NYC’s favorite drugstore.
!
The photo was taken from a celebrity news website and Katherine Heigl
asserted that she did not, directly or indirectly, grant the original
photographer or, subsequently, the brand, rights to use her likeness for
commercial purposes.
!
Immediately following the post, Heigl’s lawyers filed a six million dollar
lawsuit against the drug store brand because they “misused and
misappropriated the photograph for [Duane Reade’s] own commercial
advertising” and because Duane Reade’s tweets “predominantly
promote commercial advertisements” and “only occasionally use large
photographs.” As a result the photo of Heigl implies “falsely that [the]
Plaintiff endorses [the] Defendant”.4
3. https://business.twitter.com/success-stories/duane-reade
4. http://www.scribd.com/doc/217334096/Heigl-vs-Duane-Reade-Inc](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/flashstock-imagerightsmanagement-150216154752-conversion-gate02/85/The-Busy-Marketer-s-Guide-to-Image-Rights-Management-11-320.jpg)
The Busy Marketer's Guide to Image Rights Management
- 2. Grant Munro is Co-Founder & CEO of FlashStock. A lifelong technologist, he has held positions at Syncapse, Motorola, and Nokia. He holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia, and an MBA from the University of Toronto. Table of Contents! ! Visual content dominates the web Page 3 Sourcing visual content Page 6 The temptation of repurposing visuals Page 8 Duane Reade social media case study Page 10 Best practices for managing images rights Page 13 Flashstock builds technology that helps to connect organizations that need content to consumer photographers who are interested in creating images for them. More on Flashstock on page 15. This report was developed by Percolate in collaboration with:
- 3. Visual content dominates the web! Our digital world is filled with visual content – from selfies to baby videos to citizen journalism — images and videos are everywhere.
- 4. More and more social platforms are prioritizing images over text including Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, as well as the giants: Facebook and Twitter. Today, over 1.8 billion images are shared each day via five digital platforms: WhatsApp, SnapChat, Instagram, Facebook, and Flickr. ! Consumers often respond to visual imagery stronger and faster than they do with mere words. Whether it’s to provoke feelings, thoughts, or actions, the world of content marketing has adapted to this realization by replacing text-based information with visually focused content, shifting what we see across all mediums. With this shift, marketers need more visual content than ever. Creating, sourcing and curating original images has become a crucial investment for brands. Having high quality images results in high click throughs on posts, increases engagement, and strengthens brand sentiment.
- 5. 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800 2,000 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014YTD Mayr Meeker 2014 Internet Trends Presentation Photos shared on WhatsApp, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Flickr each day total 1.8 Billion MillionsofPhotosUploadedandSharedDaily
- 6. Sourcing visual content! As the volume of visual content required to stay relevant is increasing, so is the cost and complexity to deliver it.
- 7. The first instinct for many marketers is to turn to stock images. Services like Getty and Shutterstock offer tens of millions of royalty-free images in a number of categories, themes, and formats that can be used for websites and social channels.1 Using stock is fast and convenient. But over time, the over-reliance on and misuse of stock images can lead to repetitive, less authentic visuals that feel fake and undifferentiated. This is perhaps best illustrated by the popular Tumblr “Woman Laughing Alone with Salad” which shows how sometimes stock can be exceptionally bland and awkward.2 What’s a savvy marketer to do? Ideally, brands would want to source new photography or illustrations whenever possible for their visual content. But hiring artists and photographers and setting up a shoot is time-consuming and inconvenient. Sometimes agencies offer to procure images on the brand’s behalf, but the costs quickly add up and the time between the request and delivery of new images can take weeks or even months — unacceptably long in a social era where images may be relevant for only a few hours. 1. A Percolate license typically includes several dozen images per month from Getty and Shutterstock for the brand to use. 2. http://womenlaughingalonewithsalad.tumblr.com Most stock imagery looks like this Images featured on this page are not Flashstock property.
- 8. The temptation of repurposing visuals! With increasing demand for relevant content and pressure on marketing budgets, brands and agencies are looking for new sources of images.
- 9. A customer snaps a photo of themselves with their favorite sports drink and posts it to Instagram - does that make it fair game for the official brand? The New York Times posts an article with a humorous interaction between two celebrities. Can a brand put some meme words on it and share it to Twitter for some cheap laughs? ! Many brands and agencies have infringed copyright laws by extracting and publishing images from platforms like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. These infringements have led to civil lawsuits, forcing organizations to take a closer look at how they create, curate and publish content. ! Which images can we use to promote our products? Can we borrow or repurpose images once they’ve been published in the public domain? Can we retweet them? Who owns these photos? ! Identifying and knowing what content can and can’t be used can be a complicated undertaking, especially for commercial use. Image publishing has become an increasingly complex and resource- intensive process for brands, agencies and media companies looking to keep pace with the speed and scale of social media. The following is an example of how a seemingly innocent post can go wrong.
- 10. Duane Reade social media case study! As the largest drugstore chain in New York City, Duane Reade boasts a major digital presence.
- 11. The brand has over two million followers on Twitter and 101,000 likes on Facebook. The company was even featured by Twitter in a case study as a business that effectively used social media, promoted tweets and implemented hashtag campaigns to generate a 67% increase in followers year over year. ! However, more recently Duane Reade’s social presence is best known for its major media rights stumble with an image the brand posted to its social channels. On March 18th, 2014 Duane Reade published a photo of actress Katherine Heigl holding Duane Reade bags outside a store on the company’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. The tweet read: Love a quick #DuaneReade run? Even @KatieHeigl can’t resist shopping #NYC’s favorite drugstore. ! The photo was taken from a celebrity news website and Katherine Heigl asserted that she did not, directly or indirectly, grant the original photographer or, subsequently, the brand, rights to use her likeness for commercial purposes. ! Immediately following the post, Heigl’s lawyers filed a six million dollar lawsuit against the drug store brand because they “misused and misappropriated the photograph for [Duane Reade’s] own commercial advertising” and because Duane Reade’s tweets “predominantly promote commercial advertisements” and “only occasionally use large photographs.” As a result the photo of Heigl implies “falsely that [the] Plaintiff endorses [the] Defendant”.4 3. https://business.twitter.com/success-stories/duane-reade 4. http://www.scribd.com/doc/217334096/Heigl-vs-Duane-Reade-Inc
- 12. The suit has not yet resolved, but not matter what the decision, it’s a clear warning for marketers to keep up the pace and relevancy of their visual usage without skipping steps such as obtaining rights for the images they distribute. ! Historically, social media has received lower scrutiny than traditional media such as a billboard ad or 30 second TV spot. But, with the changing landscape of content marketing, the rules and laws related to allowable image use of images are also changing, forcing marketers to properly manage what they do. Marketers need to understand these changes and to realize that every social post is a public representation of the brand that may be deemed as advertising. ! Free, licensed, pre-shot photography is a crucial part of traditional media production, but traditional methods of obtaining stock photos can be too generic for use in social media. Companies need a partner that can provide authentic, on-brand professional photography with built-in image rights clearance. In other words, Duane Reade’s social posts are akin to the brand buying a billboard with Heigl’s photo and pretending she endorsed the drugstore.
- 13. Best practices for managing image rights! Navigating visual content for your brand is critical — here are five things leading companies do to stay in control.
- 14. 3. Know what the image is being used for The terms of services for how you can legitimately use images differ between networks. Those terms generally differ depending on whether the image is being used for editorial or commercial use. Be clear on the difference, and where you fall so you understand the terms applicable to you. ! 4. Establish a process to respond to copyright claims If you don’t currently have a process to respond to copyright claims, you are increasing your exposure to risk. Establish a process that allows you to track and archive all of your uses of images in order to establish a safe harbor if any claims arise. ! 5. Take control by using a trusted partner We live in a world where content is being created and shared so quickly that it’s easy to overlook the legal ramifications of what we put out. And yet, more than ever, content published by organizations is reviewed with increased scrutiny. As the media landscape evolves, it’s becomes increasingly important to find trusted partners and great technology to help source and manage visual content. While it’s difficult to know what to use and how to use it, there are a few tried and tested strategies that can help ensure that usage rules and copyright laws are being followed. Here is a checklist to ensure you’re doing the right thing for your brand: ! 1. Know who owns the rights to an image Every image that is shared on social should either be owned by the brand or have a known and recorded rights holder. If it’s a stock photo agency, what is the agency’s process it uses before passing the content to you? Does the agency have agreements with photographers? Can you review these agreements? If it is a consumer, do you have a definitive statement on record that indicates that he/ she has given your brand the right to use the image indefinitely and for any purpose? ! 2. Know who or what is in the image Most stock images don’t have any brands or logos in the photos. This is for a good reason. If you’re dealing with images for commercial purposes, model releases are required. You will also want to consider any brands, logos, locations, or artwork being displayed as those may also require a release. As the Duane Reade example shows, the media landscape can be difficult to navigate, and it’s important to be smart in approaching content marketing.
- 15. About Flashstock ! FlashStock was created with the belief that marketers are struggling to get the images they need - images of real people enjoying their products at a price and in quantities that make sense. ! FlashStock builds technology that helps to connect organizations that need content to consumer photographers who are interested in creating images for them. Our ambition is to create the world’s largest on-demand photo service, transforming the stock photography industry and providing brands with a cost effective alternative to conventional and expensive professionally-crafted image procurement. ! For more information, visit FlashStock.com or contact us directly at info@flashstock.com. ! All images in this document (excluding page six) are FlashStock owned. About Percolate ! Percolate is the system of record for marketing. Our end-to-end platform of web and mobile products helps marketing teams drive effectiveness at every step of the marketing process. From brand governance to planning, content sourcing and creation, to publishing, moderation and analytics, Percolate is the answer for the modern day marketer. ! As a content ecosystem partner, Percolate clients have access to Flashstock’s network of consumer photographers directly inside of the platform, alongside other content providers like Getty, Shutterstock, Visual.ly, Scripted, and others. ! Additionally, Percolate offers two additional products that help with image rights management: Photographer: our mobile app for iOS and Android phones allows brands to snap photos at events, tag the photo with meta data, save the signature of a model release, and upload the photo to the brand media library in just a few taps. Fanbranded: Percolate also offers a scalable solution to securing rights to user-generated content shared on social networks. Through a simple, non-interruptive workflow, brands can receive authenticated rights to their images with only two clicks from the user.
- 16. Percolate is the system of record for marketing. Our technology helps the world's largest and fastest-growing brands at every step of the marketing process. ! Want to learn more? Contact learn@percolate.com for more information or request a demo today at percolate.com/request-demo