Using stock images in blogs and other promotional materials is a practice that’s prevalent amongst many brands and businesses. However, while the process may seem fairly straightforward, there are certain rules that apply.

Using pictures in your blogs is a great way to increase reader engagement. Follow these rules to avoid copyright infringement and hefty penalties.

“A picture is worth a thousand words” – you’re probably familiar with this famous adage. However, when the picture in question is copyright protected, its worth equals just three words: cease and desist. Okay, that was a joke, but it illustrates how serious of an offence it is to use someone’s copyrighted image online without their express consent.

This is an example of why you should use picMatch to uncover where your media has been shared. It is the story of Chelsea and Tony Northrup, who found out that their image was used on a product's packaging. They sued the infringer and were able to recover $60,000.

Watermarking is a way of signing your image to show ownership and offers partial theft protection by preventing people from accidentally using your image wrongfully. It is also a great way of promoting your brand and makes your pictures recognizable as they spread into the far corners of the world wide web.

If you’re a photographer, you know the hard work that goes into perfecting an image. It can be a drawn out process involving travelling, getting the exposure and lighting right, editing, and, sometimes, even incorporating graphic design or hiring models. So, imagine how galling and frustrating it is when someone steals your image and uses it as their own, without giving you the credit or compensation you deserve...

Has it happened to you that someone posted compromising images of yourself on the internet without your consent? And even worse, you see the ones you have found but people may have shared them all over the internet. It is impossible, without the proper tools, for you to find where they have been shared, maybe on other social media, pornography sites, or else. What do you do in this situation?

If you sell your image via Stock Agencies, there is no doubt that you always ask yourself, “I wonder where they will use my image?”, every time you make a sale. Because Stock Agencies do not tell you, the contributor, who it was sold to, where it will be used.