“Can’t I just use photos of my client’s home that are in Google images?”
This is a question that we have gotten over and over again at DMD from realtors. And it kind of makes sense, right? After all, the pictures are just sitting there. And they’re free. Why wouldn’t you try to use them if they’re good?
Here’s why: because it’s against the law.
Quite simply put, if you take photos without a photographer’s permission, you could end up getting sued and lose a whole lot of money - even over just one image.
How much money? Ask Zillow.
The real estate listing site has come under fire many times for violating copyrights. In the past few years, multiple photographers have come forward and filed claims against them for refusing to take down photos that photographers did not agree to let them use.
Now, Zillow has won some of these cases and lost some of them, and the amount they have been required to pay has varied. In the past, they have had to pay $180 for each photo that was used unlawfully. In an ongoing case, a photographer is asking for $150,000 for each photo.
If the photographer wins, Zillow might have to fork over $81 million.
What Photos Can Real Estate Agents Use?
At DMD, we see this as a horrible situation for everyone.
Obviously, no one wants to pay over $100,000 because they were unaware of copyright laws (or even if they blatantly disregarded them because they thought it was no big deal). But photographers don’t want to be put in this position either.
What’s the solution? Learn what kinds of photos you can and can’t use in Alaska.
Our state’s rules regarding photography copyright laws don’t stray from federal guidelines. The Professional Photographers of America sums up the rules quite succinctly:
“Unless you have permission from the photographer, you can’t copy, distribute (no scanning and sending them to others), publicly display (no putting them online), or create derivative works from photographs.”
As photographers, we don’t have to purchase copyrights when we produce or distribute a photo. That copyright exists immediately, and anyone who uses the photo without permission can face a lawsuit.
If you want truly free photos, we recommend using Google Advanced Image Search. You can filter photos by usage rights and choose photos that are free to use and share commercially.
However, the reality of real estate photography is that the best photos are protected by copyright. The photos that are free usually aren’t the best ones, and finding good images is especially difficult if you need ones of a specific house or neighborhood.
You can use whatever “okay” pictures exist, but trust us when we say that poor photos will not pay off when you are trying to sell your client’s home.
Want Great Listing Photos without a Lawsuit? Work with DMD
Copyright is confusing and complicated. The effort it takes you to track down great pictures of a property (assuming they even exist) and ensure you won’t be sued is as least as much as it would take to just have us do the job for you.
And when you hire a professional real estate photography business like DMD to shoot a property, you’re not just paying for the right to use those images. You’re paying for our experience. Our skill. And to get a cohesive set of images that work together to help form the backbone of a fantastic listing.
Why wouldn’t you want that?