Understanding Image Appropriation
Have you ever been scrolling and caught by one of those silly viral videos with tons of views that is forced into your feed? They’re hard not to see. And have you ever noticed in the caption that it says, “DM for removal”?
This means that someone has taken that silly viral video from someone else without permission or providing credit and turned it into a product from which they are benefitting - either by exposure to customers for their brand, sponsorships, or “view” payments from the platform. It’s really gross when you think about it.
And yes, Instagram is paying creators directly now to share Reels that receive a high number of views. I won’t earn a ton from IG Reels this year on their current plan with my current exposure, but I’ll make about $1300 by just doing what I’m doing now. So yes— even videos that I share online that may seem innocuous, or not directly related to sales, are actually a product of my business. Accounts that earn millions of views each month can make a whole lot more.
I’m sharing this message with you today, because it has become all too common for accounts and businesses to take imagery and appropriate it and use it as their own. Small businesses, large businesses, you name it. It happens all over the internet (websites) and all over social media platforms, too. It’s something we all need to be aware of.
Here are a few case studies:
When images are taken and posted to .com websites without permission the “theft for profit” amounts to a clear violation of intellectual property law.
For example— a new grower is really excited about the upcoming season, but they’ve never grown a particular flower before, so they take the image that is shared on the website they are buying the plant from and they post it on their new blog on their new .com website for their new business. It might seem harmless, but this can actually get you into a LOT of trouble.
Here’s why: That image may not belong to that online nursery business. There are photographers whose entire livelihoods are based on photographing the plants that appear on websites. They produce their art and they license or lease those photos to the nursery to be used for the sale of that plant on that particular website. BUT the photographer didn’t license you to take it. Yikes.
Photography and videography are protected art forms. Just like paintings and drawings. From the moment a person creates an image or a video, it is considered to be the sole property of that person and it cannot be used at all without their express permission.
Think about this— when we screen grab a photo or right click and save an image from an original source, we are actually intentionally separating that artwork from the artist who made it. Yes, artwork. It doesn’t matter if you think the image is of value or if you think its crap. If it doesn’t belong to you, you can’t take it. But this is kind of second nature us. We save things and share them all the time.
The argument for “Sharing is Caring”
Yes- I absolutely agree that the sharing of posts is often done in a thoughtful and supportive way that does support networking and the work of the artist or business that originated the imagery. This is why sharing posts through "Instagram stories” that have a clear link back to the “maker” are such a valuable form of organic advertising. If you see something and like it- you should absolutely use the app to share it with others, flag it, or save it for future reference, etc. The apps are designed to send people back to the “makers.”
But it feels really different when images show up in places without credit or permission where the only actionable step that has been taken is the addition of the words “DM for removal” or “photo not my own.”
When someone posts an image in a forum and adds “photo not my own” in the caption, but gives no credit and does not share it with permission — that’s not helpful sharing — that’s an intentional move to separate the art from the artist and use it for the purpose of your own gain. That may sound severe, but here’s what I mean.
The person posting the image may think they are not gaining from it, but is that really true? They may be using that image to identify a product for the purpose of purchase and then resale (profit to their business). Things can get complicated quickly. At some point somewhere between the discovery of that image and the appreciation of it, the image was copied and pasted and the reference to the point of origin was stripped.
A word of Warning:
There are already services (with free trials, even!) that are designed to use AI to search for appropriated images on .com websites. One such business is called Visual Rights Group. This company seeks to protect photographers whose works are increasingly taken in our digital world and used without permission for financial gain.
I know that some of my images have been taken in this way and used by other companies. And I’m a little curious to see how their service works, so I’m going to give it a try and see what happens. This company will take the images that I submit to it (they can uploads huge quantities of files for searching) and scour the internet with their advanced search engines. Websites with my images will be flagged and added to a folder of sorts that I can review and either note that the images are approved or that they haven’t been. VRG will use it’s legal branch to assess how much money should be sought in damages and they will issue the website owners settlement letters if I tell them to go ahead. This is very real.
Sometimes images just pop up on my feed or even in marketing emails that I receive that give me pause. Here’s one that I came up organically in 2019. Keep in mind, in 2019 I was just 2 years into my business. I was working HARD to earn money to support my family. Can you imagine opening an email and seeing your own image front and center in a promotion from a big company for the very same dahlia tuber you were offering to customers from your tiny little business?
Eden Brothers did eventually take the image down and apologize. But it is their responsibility as a business to work ethically. They took a shortcut and in place of paying for a stock image or paying a photographer to take an image of their own product, they took mine for “free.”
Easy Reverse Image searching for image appropriation
Here is another example. I once googled “Frosted Explosion Grass” - a product we grow here and I just happened to be on the “image” results tab. Holy wow. A TON of wholesale online flower distributors were using my image as their own to sell this product. I took no action that time, because I was a bit overwhelmed. It seemed like my image had just become public domain even though I know that can’t be. Here is the image. Pretty simple. It was made the same way I’ve taught you to photograph single products for wholesale:
So let’s do a little reverse image search and see what happens. Let’s see if anyone is still using this image on a .com website. Remember, even if you’re just blogging about something if you’re writing for the purpose of a business, you could be in trouble.
This is really easy to do.
Right click on my image above and save it to your desktop or wherever you can find it again in 2 seconds. (And YES- I’m giving you permission to do this!)
Go to www.google.com (You may have to actually type it into your browser, the Google tabs that automatically open for me don’t give me easy access to image searches.)
On the right hand side of the search bar, click on the camera icon. (it’s just to the right of the microphone icon).
You’ll be prompted to drag an image in for searching. Pull in my image of the explosion grass.
The results that pop up for me look like this:
Next, click on the button that says “Find image source” right above my photo on this screen.
You’ll be brought to a page that looks like this:
Scroll down and you’ll see the other websites my exact image is appearing on. There is a section that says “Pages that include matching images”
Right away, I see that 2 other farms are using my photo with no permission or credit. You see my original blog post that I wrote and then below you can see pages from the other farms. I can go right to them and see how the images are being used.
Do I think these folks lifted the images from my website? Maybe. But I think it is more likely that they got them from one of the large wholesalers that was using it before. From the looks of the linked pages, it appears they could be sharing a lot of images that aren’t their own. Not good.
Is there a difference between a small farm making a “big mistake” and a larger business taking a “short cut”. Where is the line? As business owners and publishers, it’s really on us to understand the ethics of working with images and legal implications for our actions.
I’m not pointing out this issue because I am paranoid or looking to rake in money from people who are using my images. I’m coming at you from the perspective of an artist and a former communications professional and art teacher with a DEEP respect for art, art making, and intellectual property. I’ve worked most of life with people who are working so hard to make it using their skills and talents in a world full of people who take them for granted.
If you’re taking photos you’re making art, too, even if you don’t think your images are special. And no one should take advantage of the things you make.
Any way you stack it, you don’t want to be on the receiving end of a search like this. And
What about social media?
Given how profitable social media has become, I don’t think it will be long (it’s probably already happening now) before companies develop services to protect the intellectual property of content creators on social media platforms- and not just the images/video being used on .com websites.
SO. here are some helpful tips for navigating this business.
If you want to put someone else’s image on your own feed (not share a post in your Instagram stories), but an actual post that doesn’t have their handle attached, or use a photo on your website consider these points:
Ask for permission. The person will say yes or no. I usually say “yes, but please give me credit.” On occasion I might say “no,” if I feel the account or feed /website is sketchy….
I suggest you remove any social media posts that you may have with images taken from other places, unless you have express written permission from the photographer to use them.
Make sure your website is not using images from someone else. — Remember, often times those seed catalogues and plant suppliers DO NOT OWN the images they are leasing for the purpose of their websites.
Always remove an image if the owner requests you do so. But know that simply removing the image may not be enough to protect you from a settlement letter. You’ll have to pay that or face a civil suit.
If you want to point a group of people toward an image for the purpose of learning more about it, use the link to the post OR take a full screen capture and include the social media handle of the maker. I understand that you can’t always get the answers you want from a public social media account holder. Sometimes people just don’t feel like answering the million questions flying at them. All those responses add up quickly in time away from family or planned work.
So, what do you think?
Let me know in the comments if you have any questions. I hope this post was helpful and insightful.
