Graphics and publishing go hand-in-hand. As an author, you will need to use images on your cover. You can also use images for chapter headers, section breaks, or figures inside your book. But how do you know if you have the legal rights to use the images you choose? In this post, we talk about the copyright of images and their use.
Images and copyright
Copyright determines who has the legal and exclusive rights to “produce, reproduce, publish or perform an original artistic, literary, musical or dramatic work.” Owning the copyright of an original work—an “original expression of an idea in an artistic, literary, musical or dramatic form”—means that you have the right to prevent others from reproducing your work and benefiting commercially from its use. In Canada, copyright lasts the life of the author plus seventy years after their death.
It is important to note that “copyright only protects the expression of an idea, not the ideas by themselves.” This means that while you can have the copyright over your specific story, you cannot stop anyone else from writing about the idea of your book. For example, think about Tarzan vs. The Jungle Book. “Creators don’t give up copyright protection when they post their content online,” so be sure to read the terms of use on the site where you find your images.
Images are subject to moral rights (providing attribution for images and using them with integrity) and economic rights (protecting “the creator’s right to benefit financially from their work”).
Public domain images
Creators who put their work in the public domain essentially authorize “the public to use the work without permission or payment.” This includes commercial use (i.e., repackaging and reselling the images, like on a book cover). Though no attribution of the creator is necessary, it is nice to acknowledge their work on your copyright page.
Sites where you can find public-domain images include Wikimedia Commons, Flickr, and Pexels.
Royalty-free images
Most images are licensed, not sold. Royalty-free images come with a license you can purchase for a one-time payment, allowing you to use the image for your project. As long as you don’t violate the terms of the license, you can keep using the image as often and for as long as you want. Check the terms of use for image licenses to be sure they cover commercial use. It is good practise to give credit to the image’s creator on your book’s credit page.
You can purchase royalty-free images on sites like Adobe Stock, DepositPhotos, and Shutterstock.
Images posted online
You should always assume that any images you find on a website are copyrighted. Many sites post copyright notices, letting you know whether their images are in the public domain or require permission to reproduce. If in doubt, contact the organization and ask for written permission to use their images. Let them know the image will be printed in a book and why you want to include it in the publication. Be prepared to pay a fee to use the image or have your request rejected.
Key takeaways
Here is the bottom line when using images for commercial use:
- Read the license granting use of the image. This will tell you whether it is in the public domain or royalty-free, whether the license covers commercial use, and whether you have to credit the creator and how.
- Always assume copyright laws are in play. Ensure you have permission to use an image before you reproduce it.
- You don’t always have to credit the creator, but it would be nice to do so.
- The age of the content does not guarantee it is in the public domain. A 200-year-old painting might be considered to be in the public domain. Still, you can assume the copyright of the photo of the painting posted on the museum’s website is not, unless the copyright notice says otherwise . Remember, the copyright always applies to whoever created the image, not what is depicted in the image itself.
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