More and more frequently, people are searching Google for images, downloading them, and using them for personal or commercial use. Be careful–before using these images, remember the copyright law.
Copyright protection attaches to a work the moment it is fixed in tangible form, whether on paper, canvas, or computer file. While registration of the copyright is preferable and gives several significant advantages, it isn’t required for copyright protection to exist.
So How Do I Use Google Images Legally?
Many of these images CAN be used, though. When searching, choose the “All Licenses” filter. It’s in the list of links below your search bar (see image above).
Choose “Free to share and use” or one of the other “free” options. If you click on the image you are usually sent to the source website where you might be able to contact the copyright holder for permission.
To save an image, right-click your mouse on the image and select “save as.”
Copyrightlaws.com recommends linking to the photo or image itself rather than copying and pasting it into your website or social media. A 2018 U.S. court case explains the risk of embedding images. The opinion reads,
[W]hen defendants caused the embedded Tweets to appear on their websites, their actions violated plaintiff’s exclusive display right; the fact that the image was hosted on a server owned and operated by an unrelated third party (Twitter) does not shield them from this result.
Use the image only if you have permission, provide credit, and follow the restrictions the licensing requires.
Search engines cannot verify that a specific license is associated with an image or that you can use it under that license. So before using any image, check the originating website and send a polite request for permission to use it.