Get Permission to Use Images Displayed on Soccerwidow

Copyright Law & Licencing

The images we use for illustration purposes throughout this website are often stock photos, purchased from outstanding libraries such as Shutterstock.

We sometimes modify these images and/or combine them to visualise messages, and it is then that they become our own “derivative” works.

Only where our visualisations are significantly different to the originals does our derivative work become subject to copyright itself. You will then need our permission to use any of these illustrations.

Otherwise, should you wish to use any of the images displayed on this website in your project(s) then you will need to purchase the image and its rights from the respective legal owner.

Our licences permit us to use images for our own projects, which includes the display on our sites, as well as modifications, but the artists and/or the stock photo providers continue to own the original images.

For example, the featured image for this post is owned by Shutterstock contributor ‘alexkatkov’. (The young lady opening the empty wallet).

We have purchased this image and used it to illustrate our content but, by doing so, the image does not by default become public property for everybody else to use for free.

Four Different Examples of Image Rights…

(1) The Stock Photo Provider and/or the Artist clearly own the Image

The following image is an unadulterated Shutterstock photo and you do not need to obtain permission from us to use it. Instead, you will need to visit Shutterstock (just follow the link in the byline displayed under the image) and purchase this stock photo yourself:

Of course, we are always happy to be mentioned as the source of your idea, but legally this is not required.

(2) Soccerwidow owns the Rights for the Derivative Work but not for the Image

Below is a quotation illustrated by a Shutterstock image:

The image can easily be cut away from the quote and used on its own. Again, you will need to purchase the image rights from Shutterstock should you wish to use this photo.

However, if you choose to use the full visualisation of the quote then in certain circumstances obtaining permission from us alone should be enough. We have given the image a ‘new spin’ by combining it with a quote; the resultant work is deemed to be an “original work of authorship”, and therefore Soccerwidow owns the copyright.

Nevertheless, in cases like this, proper linking to us and recognition of our authorship, as well as referencing to the particular Shutterstock image(s) from your site, will be required to acknowledge the artist(s) concerned.

(3) Soccerwidow owns the sole Rights for the Derivative Work

Below, to visualise a famous quote, we have used a combination of two Shutterstock photos:

This collage is therefore our own derivative work, for which we hold the intellectual design copyright, but again I stress that we do not own the images.

If you wish to use the underlying images for your own creative project then you will need to purchase them from Shutterstock.

However, if you only wish to use the collage, then obtaining permission from us will be enough.

(4) We (Soccerwidow) own the Full Rights

The following illustration employs just one of our own personal photographs.

We hold the full intellectual rights for the photo as well as the visualisation of the quote. Only our permission is required to use pictures of this nature:

How to get our Permission

1. Please email (support[at]soccerwidow[dot]com) your request to us and provide a link to the sub-page where you found the image; if the page contains more than one visualisation then please describe which you are referring to
2. Send us a link to the website where you wish to use the illustration
3. If you intend to use our work in connection with a new article you have not yet written, then briefly describe in which context our picture will be used
4. We will consider your request and usually reply to you (including byline code) within 24 hours
5. That’s it. We do not charge for access to our own works, but depending on which visualisation you are intending to use, a Shutterstock licence purchase may be necessary. However, don’t worry about this yet. We will communicate this to you in our reply email.

Unfortunately, this is a manual procedure at the time of writing. We are using hundreds of different pictures and visualisations on the site and each requires different byline coding if used somewhere else.

Why Obtaining Our Permission is Necessary

The examples we have outlined above are not exhaustive.

Whether you need just to obtain permission from us to use a particular illustration from this site, or purchase the actual copyright licence for it from the provider, depends on the individual circumstances of each image and/or visualisation, as well as the licence terms and conditions for the underlying image(s).

Pictures used without permission violate international copyrights, not only Soccerwidow’s rights, but also the rights of the stock photo providers and/or artist(s) involved.

Uploading our images to your website using a method called “hotlinking” (calling the image direct from our server) is bandwidth theft, which is a serious crime!

Therefore, please play fair and contact us to obtain permission to use a picture. We will send you detailed information on how to implement it together with all the necessary byline and link codes.

Permission from Us is Free of Charge!

We will not charge you for our work, whether you are interested in our own photographs or, in any derivative work we have created based on photos we have the rights to use.

Copyright & Licence Issues

For your own protection, please note that no licence we have purchased will extend to cover you if you choose to copy and display images from our site without proper permission or, acquiring your own user licence.

Without any doubt, your website is not owned by us and can never legally be covered by any of our licences. We cannot be held responsible if any stock photo provider or artist decides to legally enforce their rights against you.

Therefore, in addition to linking back to us as the source of the visualisation where necessary, in many cases (e.g. example number (2) above), you may also need to purchase the image rights from the stock photo provider, for example, Shutterstock, and obtain your own licence for that particular image.

I must stress that it is absolutely crucial to ensure that you have full rights to use an image before displaying it on your site. This applies not only to our illustrations, or stock photos in general, but to every single image you include within your own website.

Further Reading on Image Licencing

Thank you for your understanding and helping to make the Internet a more fair and transparent place. After all, the Internet is all about sharing information and helping one another. By referencing to each other’s work, legality is maintained and the time, effort and creativity of contributors is fully recognised and compensated.

We are all very grateful to have the Internet around. There is a multitude of talented people who produce great images for websites and, like you and I, these people also have to pay their bills. Please respect their image rights.

Read more…

UK Copyright Law on Derivative Work
US Copyright Law in Derivative Works and Compilations