iStockphoto question

[davemcnally]

I need a bit of help. I am looking at buying some stock photography and the terms and conditions are a bit overwhelming for myself.

I am creating some blog designs that will be available for free download. Can I use purchased images in those designs? And if so, can I use them over and over or only once?

For reference, the license agreement can be found here (http://www.istockphoto.com/license.php).

Thanks :)

[pbradish]

a) Prohibited Uses. You may not do anything with the Content that is not expressly permitted in the preceding section or permitted by an Extended License. For greater certainty, the following are “Prohibited Uses” and you may not:
use the Content in design template applications intended for resale, whether on-line or not, including, without limitation, website templates, Flash templates, business card templates, electronic greeting card templates, and brochure design templates;I think that as long as the templates are free you are in the clear.

[davemcnally]

Hmm the designs I am doing though will be uncoded as I am not experienced enough to make the theme. I can manage the XHTML & CSS but wouldn't know how to integrate that.

So I'm guessing if I were to give those away, I would be unable to away the PSD as that would mean people could extract the purchased artwork which violates a term. Darn it...kind of defeats the point if I have to give away a flat image as would be much more difficult for someone to code right?

[Dan Schulz]

Why not just ask them for permission to include their images in your free designs?

One thing I'd do in the request is state that you're more than willing to help promote their service by including a link to their site in your readme.txt file. Something like "Stock photography provided by iStockPhoto - for more great stock photography visit www.istockphoto.com" might be all that's needed to sway them into giving you permission.

[davemcnally]

Thanks for the tip Dan, I'll do just that :)

It's always best to be certain about these things before actually doing something that could land you in trouble. Never run into this problem as of yet because I have never used stock before.

Thanks again.

[ses5909]

instead of using the actual vector artwork in your psd you can size it to what you need and then have it be a small gif. Then if someone decided to take and use that, it isn't any different than them taking a screenshot off your website and saving that image or just downloading directly.

I have used istockphoto for a few things here on TBE: http://www.theblogexperiment.com/blog-forum/images/misc/whos_online.gif.

and sure anyone can download that but if they resize it, it would look pretty nasty!

[davemcnally]

instead of using the actual vector artwork in your psd you can size it to what you need and then have it be a small gif. Then if someone decided to take and use that, it isn't any different than them taking a screenshot off your website and saving that image or just downloading directly.

I have used istockphoto for a few things here on TBE: http://www.theblogexperiment.com/blog-forum/images/misc/whos_online.gif.

and sure anyone can download that but if they resize it, it would look pretty nasty!

I was going to do that anyway but presumed it would still count as me distributing the artwork?

[ses5909]

I was going to do that anyway but presumed it would still count as me distributing the artwork?

How is that any different than it being online though where anyone can download it?

[shyflower]

Why not just ask them for permission to include their images in your free designs?

One thing I'd do in the request is state that you're more than willing to help promote their service by including a link to their site in your readme.txt file. Something like "Stock photography provided by iStockPhoto - for more great stock photography visit www.istockphoto.com" might be all that's needed to sway them into giving you permission.

It isn't istock that will give the permission. It's the individual authors. iStock is a rights management business. They don't own the images they license.

Moreover, if I remember the guidelines correctly, you are not allowed to transfer the image to a third party. If you want to find images that you can use, check the images licensed through Creative Commons (http://creativecommons.org)

[ses5909]

I was on istockphoto today getting an image and I actually paid attention to the terms of use.

The following is prohibited:



use the Content in design template applications intended for resale, whether on-line or not, including, without limitation, website templates, Flash templates, business card templates, electronic greeting card templates, and brochure design templates;I would make note that they say intended for resale and since you plan on giving them away, I would think it would be ok.

[Dan Schulz]

You still might want to ask them just to be on the safe side. That way if some iStockPhoto lawyer gets a burr up their backside and decides to smack you for it, you can refer to the permission agreement that you had received.

It still may not help, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

For example, I have permission to put online in HTML format any book that was produced by FASA Corporation for the BattleTech intellectual property, which is now owned by WizKids, Inc. If I were ever to get a takedown notice (and I doubt I would since I'm providing them with plenty of free exposure and I've adhered to the terms of the agreement to the letter and then some), I could refer to the letter as proof that I had permission to reproduce the content in that format. :)

[davemcnally]

Thanks Dan, I took advice from your earlier post and obtained permission. I didn't use the stock in the end but I guess I have permission for future use now :)