In a very interesting move, Getty Images has decided that threatening small organisations that use its copyright images without payment isn’t working and so they’ve decided to allow the embedding of millions of their images on blogs and social media without payment.
You need to use the embed code, which “frames” the image and links back to the Getty Images website, but this seems a small price to pay.
Of course there are restrictions. They main limitation of the current Getty terms and conditions for embedding is that, “You may only use embedded Getty Images Content for editorial purposes (meaning relating to events that are newsworthy or of public interest)”. They state explicitly that Embedded Getty Images Content may not be used, “for any commercial purpose (for example, in advertising, promotions or merchandising) or to suggest endorsement or sponsorship”. So forget about using the images in your next banner ad!
In reality this is probably going to have more impact on small organisations and individuals than it will on B2B technology companies – hopefully there aren’t any readers of our blog who are using unlicensed copyright images in their company’s marketing campaigns! But I’m sure we will see these embedded images cropping up in many tech blogs in the future.