Ideally, your website contains well‑written, helpful content, a user‑friendly navigation, and of course, eye‑catching images. But are those pictures of cheerful caregivers and happy seniors YOUR images, or could you be at risk for copyright infringement?

If you didn’t personally design your agency’s website and/or take the photos or create the illustrations used on your site, there’s some important information you need to know.

• Confirm that the marketing agency you worked with to develop your website purchased the images or illustrations being used.
• Understand that when an agency purchases images for your site, those images are the property of the purchasing agency – not your home care agency. In most cases, permission was granted to use the images to build your website only – not to be reused for other purposes.
• Under U.S. copyright laws, a photo is the property of the person who presses the shutter on the camera – not the person who owns the camera, or even the person in the photo, unless a written agreement exists that makes the photo a work made for hire.

To muddy the waters even further, we’ve recently seen an uptick in spam emails from supposed “professional photographers” who claim an agency website is using images without permission. These messages may seem legitimate and instill fear, but there are several key ways you can tell them from an actual copyright infringement notification:

• A true copyright infringement notification will include proof that the sender owns the copyright to the image in question.
• Spam notifications typically include a link to a Google Drive document or another source. NEVER click on the link!

If you receive a legitimate copyright infringement notification, or if you’re unsure about a notice’s legitimacy, contact the person or agency from whom you received the image in question. You will need to respond to the photographer or the attorney who provided the infringement complaint with either a receipt for the purchased image or notification that the infringing content has been removed from your site.

At corecubed, all of the images we use are legally purchased and licensed for use on the websites we create. Contact us with any concerns or to learn more about ensuring your website’s images are not at risk for copyright infringement.