My Brand…Your Image ???

If you have a fashion website and/or apparel business, I find it makes a huge positive impact on sales to show celebrities wearing the same sort of item you’re selling or offering on your websites.

So, what about using celebrity images on the E-commerce website? If you don’t have the opportunity to shoot the images yourself, is it possible to use celebrity images without violating any copyrights? This article introduces the legality of using images you find on the internet.

Always Get Permission to Use the Image

Unless you’ve taken the image yourself, regardless of where you find it, it’s usually owned by someone else. It’s fine to use images owned by another party as long as you receive written permission from that person/entity to use their image.

Send an email to the contact person at the web site whose image you would like to use. After they respond in a positive fashion, including the photographer’s permission, they’ll usually send you high-res images or state they give their permission for you to download the image from their web site to your desktop.

The owner will usually tell you how to attribute ownership. If not, a good attribution is ©photographer’s name / Web site name.

Editorial versus Commercial Use of Images

Editorial use of images means you want to use the image to accompany a story you’ve written on a topic of general interest. For example, you write a story about the latest trend in celebrity handbags and you want to use an image of Kareena Kapoor holding the handbag. Generally, no model release is required for editorial use; however this is always something to clarify with the owner prior to using the image.

Using an image on any website that generates revenue, advertises products or services is commercial. E-commerce, of course, falls in to that definition. So use of a celebrity image on your Ecommerce website in conjunction with selling your product is held to a much higher standard than editorial use.

Here is an example of image owner use restrictions:

Contact xxx@the photo images service you want to use.com for all commercial or promotional uses.

Getting Commercial Use Permission

There are free images sharing sites on the internet such as Shutter, Getty, Flickr and Google Images from which you can access a wide variety of images (although celebrity images are very hard to find). Make sure that any image you use for your web site is approved by the owner for commercial use.

Some owners won’t let their image be used at all commercially, others will charge a fee or ask that you provide a link back to their web page.

Model’s Release

Another dicey issue is getting a model’s release. Just because someone has his or her picture taken doesn’t necessary mean you can use it without a release. Generally, celebrity images don’t need a model release for editorial use.

Altering the Image

Some owners allow you to crop or re-touch the image, others don’t. Most owners will make this type of information abundantly clear.

Find Out More Information Before You Post Images

When in doubt, always check it out. It’s better to make sure you have permission to use an image on your E commerce website than get an advocate’s email with a cease-and-desist order, requesting damages for the use of the image.

FOOLING AROUND

False advertisement is any type of advertisement that deceives consumers or affects their purchasing decisions. Even advertisement that only has the potential to be misunderstood by the consumers may be construed as false advertisement. Basically, false advertising is the use of false or misleading statements in advertising instead of telling the consumers the truth where ‘truth’ is the concept that the consumer has the right to know what they are buying.

To establish the fact that the advertisement is false, certain points needs to kept in mind:

a) a false statement of fact has been made about the advertiser’s own or another person’s goods, services, commercial activities;

b) the statement either deceives or has the potential to deceive a substantial portion of its targeted audience;

c) the deception is likely to affect the purchasing decision of its audience;

d) the deception is likely to cause injury/loss to the customer.

Types of False advertisement:

Usually, false advertisement is in the form of:

§ Failure to disclose:

Misleading misstatements or partially correct statements are considered to be ‘failure to disclose’ because they fail to disclose something the consumer should know. Sometimes even misrepresentation is not required. Merely not stating the truth can be a ‘failure to disclose’.

§ False and insignificant research:

Stating facts based on false and insignificant research can also be construed as false advertisement. For example, basing advertising claims on statistically insignificant test results can well be false advertising on the grounds of flawed and insignificant research.

§ Product disparagement;

Discrediting a competitor’s product to boost sales is called product disparagement and is considered to be a part of false advertisement as well.

Other than these, false advertising in a wider sense may include hidden fees and surcharges, manipulation of the standards and commodities, mixing of adulterants, over sizing of packages, using ambiguous undefined terms, etc.

LIABILITIES IN ADVERTISING

When an injury (a violation of the legal right) is caused to a third-party due to the advertising of a business house of its goods and services, advertising liability arises. Liability of a company to another is the company being legally obligated or accountable to the other company.

Publishers of advertising content are liable for the content of the advertisement as well as their traditional content.

Advertising liability can arise through:

i. Libel: It is the defamation of another person or company in a written or visual form.

ii. Slander: it is defamation by speech.

iii. Invasion of privacy: Invasion of privacy may come in different forms:

· It may be in the form of misappropriation (intentional, illegal use) of a person’s likeliness or name, usually for the commercial benefit of another.

· Intrusion into the private affairs of a person and his right to seclusion and solitude.

· Depicting a person in a false light through the use of publicity. Whether the depiction is objectionable is judged by a reasonable standard.

· Public disclosure of true facts (even if they are true), if it leads to embarrassment and are reasonably objectionable comes under invasion of privacy.

iv. Copyright infringement: It is what the name itself suggests. Using copyrighted material of another person or company gives rise to liabilities.

v. Trademark or trade dress claims: As in the case of copyrighted material, misusing someone’s trade dress (a business style or image that is unique or distinctive) gives rise to liabilities under advertising.

Other than aforesaid, liabilities in advertising may arise because of certain misappropriation claims or unfair competition claims.