What Images are OK to Use in Your Book?

You're writing a nonfiction book and you need to showcase a picture of the machinery you're talking about or include a photo of the person you're referencing, because sometimes all the words in the world just can't do what a single image or illustration could do. But do you have the rights to include that image in your book? If you're wondering what illustrations, artwork, or photos you can legally use in your book, then this video is for you. Well, hello there. Great to see you. I'm Julie, the book broad of book launchers. We're a professional self publishing services company that helps nonfiction authors write, publish, and of course, promote books that grow their brand and their businesses. Images, illustrations, and artwork inside a book or even on the COVID is an issue that gets a little sticky and sometimes catches authors a bit off guard when they get into publishing. The issue of what rights you have for these things is not as clean or simple as you might like or you might think. Some. Some people think that if they get an image off the Internet, it's okay to publish it in your book. And sometimes even using a stock image from a site like Iphoto, Shutterstock, Pixabay, et cetera, where you've paid for the image, so you automatically think it's okay to use in whatever way you want. None of that's actually true. Even sometimes, being the creator of the image doesn't always guarantee you have the rights to put it in your book. Now, of course, this is not legal advice because I'm not a lawyer. I'm a Canadian who did an MBA in real estate and finance. Those two real estate law classes I took do not help whatsoever in this regard. So please be sure to consult a copyright attorney should you have concerns over something you want to publish. That said, here are some things to know about putting images in your book. If it's your artwork or illustration, no problem. You have the copyright and can do what you want with it. You created it, and so long as it's your original concept and not a copy of someone else's, you're fine. In other words, just because you draw it doesn't mean it's okay if you're simply drawing what someone else created. Got it? Like if you read Brandy Olson's book Real Flow, and you see these super cool illustrations in her book that she had created for this. You can't just sit down, hand draw your own versions and say, they're yours, they're hers. If you took the photo, you can probably use it because you're the photographer, but it does depend on what is in the photograph. Generally speaking though, photos you take are yours to use. I'll explain a few caveats on this in the next couple of points. Now, if someone else is the image creator, you have to figure out who holds the copyright to that image and then go from there. You can't assume the creator is the rights holder, because that isn't always the case. Creators often license or sell their work. This is often the case with stock photo sites and some images you see in the media. Now, when it comes to photos you take, of course, if you take a photo of something that is copyright protected, that doesn't give you the right to use that photo just because you took the photo. If the image is in the public domain, like many of the old artists work is now, then you're probably okay. However, one little funny thing is buildings architecture is copyright protected, but only to a point because it's in the public domain. Really. Blueprints though, have a lot more protection than the building itself. But if you're taking a photo of an interior architecture, you might need permission from the copyright holder, who is likely to be the owner of the building, but could be the architect if it's famous. Whew. Little confusing. Pictures of buildings, even if they are copyright protected, are probably okay as long as you took the photo while out in a public space. So it's clearly something anyone could have seen or taken. Now here's a fun one. Taking a photo of trademarks or even just using a trademarked logo like Starbucks logo or the Nike Swoosh. Trademark law is actually less strict than copyright law. So if you're using it in a way that couldn't confuse the reader into thinking that there's an association with your book and that company, then you're likely okay. Often a simple way to handle this is to include a disclaimer saying you're not associated with this trademark holder. But this is why you see television shows where there's a logo blurred on a T shirt or a hat. They want to avoid any trademark issues, so they blur it out. If you've taken a photo of a celebrity or a public figure, you own the rights to that photo. If you took that photo in a public domain, like a red carpet event or a political rally, you will likely not have any issues using that photo. However, if you jumped a fence to take it and the subject of the photo could have a privacy claim against you, well, stalker, you might be out of luck. It's not a copyright issue, but privacy does become the issue and many celebrities and politicians will bring privacy claims. Now, chances are you're not doing that to get the photos, so you should be fine now. Getting their permission to use it is ideal, but again, you don't have to. Many stock photo sites can be a good source for authors to use. However, even if you get an image from a website that allows you to have a license to use the image, make sure you know the rules of that usage. Are you allowed to modify the image, for example, for use on your cover? Some images can't be used for commercial purposes, and printing in or on a book that will be sold counts as that. Others have a limit on the number of times it can be sold, while others require artist attribution. You can see on iStockphoto's website as an example that you only need an extended license if you're going to have 500,000 copies printed or you're going to be using the image on products you sell, like a mug. By the way, you can get our hashtag noboringbookmug by commenting the day a video is released, so be sure to subscribe to the channel and turn notifications on so you can start doing that and subscribe and get entered to win our fabulous swag. But if you were to create swag that is for sale using images from the stock photo site, then you would need a license that allows you to do that. If you hire someone to produce work for your book, make sure it's clear in your contract that you are the copyright holder and that you are or are not if you are giving attribution. If you are ever unsure, you can consult a copyright permissions professional to get guidance on who the copyright holder is and whether you need permission or license or nothing at all. Now, after you hit that like button and you've posted a comment, this video right here talks about more nitty gritty details about image considerations and how it will look in your book. And this is the latest and greatest from the channel. Both are going to help you as an author, so click on over. I'm waiting for you.