When Is It OK To Use Someone Else's Images?

You may have noticed that there was a bit of a scuffle on social media the other day, relating to the use of an image of a finished installation, used by another fabricator, of which that installer was not a customer. Now this post isn’t to apportion blame or point fingers, but that incident did highlight the increasingly important issue of image ownership and who can and cannot use them.

When is it OK?

I think the biggest question for many, and those wondering whether to post images of someone else’s work, is when its it OK to do so?

For me, the only time it is OK to use someone else’s work is if permission has been sought from the owner of that image and installation, and then credit is given to that installer to make sure everyone knows that it’s their work and not the work of the company posting the image. It is never OK to use images of installations that are not yours, without permission or credit, even if it’s to advertise that you fabricate/install them same type of products.

It’s a difficult task for fabricators and syscos to get hold of good quality, finished installation photos. These companies are never on site as the work has been completed. They are much higher up the chain so the chances to get to see in person their finished products are slim. They could hire a photographer, but then there the logistical issues of trying to get hold of home owners at a convenient time.

Fabricator/installer partnership

Where the image problem can be solved is through a productive partnership between the fabricators and their installers.

For example, at our place, we often give our suppliers, namely John Fredericks, Prefix Systems, Kolorseal and others, installation images. In return, they are free to post them on social media or their websites or anywhere else they feel is appropriate, on the basis that our company gets credited with the work. The images we send over are also watermarked, which is the task bestowed on my brother. That way we know that if any other sneaky companies decide to try and pinch the images, the watermark should make it pretty pointless to do so.

So why do we do this? We believe that if a fabricator or supplier has a good portfolio of their products installed, the easier it is for them to go about their marketing. Social media looks so much better with finished pictures. They can improve their written literature with them as well. We get recognition out of it all which is nice. And by being open and having an agreement which works both ways it eliminates the risk that either party could do something which they shouldn’t be.

This I believe is the way forward. Every installer should be watermarking their images in some way, so as to stop any potential theft of them. Fabricators should also then be approaching their installers with the aim to be supplied good quality installation photos, in return for promotion and recognition of the installer. Fabricators could even hold regular competitions with prizes to help boost participation.

Imagery is perhaps one of the strongest and most valuable forms of marketing we have as an industry. We also take a great deal of pride in the work we do. So when we feel we have been wronged, or an image has been used without permission, or if it’s just been plain stolen, it’s a big dig in the ribs.