Ask the Editor: How Do I Get Pictures and Permissions For My Book?

Question of the year, right? Well, it feels that way to us.  Here at Xulon Press, we consistently hear this question, so we decided to blog on it for you and for anyone else who might need it in the future. These are the basics of photo permissions and although it can seem daunting at first, it’s pretty straightforward. However, the best way to avoid the possibility of legal issues with images in your book is to create them yourself or commission what you want from a photographer, illustrator or designer. Still, with the millions of images you can easily find in an Internet search, we want you to have this helpful information.

According to the U.S. Copyright Office (www.copyright.gov), photographs are generally owned by the photographer who originally took the shot. In some cases the owner is the photographer’s employer. With the oceans of images existing in the world, it is often difficult to determine who the legal owner is. Many of the more famous images out there have been copied legally, which means the original photographer has rights to it, but there are also individuals who own copies. Some images fall within fair use laws, just like printed content of books. For more information on fair use for photographs and images, you can visit www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html.

You now have two options – spend the time and money tracking down the owner of that image you fell in love with, or settle for a very similar one you can find on stock photography websites. The three largest sites and most well known sites for quality photography are Getty Images, Corbis and Sipa Press. There are also many others out there. You can easily find a plethora of stock photo sites online depending on what kind of photos you want – air shots for a travel book, action shots for a sports book, etc.

Images on stock photography sites are divided into two main categories. First there’s royalty free images: you pay a one time fee to use the image with no limit on when you have to do so. However, royalty-free images offer no exclusivity and the price is arbitrarily set by the seller. The image can be sold to anyone who wants it, which means it could be in hundres of books on the market. There is also a limit on the amount of times the image can be printed, which may limit the quantity of books you or a bookseller can order.

Secondly, there are images that fall under the category of “rights managed” photography. This means that an individual licensing agreement is negotiated for each use of the image. Prices are negotiated based on factors such as the time limit for using the image, territories the image will be used in (US market vs UK for example), how big the image will be printed (e.g. 1/2 page or full page), etc. The benefit of this category is that the buyer can pay for exclusive rights to the photo and it allows for larger print runs.

We’ll finish off with this: images you find in a Google search are very often used without permission and will bring you back to square one – hunting down the photographer or owner so you don’t have to be afraid of getting sued. We generally advise you to save your time and not use Google to find images, when you have the options above. However, if you just can’t get your mind around gathering without Google, you can use the Advanced Search page. After all the filters for words, sizes, colors and file formats, the last filter at the bottom will filter your results by usage rights. That should get you well on your way to complementing your book with the most captivating images that keep you free from culpability.

If you have any more questions on all this, please don’t hesitate to ask us in a comment below. Happy hunting!