Yay! Getty Images Are Free Now

#DrITServices #laptoprepair

To borrow from my m8’s across the pond; What a complete load of bollocks. So here’s the article . Essentially they’re letting you use the images now in an ‘open-embed program‘ that is all cool “as long as the service gets to append a footer at the bottom of the picture with a credit and link to the licensing page. “.

Uh huh… go on….

What about people just stealing them to use anywhere they please? You know, without the watermark that used to be there…?

“…according to Craig Peters, a business development exec at Getty Images, that ship sailed long ago. “Look, if you want to get a Getty image today, you can find it without a watermark very simply,” he says. “The way you do that is you go to one of our customer sites and you right-click. Or you go to Google Image search or Bing Image Search and you get it there. And that’s what’s happening… Our content was everywhere already.”

I see…. please do go on, I am listening keenly.

It now features “native code for sharing in Twitter and Tumblr alongside the traditional WordPress-friendly embed code. “

This of course is going to be in the form of an i-frame that could potentially show ads and/or collect user data. I for one, am damned interested in a close look at the TOS of this bloody idea. When asked if this was the case, now or in the future, the Getty rep said, “We’ve certainly thought about it”.

I’ll bet you fckn have there sunshine.

He later added, “”We’ve seen what YouTube’s done with monetizing their embed capabilities,”

Yes folks, I would like some butter on that popcorn, thanks.

(taken from Getty owned Stock.xchng)

Hey Dave, What’s the Big Deal?

That’s what you just said right? No? Shit… voices are coming back again.

Anyway, there’s an entire side of the story not being told here. The one about the evil shits that spent the last 7 or so years suing and intimidating the little peeps of the web in a heartless campaign that probably funded a few of those purchases they made (of other image websites).

To whit;

Extortion Letter Info (easily the best site to drop by, you’ll get the idea)
Getty Image Letter Scam
Getty Image Settlement Demand Letter: Scam or For Real?
Is the Getty Images Scam Real?

Get the idea? There’s plenty more just search ol Googly

I mean seriously. A web designer or content creator might buy an image from Getty, use it in a project… but the client is now liable. Why? Because the liscence is non-transferrable on many of their properties (they own a TON of other image sites).

That 300px wide image you used? Will now be costing the client around $1200, via threatening legal letter. That’s the tip of the iceburg. I do encourage you to use the links above to get the level of fear they’ve created (and we complain about Google… LOL).

Right… so where’s the elephant in the room? One has to wonder why they’ve avoided some potential infringers … oh, I dunno… just for fun let’s say; Facebook. Well, not only would it be one expensive battle, but they might actually lose. Which might set a precedent.. and … uuuhm. See where that’s headed?

This new stance of ‘the images are already out there, we throw our hands up‘ just seems to smell a bit from where I’m sitting.

Ok, this popcorn is makin’ me thirsty. Toss me a beer would ya?

An SEO Shit Storm

At the end where they try to play this move off as a way around infringement issues, which they apparently have no way of dealing with (uhm… ) he says,

“The principle is to turn what’s infringing use with good intentions, turning that into something that’s valid licensed use with some benefits going back to the photographer, and that starts really with attribution and a link back.”

I am going to have to assume that these aren’t clean links right, (ie; have nofollow attribute)? And hey, everyone out there that starts grabbing them knows the inherent risk with some embeds and ads in places they shouldn’t be? I mean, once they start fapping ads into that contextual space of mine above the fold, that couldn’t in anyway cause some kind of algorithmic dampening (yea, I didn’t say ‘penalty‘, wanna make somethin’ of it?)?

They’ve played on the side of ignorance for gain in the past. I doubt they’ll be worried about the bloggers of the world now, going forward. I somehow doubt that they’ve suddenly had a change of heart. Because seemingly in the past, they didn’t actually have one.

Anyway, that;s enough of that. Thanks for the popcorn and the pint, but methinks I’ll need a much bigger bag and at least a case of the hard stuff. This one’s going to turn into a mini-series. Settle in.