05/26/2026
PSA for anyone who still needs it, 3 decades into the age of the internet:
U.S. copyright law states that whoever makes a photo owns the copyright to it for the length of their life plus 70 years. If you don’t own the copyright, you can’t publish that photo unless you:
-get permission from the copyright holder
-get a licensing agreement from the copyright holder
-buy the copyright from the owner
There are some exceptions (Fair Use, Work for Hire, Public Domain), but unless you made the photo, you don’t automatically have the legal right to use it unless you have formal permission.
Additionally, whether or not a photo is credited has NOTHING TO DO WITH WHETHER YOU CAN USE IT! Taking someone else’s photo is stealing, whether or not the caption explicitly tells you not to steal it!
If you are working in any field where you are posting and publishing content online, this is basic industry knowledge. If you can’t or refuse to understand it, you should explore other careers.