If you go back through my blog posts here or on my other blogs, you might notice something odd. You won't see many of these:
Royalty-free photo from https://www.pickpik.com/wordpress-blogging-writing-typing-macbook-laptop-38196
Recently, I was contacted by Associated Press (AP), or actually the group that polices their photo licensing. Long story short, Back in 2015, I included a photo of a person playing pickleball in a post I wrote. I included a caption listing the name of the photographer who owns the copyright. I didn't realize he'd licensed the photo to AP. They charged me a hefty fee for not having paid the license all those years.
The moral here is to check and double-check that photos you include in your blogs or Facebook posts. I'm sure the fact that I included his name as copyright holder was the flag that "got me caught." That doesn't mean you should assume you're okay if you post and say nothing. I'm sure bots are busy searching for all kinds of infringements all the time.
I've nothing against licenses for photos—that's how photographers and companies like AP get paid. But pay attention to the fine print. Otherwise, you, too, might be enjoying hot dogs and tomato soup a lot more often. :-)
The moral here is to check and double-check that photos you include in your blogs or Facebook posts. I'm sure the fact that I included his name as copyright holder was the flag that "got me caught." That doesn't mean you should assume you're okay if you post and say nothing. I'm sure bots are busy searching for all kinds of infringements all the time.
I've nothing against licenses for photos—that's how photographers and companies like AP get paid. But pay attention to the fine print. Otherwise, you, too, might be enjoying hot dogs and tomato soup a lot more often. :-)
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