Stock Imagery

Occasionally you may want to find images that can be used in app that are not provided by the customer. You can search on Google Images but you can end up in hot water here. Google is a search engine that is designed to find anything that fits your search description, not an image licensing company.

The ability to view content via search engine results or other internet searches does not mean that the content is not protected by copyright. Nor does it mean that permission to use content has been granted. Google twice warns the user about the copyright that exists in the images. First, once an image is located and clicked on, Google warns the user that the image may be protected by copyright. Second, on the Frequently Asked Questions page Google states:

“Are there any copyright restrictions associated with the images? The images identified by the Google Image Search service may be protected by copyrights. Although you can locate and access the images through our service, we cannot grant you any rights to use them for any purpose other than viewing them on the web. Accordingly, if you would like to use any images you have found through our service, we advise you to contact the site owner to obtain the requisite permissions.”

Here are a few sources you may be able to use.

Please note that even if they say free for commercial use (as it says on the website headers and promotions) users MUST CHECK THE LICENCE, to avoid copyright issues.