This article covers best practices for understanding image and photo rights when using photographs or videos in your business marketing — including social posts, ads, and promotional content created in your marketing tools. This article applies to all Thryv® and Keap™ users who create or publish marketing content. This article does not cover how to upload images to your social posts or campaigns. This is not legal advice see the disclaimer at the bottom of this article for full details.

Why understanding image rights protects your Business

Using a photograph or video for business or promotional purposes including social media posts, ads, and website content  requires that you have the legal right to use that image for that purpose. Using an image without the proper rights can expose your business to a lawsuit from the owner of those rights. This applies whether you found the image on the web, received it from a client, or took the photo yourself. Understanding what rights you need before publishing an image is one of the simplest ways to protect your business from an avoidable legal risk.

Who owns the rights to a photograph

The person who took a photograph  or their employer, if the photo was taken as part of their job  holds the copyright to that photograph. Copyright gives the owner the right to control how the photo is used by others. The copyright owner may choose to allow free use of their photo for commercial purposes, charge a license fee for commercial use, or prohibit commercial use entirely.

Finding an image on the web or seeing another business use it does not mean the image is free for anyone to use in marketing. The business using the photo may own it outright, may have paid a license fee, or may be using it under terms that do not apply to your intended use. Always confirm the license terms for any image before using it in your marketing content.

Creative commons licenses and public domain images

Some photographers make their images available for public use through licenses such as the Creative Commons license. However, Creative Commons is not a single license  it includes multiple license types that grant different levels of use rights. Some Creative Commons licenses allow commercial use freely, while others restrict commercial use, require attribution, or prohibit modifications to the image. Before using a Creative Commons image in your marketing, confirm which specific Creative Commons license applies and whether your intended use is permitted under that license.

If an image does not display a copyright notice where you found it, that does not mean the image is free to use for any purpose. Always locate the original source of the image and review the license terms under which it is made available before using it in any business or promotional context.

Two separate rights to confirm before using any image

When using a photograph in your marketing, there are two distinct types of rights to verify and you need both before the image can legally be used to promote your business.

Right 1: the right to use the photograph itself

The first right is the property right to the photograph who owns the image file and what use rights they have granted. This is the copyright held by the photographer or their employer, as described in the section above. You must confirm that the copyright owner has granted you permission to use the photograph for commercial or promotional purposes.

Right 2: the right to use the subject matter shown in the photograph

The second right applies to the subject matter depicted in the photograph  the people, logos, trademarks, or other protected elements that appear in the image. The photographer may own the photograph itself, but the people and brands shown in the photo retain separate rights over their own likenesses and intellectual property.

For example, if a photographer takes a photo of you, the photographer owns the copyright to that photograph — but you retain the personal right to your own likeness. The photographer would need your permission to use that photo to market their business. Similarly, if you photograph a professional athlete wearing a team jersey, you may own the photo you took, but you do not have the right to use the team's trademarked logo or the athlete's likeness to promote your product without consent from the team, the league, and the athlete.

To use any image in marketing that promotes your business or its products and services, you must have the right to use both the photograph itself and all subject matter depicted in the photograph for your specific promotional purpose.

Best practices for using video in your marketing

The same rights considerations that apply to photographs also apply to promotional video footage. Video that includes recognizable customers, employees, or bystanders requires additional steps to use legally in your marketing.

Get signed releases from anyone recognizable in your video

The best practice when filming promotional video is to have every person who is recognizable in the footage sign a release that permits you to use their image and voice for promotional purposes. If the person appearing in the video is a minor, a parent or legal guardian must sign the release on their behalf. Do not publish promotional video that includes a recognizable person without a signed release from that person or their guardian.

Post a filming notice when getting individual releases is not practical

If you are filming in a public or semi-public area where bystanders may inadvertently appear in the footage and getting individual signed releases is not practical, post a visible notice in the filming area stating that a promotional video is being filmed and that entering the area may result in appearing in the footage. Even with a posted notice, review the final footage and edit out or blur any person who has significant screen time or who may not appear favorably, if you were unable to obtain a signed release from that individual.

Do not film near medical facilities

Avoid filming promotional video near hospitals, doctors' offices, or clinics. Footage taken near medical facilities may inadvertently capture patients, which raises health privacy concerns beyond standard image rights considerations.

Legal disclaimer

The best practices content in this article is provided for convenience and informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. Thryv and Keap do not claim that this information represents an accurate summary of the laws in this area, and this article will not necessarily be updated to reflect changes in applicable laws. Please consult a licensed attorney for questions about your compliance with applicable laws before using images or video in your business marketing.