May I use photos I find online?

A frequently asked question is whether photos that can be found online (think the Internet or social media) can be used freely. As always, the legal answer needs nuances, but in many cases will be "no.

Photographs are also protected by copyright. The condition is that they are original or original photographs. More specifically, the photographer must demonstrate that he made creative choices when taking the photo (think of angle, perspective, framing, etc.). If the photograph is original, then copyright applies.

Millions of photographs can be found on the Internet. Usually these are posted online by the photographer himself or with the photographer's permission (think of a newspaper website that has contractually obtained permission from the freelance photographers it works with to use photos).

However, there is often a misunderstanding among the public that by posting a photo online, that photo may be used by anyone. Posting online means a waiver of rights, right? No, it doesn't. The fact that a photograph is online is not a license to start using it without the permission of the photographer or other rights holders.

The latter was confirmed by the Court of Justice in a ruling of August 7, 2018. A German student had used for a school paper a photo (of the city of Cordoba) that he had found online on a travel website, and posted his paper online on the school's website with this photo and source attribution. The photographer (Dirk Renckhoff) considered this to be copyright infringement and sought damages. The school defended itself by arguing that the photo was publicly available online and could be downloaded without restrictions. The case eventually ended up at the Court of Justice which found in favor of the photographer. The photographer had only given the travel website his permission to use the photo. If anyone wished to use this photo online in a different context, the photographer's permission was again required.

So you have been warned. If you want to use photos you find online, you should always use the photographer's permission. The fact that an (original) photo is online does not mean that the photographer can no longer control it. Of course, you can use so-called "royalty-free" photos, which are often used by the photographer through a CCO license have been posted online.