Tips: Getty Images and Open Content

During the last session, after Danielle told us that one of her subjects suggested that she just grab an image off the internet, Steve Fullwood reminded the class to neglect public domain images. His example was the NYPL Public Domain Collections which I discussed in a blogpost earlier this semester.  However, there are many others.

In working with Danielle, I discovered that Getty Images, a primary source for news images, has dropped the watermark from a huge number of images on its databases, which allows users to embed images in websites, etc. As one blogger from The Verge put it:

Getty Images is dropping the watermark for the bulk of its collection, in exchange for an open-embed program that will let users drop in any image they want, as long as the service gets to append a footer at the bottom of the picture with a credit and link to the licensing page

This hybrid policy, which allows digital images to be embedded, but not used in other ways (ie. films, publications, exhibits), allows Getty to maintain some control and reduce incentive to pirate.  However, there are downsides: 1). although the watermark is gone, Getty definitely “brands” its images in ways that may appear unsightly to some and offers less control over placement, 2) changes in Getty policy or web infrastructure down the line can lead to  link rot and unsightly holes in your design. I don’t think you need to worry about that just yet, but its something to keep in mind if you end up working with professional design.

And 3), because nothing is every REALLY that easy when it comes to webdesign, for wordpress, you have to have a special Getty Images plugin.

(FYI, Getty still has a large Open Content database of over 100,000 images that are truly public domain.)

They had 76 images of Zaki, including this unusual archival photo by Anthony Barboza.