Don't use photos from Internet to promote your land for sale

I’m being sued for copyright issues. Yes I was dumm and new at this 3 years ago. I received the letter 2 weeks ago from copyright lawyer. Land I didn’t even sold yet. I used an image from the Internet on my listing. I don’t do it anymore and you guys shouldn’t either. It’s not worth it guys. If your website looks like you’re succeeding and you have bunch of expensive properties marked sold on it with big letters, people will want a piece of it. Just saying, don’t make that mistake. Generic photos from google earth are good enough or hire a photographer.

Topic

[Kevin FarrellModerator May 17, 2019 at 7:40 am Post count: 1196]

#21732

Milan – thanks for sharing this with everyone. We all make mistakes.

[Brian AParticipant May 19, 2019 at 6:16 am Post count: 21]

#21742

Thanks for sharing Milan! That is so crazy!

[Kevin FarrellModerator May 19, 2019 at 8:12 am Post count: 1196]

#21744

I want to add that my wife used to create websites for small businesses and she accidentally used a photo without permission. She was contacted for Copyright violation and they wanted to fine her $2000 for using the photo. She negotiated that to $500. Don’t mess around with pictures from the internet. Hire a photographer or pay for stock images.

[Neil HParticipant May 20, 2019 at 7:58 am Post count: 141]

#21747

Here are two free stock image sites that I’ve used in the past:

https://www.pexels.com/
https://unsplash.com/

They make money by also including search results for sites that charge for photos. You still need to use your best judgment in these cases, but at the very least if you’re ever questioned you can reference the site where you found it.

And here’s a site I’ve used in the past that charges for photos:
https://www.bigstockphoto.com

Obviously, these sites are useful for generic photos of rural land for your websites — but I would never use them to market a specific piece of land.

[Author]

Replies