Do you share images in your social media marketing?

Wondering if you’re violating copyright laws?

With a bit of information, you can learn to protect yourself and your business from a copyright infringement lawsuit.

In this article, you’ll discover five tips to help you use images correctly (and legally) on social media.

How to Legally Use Images in Your Social Media Marketing by Sarah Kornblett on Social Media Examiner.

#1: Understand Copyright Basics

You don’t need to read a law book, but knowing a few copyright basics will go a long way in helping you use images legally (and protecting your own content). So much misinformation about copyright is out there; however, understanding these key points will put you ahead of the game.

Copyright is a designation given to creative works that you put into the world in a “fixed form,” meaning the minute you type that blog post or put that photo on Instagram, you’re protected.Copyright covers a variety of categories, including literary works (books, poetry, articles); performing arts (music, lyrics); visual arts (artwork, jewelry, photos); digital content (websites, blogs); motion pictures (movies, television, videos); and photographs (commercial, personal, portrait).Copyright protection is automatic, meaning the work is presumed to be yours. Although many people use the copyright symbol © as a way of saying, “Hey, this stuff is all mine!”, the symbol is no longer legally required.

With this protection, you get certain rights. For example, no one else can use your work without permission.

Many websites use the copyright symbol but it’s not legally required.

If you want the ability to sue for copyright infringement (if someone steals your work), you need to register the work with the U.S. Copyright Office within 90 days of publication.

So, for example, if you publish content on February 1 and infringement occurs on March 1, you still have until the end of April to register and be able to take legal action against the March infringement. However, once that 90 days from publication passes, you would not be able to bring an action against that March infringement.

For an easy way to think about copyright protection, remember this: If you didn’t create it, you may not be able to use it (even if you give the work’s creator credit).

#2: Read the Terms for Your Social Media Platforms

Is it okay to retweet? Sure. Is it okay to repin images on Pinterest? Maybe. Is it okay to repost on Instagram? Sometimes.

Remember that all social media platforms have different rules and take big steps to protect themselves and their users. To know what is or isn’t acceptable for each platform, find a comfortable spot and read each platform’s Terms of Service/Use/Conditions.

Pinterest terms clearly say that you’re responsible for the user content you post.

For example, on Pinterest, you’re allowed to repin other images on Pinterest (meaning, you can’t copy to another platform). However, if the image you’re repinning appears on Pinterest without permission from the author, you could be committing copyright infringement because you’re “solely responsible” for anything you post.

What this looks like: Sally posts an awesome picture of chocolate cake on her blog, but she isn’t on Pinterest. Emily really likes the picture and posts it on her Pinterest account with her recipe. Jennifer repins it on her board of desserts. Both Emily and Jennifer may be liable to Sally for copyright infringement, even though Jennifer didn’t know she was doing it.

What to do? Check the source of the original pin to make sure the author and that picture are on Pinterest.

Remember, take time to read the terms for each platform and understand what’s allowed and what isn’t. Doing this could save you a lot of heartache, time, and money in the future!

#3: Choose the Right License When Using Stock Images

If you use stock images, you often have choices about what type of license you have for using the image. Generally speaking, the more expensive the license, the more you can do with the image. When you use a stock art service like iStock, make sure the license you choose allows how you’re using the image.

A stock art service may let you choose which type of image license you need.

Just because you paid $11.99 for a stock art photo doesn’t mean you can use it however you want. Many licenses limit the purchaser to personal use only, online media only (versus print), or a certain number of uses.

If you’re a designer or you use stock art to create images for others, make sure you have the license to do so. Sometimes you may need to make sure your customer buys the license directly from the company.

On the website where you purchased the image, look for license guidelines in the footer. Or you can always reach out and ask the company if your license permits your intended use of a picture.

Look for a license information link in the footer of the stock art service.

#4: Get Permission From the Image Creator

Bottom line: If you’re questioning whether to use an image or video, ask! In today’s online world, most people are probably happy to give you permission to use their image, provided you give them credit.

Take Instagram, for example. Did you know that reposting is actually in violation of Instagram Terms? But (and it’s a big but), given the platform and how it works, 99% of users are okay with (and like!) reposting that includes the good etiquette of linking back to their profiles.

Instagram’s Terms of Use state that users must comply with the Community Guidelines.

However, say someone is among the 1% who don’t want their content reposted. If that person finds people are doing it without their permission, they can file a report with Instagram or potentially sue for copyright infringement.

Just a word of warning: Some photographers and attorneys are on the hunt for people infringing copyright. Unfortunately, with copyright infringement, you can’t claim you didn’t know what you were doing, and are likely on the hook for damages under the statute. However, most are happy to settle out of court with a nice payout. I’ve heard of a picture of a pickle costing someone more than $5,000.

When in doubt, ask. “Better safe than sorry” is a great motto when thinking about whether you’re using images and videos legally.

#5: Don’t Assume Fair Use Applies to Your Use of Someone Else’s Image

The term fair use gets thrown around a lot, but what does it mean? Well, it can be an exception to the exclusive rights a copyright owner has over their work. The Fair Use doctrine was created to allow for certain use of images and content as long as that use doesn’t impede the author’s rights.

Usually, fair use applies to comment, criticism, or parody; however, people have a lot of misconceptions about when fair use does and doesn’t apply.

The Fair Use doctrine allows for certain use of images and content as long as that use doesn’t impede the author’s rights.

You can’t claim fair use by simply giving attribution to the author. Fair use and attribution aren’t related. Fair use is about how someone is using content and it’s one of those wishy-washy gray areas where lawyers often say, “It depends.” Courts use a four-factor test to determine whether fair use is in play:

The purpose and character of the use (whether it’s for commercial or nonprofit/education purposes). The more on the side of education, the more likely it’s fair use.The nature of the work.The amount of the work used compared to the whole work (meaning, was it a paragraph from a book or was it the entire book?).Effect on the market or value of the work.

An example of fair use would be using a snapshot of Marie Forleo or Gary Vaynerchuk in a webinar you’re doing about online marketing. But you can’t necessarily take an episode of Marie’s TV/video show and post it on your website, claiming education and fair use. The whole point is to balance copyright protection with the public’s interest. So ask yourself, what am I using the work for and am I using a lot of it?

Conclusion

The truth is that using images on social media and for online business these days is tricky. As is often the case, the law is behind the times and may take a while to catch up. But if you can keep these five tips in mind as you use images on social media, you’ll be way ahead of the curve. Educating yourself about copyright, social media platform terms, and image licenses will go a long way in protecting you.

Note: Nothing in this article is intended to be legal advice and is for educational purposes only.

What do you think? How do you handle questions about copyright? Have you tried any of these tips to ensure your image use follows a platform’s terms or an image’s license? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

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Article credit: By Sarah Kornblet

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-legally-use-images-in-social-media-marketing/

Most of us love the Easter break, it's a sweet long weekend break with family and friends, chocolate eggs and it's all thanks to our mate Jesus. From a marketing perspective it’s a prime opportunity to produce a digital marketing campaign that has the potential to go viral. Why? Because it’s a holiday with emotional connections, the key ingredient marketers look for to create a viral campaign.

One of the best Easter marketing campaigns I’ve come across was Carlsberg’s Chocolate Bar—that is, a drinking establishment made entirely out of chocolate. Carlsburg built the fully functional and edible bar outside the Old Truman Brewery in London's Shoreditch neighborhood, disguising it as a billboard in the shape of a giant chocolate bar!

The Chocolate Bar took 3 months to build, and visitors were treated to a pint of Carlsburg and encouraged to eat the chocolate glass and other bits and pieces while they had the chance.

Goes to show there are plenty of opportunities to create a viral campaign if you put your thinking caps on. We're always thinking about viral campaigns, drop us a message to see how we can help you create and execute your next viral campaign.

Earlier this year, Pinterest announced the launch of their Promoted Pins into three new countries,

Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Kiwi's have taken well to Pinterest, with their active users growing by more than 25% over the past 12 months, pinning an average of 400,000 items to our boards every day! NZ's top categories on Pinterest: DIY projects, home decor, food & drink, fashion & art.

Pinterest is a fantastic social media platform for businesses, their main users are 25yo+ females. Talk to us about how you can effectively use Pinterest as a to grow your online community.

Rob

Article by Jimmy Rohampton - Forbes Contributor

In recent years, social media marketing has quickly become one of the most powerful strategies to attract traffic, engage audiences, and drive sales. According to Social Media Examiner, 92% of marketers say they have increased exposure through social media, and 80% see positive results for traffic.

That said, an effective social media marketing strategy needs to have some key elements if you really want to scale and make the most of it. Here are seven important hacks to keep in mind.

1. Curate content

Social media marketing isn’t all about promoting your own content. In order to really grow your audience and become an authority in your niche, you’ll need to share a wide variety of content that interests your followers.

Finding and sharing this content can be a huge time-suck, unless you use content curation tools. Feedly, for example, is a feed aggregator you can use to do this. It helps you find relevant content feeds based on keywords, and keeps them all in one place. Then you can easily view and share to your social profiles right in the app.

2. Tag influencers

You’re never going to achieve viral growth with your social media marketing strategy unless you enlist the help of influencers. Influencers are other individuals in your niche (not your competitors) who have a big social following of their own.

Target influencers with your marketing strategy to encourage them to share your content with their social audience. The easiest way to do this is by tagging them in your posts. Here’s an example tweet: "@influencer Thought your audience would be interested in this new post [LINK]"

You can also reach out to influencers via direct message or email asking them to share your content.

3. Schedule your posts

Use a social media marketing tool to schedule your posts to go out at optimum times. Buffer is my personal favorite but Hootsuite is another great alternative to try. Social media automation tools will create unique, trackable links for your social posts and monitor engagement of your shares and posts. Then you can use this data to identify your best traffic sources and improve your strategy.

4. Leverage current events

People turn to social media to interact with businesses, but they also use it to get the latest news and information. You can really grow your following if you integrate the two.

Keep track of trending hashtags that you see on Twitter. Take the opportunity to use them in your own social posts. This helps you join bigger conversations on the social platform outside of your own following.

You can also use Facebook Trending Topics or Google Trends for a similar purpose. Trending topics on Google Trends can help you brainstorm content that’s relevant to current events and can garner more buzz on social media. ComiConverse for instance jumps on trending hashtags related to movies and games to boost engagement.

5. Use IFTTT

Sharing your content across social platforms and keeping your profiles up-to-date can be a huge time-suck. But a tool like IFTTT (If This, Then That) can save you a ton of time in that area.

IFTTT helps you create a series of conditional tasks to speed up your social media marketing. For example, you can create an IFTTT recipe so that when you share a post on Instagram, it will automatically share it to Twitter as well, or when you update your Facebook profile photo, it will automatically change your Twitter photo too.

6. Create contests

Contests are a great way to encourage engagement and grow your following on social media. Here are a few examples of social contests you can put on:

Vote contest - Ask your followers their opinion on an image, video, or other set of media. Recovery Guidance did this and took it a step further, asking users to like their page to enter the contest and vote.Giveaways - Set up a landing page on your site where visitors can enter to win a giveaway. Make social sharing and following a requirement for entry. Photo contest - Ask followers to submit their photo doing something related to your niche. Ask them to use a branded hashtag to enter to win. If you’re looking for inspiration, take a page out of the playbook of Joshua W. Glotzer and Credit Glory, two brands in eccentric niches, who use this tactics to grow their Facebook following.

7. Follow strategically

Part of your strategy is attracting a large group of interested followers, but you don’t have to wait around for them to follow you. Be proactive about building the quality audience you want by following strategically. Look for people who are interested in or talk about topics related to your niche all the time.

This is easy to do on Twitter with a tool like ManageFlitter. It helps you search for twitter users who are using specific hashtags or keywords in their tweets to show their interests. Follow them in bulk on a regular basis to encourage them to join your audience as well.

These seven hacks are just a few of the many ways you can supercharge your social media marketing strategy. Use each and you’ll be well on your way to building a strategy that drives engagement, broadens reach, and brings ROI.

For more social media tips and lifehacks, follow Jimmy on Twitter @JimmyRohampton and check out his website HowToCreateABlog.org

Gotta love a good info-graph! Most of you will already know that Facebook usage is blowing up and social media is continually getting stronger in 2017.

The key building a strong following for your brand through social media is by providing valuable content. Social media is about communicating, and building a community of supporters. Many businesses fail at effective engagement because they force advertisements and sales messages onto their online community. Instead, focus on sharing info that adds value, and drop sales advertisements in as needed.

Rob

Setting up a new business is hard work, and we've had just as many challenges as the next guy in getting Kiwa Social Media up and running. It can be crazy times but also really rewarding as the starting date gets closer. And as I write this first blog post, I'm stoked because we've made it, if you're reading this our doors are open for business!

How did we get to this point? A few months back I was invited to a business meeting about how digital marketing and social media can support small businesses here in the East Coast, Te Tairāwhiti. I was invited to talk as a digital marketing specialist and offer some insights and solutions. The thing that kept coming up was that business owners knew they needed a digital marketing strategy and social media presence, but didn't have the time or knowledge to focus on it. I decided at that meeting I was going to setup this agency.

As a business owner, I've found the same issues keep coming up for other business owners...

#1: We're awesome technicians. Eg a cafe owner might be an awesome chef or barista.

#2 Sometimes we wear many hats. From technician to cleaner, HR to accountant, sales to receptionist. There's alot of responsibility our shoulders as a business owner.

Why do businesses need us? Two reasons...

#1 An agency like Kiwa Social Media takes some responsibility away form the business owner. And puts it in the hands of an expert - we're technicians at social media and digital marketing.

# A strong social media and digital marketing strategy can actually grow your business, increase sales and generate a loyal community of followers.

So after 6 months of planning, research & development, Kiwa Social Media will launch in April 2017! We might have a launch party, let us know if you're interested in attending in the comments or drop us message. We'll post an invitation here if we have one...

Rob

Founder - Kiwa Social Media