Website photos: permission and using pictures you find online

You cannot use a picture on your business website just because you found it on Google. Almost every photo online belongs to someone, and using it without permission can bring a demand letter for payment, sometimes long after you posted it. The safe choices are photos you took yourself, photos you have a license for, and photos the owner has said in writing you can use. This guide explains the basics in plain words, how to check a picture you already have, and where to get pictures you can use with confidence. It is general information, not legal advice.

Why "I found it on Google" is not permission

Google Images shows pictures from other people's websites. It does not own them and it does not give you the right to use them. In the US, a photo is protected by copyright the moment it is taken, whether or not it carries a watermark or a copyright notice. The photographer, or whoever they sold the rights to, decides who may use it.

A few common beliefs that do not hold up:

"I gave credit to the photographer." Credit is polite, but it is not permission.
"It's a small business, nobody will notice." Some photo agencies use software that scans the web for their pictures and sends letters automatically.
"I took it down when they complained." Removing it is the right step, but it may not end a claim for the time it was up.
"It was on a free wallpaper site." Those sites often host pictures they had no right to share.

The photos you can use without worry

Your own photos. Pictures you took of your work, your shop, your team, your products. These are the best kind for a business site anyway, because customers want to see you, not a model. If someone else took them for you, such as a family member, ask them to say in a text or email that you can use them.

Photos you have a license for. Stock photo sites sell or give licenses that say what you may do with an image. Read the terms: most allow use on a business website; some exclude things like use in a logo.

Photos with a clear free license. Some sites and photographers offer images under licenses that allow business use, sometimes with conditions such as giving credit. Follow the conditions exactly. If you cannot tell what the license is, do not use the picture.

Photos the owner has given you permission for, in writing. A supplier, a manufacturer, a photographer, a customer. An email that says "yes, you can use these photos on your business website" is a good record. Save it.

Special cases owners run into

Manufacturer and supplier photos. If you sell or install a product, the maker often offers photos for dealers, sometimes in a dealer area of their website. Use those and keep a note of where they came from. If there is no such page, email and ask.

Photos of jobs in customers' homes. You took the photo, so you own it, but a customer may not want their house identifiable online. Ask before posting, avoid house numbers and street signs, and leave out family photos and personal items in the frame.

People in photos. Pictures of your staff or customers in which they can be recognized need their permission. A simple signed note or email is common practice. For children, ask a parent.

Photos from your old web designer. If your previous designer added stock photos, the license may have been theirs, not yours. Ask what was licensed and in whose name before reusing those on a new site.

Screenshots of reviews. Showing your own reviews is common; quoting a short review as text with the reviewer's first name is cleaner than a screenshot.

How to check a photo you already have on your site

If you are not sure where a picture on your site came from:

Search for it by image. In Chrome on a computer, right-click the picture and choose to search it with Google Lens; Google Search Help explains other ways. If the same photo shows up on stock sites or on many other businesses' pages, it was probably not yours to use.
Ask whoever built the site where each photo came from and whether it was licensed.
Look for a license file or receipt from a stock site in your email.
When in doubt, replace it with one of your own.

Finding pictures you can use

Filter Google results by license. In Google Images, under Tools, there is a "Usage rights" filter that shows images marked with Creative Commons or commercial licenses. Even then, click through to the original page and read the license, because the filter is only as reliable as the labels people add.

Use a stock photo site and keep the receipt or download record.

Take better phone photos. Natural light, a clean background, the phone held steady, the subject filling the frame. How to take good photos for your website with a phone walks through it.

Ask customers to send photos of finished work they are happy with, and get their OK in writing.

If you are thinking about using pictures made by an AI tool instead, read AI images on a business website first; they raise different questions.

If you get a demand letter

Some letters are genuine, some are not. Either way:

Do not ignore it, and do not pay on the spot.
Remove the image from your site straight away.
Check the letter is real. Look up the company independently rather than using the links or phone number in the letter.
Gather what you know about where the photo came from: who added it, any license, any receipt.
Talk to an attorney before responding to a demand for money. Many will tell you quickly whether the claim looks valid.

What to do this week

Go through every page of your site and note each photo you did not take yourself.
For each one, write down where it came from, or replace it.
Save permission emails and stock receipts in one folder named "website photos".
Take twenty photos of your own work on your phone.
Ask your web person to tell you, in writing, which photos on your site are licensed and to whom.

If your current site is full of borrowed pictures and you want a clean start, you can see your site rebuilt first using your own photos, and swap any picture you are unsure about before you decide.