An Image Is Worth a Thousand $$$Words

An image is worth a thousand words! Or is it a thousand dollars?

I’m writing today, not about stones but about the business of blogging. That’s not what I set out to do when I started this website. My plan was that I would write about stones, their attributes and properties, geological fun facts, and their spiritual connections. But things happen and I am the type who must address them head on. So this is not about my usual topics. It is about the business end of blogging.

I received a large envelope the other day addressed to Tesoros as I was on my way to work. I put it in my bag and decided I would open it later. I’m glad that’s what I did because my day would have started very negatively.

When I finally got a chance to open it, I really could tell it was not a positive letter, especially when I saw it was sent by a law firm. I opened the envelope, 8 1/2 x 11 inches, and pulled out the papers.

I started reading and looked up a couple of times to verify it was for Tesoros. I simply couldn’t understand why a law firm would be writing to me.

The gist: the firm states that I used a copyrighted image from their client rmmedia. The image was a free shipping image I found on the blue diamond gallery. (Hah, I’m giving them free publicity!)

Image CC

If you follow the link you will see that the image is under creative commons and may be used for free. You may even adjust it for your needs. The only restriction is to give attribution to the photographer by linking to any of his sites.

So, all this I did and I still get hit with a ludicrous lawsuit. They said that I must remove the image within five days and send them a check for $5280 within seven days. This is their amicable way of settling out of court!

As a small, start-up business, just launched in January of 2018, I have not made the kind of money needed to settle out of court. Maybe they think that I make millions selling handmade jewelry on the web!

I sent them proof that I abided by all the caveats and removed the blog post.

Best for Images

Now, I’m sitting here shaking my head as I write this post. I decided to write it to help others who are in my situation: small, internet companies just trying to do what they love and hopefully one day make a living.

Make sure that you do your due diligence! Research everything you want to add to your site and when borrowing anything, be it an image or information, make sure you attribute it back to the authors.

Because I sell gemstone items, I like to add images of what the rough looks like, purely for informational purposes. My go-to sites are pixabay.com and wikipedia.org.

Pixabay is a community where everyone shares their work. As a user, you should also share your work. That has been hard for me because I am not a good photographer!!!! However, when I find it necessary and possible, I send a link back to them. I also buy them a coffee through PayPal. The same applies to Wikipedia. But, be careful: not all their images are sharable. Always look at the details of the image to see what the authors want. And, some do not want to see them on commercial sites.

I do not know what will happen with this situation. One thing is for sure: It’s in God’s hands. Only he knows what the result will be. The only thing I do know is that I’m getting out of my own way!

So, anyone out there with a site that requires images and information, make sure you attribute the work or link back to website!

So, What Do You Think?

Leave me a comment below