What are editorial images?

What are editorial images

That images are marked as editorial images with the words "for editorial purposes only" can have several reasons. Such editorial images are predominantely taken by press photographers for reporting purposes either at public events, or at preivate events such as red carpet, sports or the like as accredited photographers. With the latter, the property rights of the organizers also applies, to determine whether and how photographs are taken and available for use. The same is, for example, applicable for pictures taken in zoos or museums. When publishing where the GDPR is applicable, it also depends on whether there people in a photograph are in the public eye or of public interest (politicians or celebrities, for example) or the whether the content that is being reported in the editorial images is of public interest. This applies to images of so-called celebrities, politicians, athletes, and more, for example, but also determines if an image including a bystander can be displayed as an editorial image.

How and where can I use editorial images

The use of editorial images for editorial purposes means uses in educational publications, reporting, stories in newspapers, magazines, news and magazine websites, and other websites but not, for example, realted to commercial purposes whether directly or indirectly the distribution of services, goods and similar. This means, for example, the use of such editorial images on websites with customer magazine character, customer magazines or comparable uses is not permitted. But specifically and above all any commercial use for whatever purpose is not allowed. The question of whether something is published digitally or in print is not relevant for the classification. Only the question of publisher use is decisive and is determined by whether the editorial image is used to visualize an editorial story or not. I.e., whether a magazine is only online, only in print, or is published as both is not relevant for the classification. The story of the publication must be related to the editorial image, and such an editorial image may not be used, for example, as a testimonial character.

The copyright notice

Unlike with the use of commercial images for advertising purposes, the copyright notice for editorial images is always mandatory. This also applies to the use of commercial images for editorial purposes.

Key resources:

• Use of Royalty Free Images
• What is the free Corporate Account
• Searchtips and -tricks

Start you next search here!