Hi!
We’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about how our stock image tool works and integrates with the SoCast Platform, so I’ll do my best to go over it below.
Our stock images are provided from Unsplash and Flickr, via the Creative Commons Licenses. We use these 2 services to reduce the legal risk of stock image usage and to improve the overall user experience of stock image selection (we have over 2 million images to choose from!)
“Why can the stock image tool only be accessed through blogs?”
A question I often get asked is why the stock images can only be accessed through the ‘featured media’ tool in blog posts. The stock images are meant to be used only for blog featured images, to reduce legal risk the photo credit and link back to the originating image must be displayed at all times.
For example, if the image were to be used in the event calendar there is currently no place to display the photo credit and link, same goes for social posts, local listings, contests etc. If you choose to use it elsewhere (e.g a single image widget) you must ensure you manually include the attribution caption/link. If you do not you will be legally responsible for any requests or issues that may arise.
We also do not recommend downloading these images to your computer, because you may accidently use them on the website without the caption.
“What do I do if someone reaches out with an attribution request?”
If someone reaches out to you or your station with concerns over the attribution for the stock images SoCast provides you are only required to attribute in the manner specified by the author, as provided in the author’s attribution component of their photo.
Occasionally, the person emailing you may be requesting special attribution beyond the scope of the Creative Commons License, however, as a courtesy, we would suggest accommodating such requests to the extent possible.
However you decide, we can assure you that for photos posted in accordance with our terms, the required attribution specifications are covered.
We’ve included a link about Creative Commons licenses that you and your compliance team can reference as well. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the Client Success team via our live chat feature or the support desk: support@socastdigital.com
Thanks!
Kat & The SoCast Team
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