so, i made a post about this a few years ago, but with the resurgence of people charging for rp graphics/commissions, i thought i, a professional in the design industry, would pop in and say my piece again.
straight up, no doubts about it:
charging someone for graphics that include photos you don’t have the rights to is illegal.
charging someone for graphics that include fonts you don’t have the rights to is illegal.
charging someone for graphics that include textures you don’t have the rights to is illegal.
i’ve seen the first argument: “i’m not charging for the final product, but for the time that went into making it.” that doesn’t matter. if what you’re handing off to a client includes stolen imagery (because that’s what those celebrity photos you found on google are — stolen), you’re profiting off of that stolen art, and that’s illegal. you’re re-selling an image that doesn’t belong to you, no matter how much you modified it. if someone in the design industry were to use a photo of nina dobrev that they don’t own in an advertisement and sell that to a client, who put it up on a billboard, they could face legal action. no matter how much smaller the scale is here, it’s the same kind of transaction, and you can’t do it.
i know, i know: “so, jade, does that mean all rp graphics are illegal?” i mean.. it’s definitely not awesome ethically to be using other peoples’ photos in this capacity, which leaves rp graphics as a whole in a bit of a grey area, but i think the line is drawn at profit. if you’re giving these graphics away for free, or making them for personal use, that’s one thing — it’s when you get to the point of making money off of other peoples’ work like this that you start getting into dangerous territory.
think of it this way: you know how upset you get if someone reposts an edit or a gif that you made, without crediting you, right? how would you feel if that person not only reposted, but was making money off of your work? and you weren’t? not cool, right?
here’s argument number two: “but jade, i’ve included a disclaimer for my commissions letting people know that i don’t own any of the images in the graphic!” again — doesn’t matter. that would be the equivalent of me hand-knitting you a scarf, but delivering it to you in a purse that i stole from a store window, then telling you: “you’re giving me money, and i’m giving you the scarf and the purse in exchange, but just so you know, i don’t own the purse! i only made the scarf! $20 please!” admitting a lack of ownership over someone else’s property doesn’t change the fact that it’s stolen.
ok, so now i bet you’re thinking: “but, commissions really help me out with a bit of extra money. is there any way i can do them legally?” the answer is, yes! here’s what you need:
open source fonts: just a quick google of this phrase will show you countless fonts that are open source, meaning they’re free for the world to use and modify, including for commercial use — remember, selling your graphics means you’re now into the territory of commercial use, so avoid materials that are okayed for personal use but not commercial.
creative commons images: flickr and google, among other sources of photography, offer filters for creative commons, which is a license that allows you to use a creator’s images under certain conditions. there are many types of creative commons licenses, but what you’ll need is one that allows you to modify images for commercial use.
royalty free images: there are plenty of websites that provide you with stock images that can be used royalty-free, at no cost to you.
what’s missing here? those images of celebrities that we all seem to rely on, which is the one thing i don’t have an alternative for. what i do have, though, is a workaround: rather than selling a full set of completed graphics, you could easily sell a template: the psd file, which does not include any celebrity images. you could include royalty free or creative commons images as placeholders, or a simple box that says “your image here” — what your client dies with the file once it’s in their hands is for their own personal use, and not part of your transaction.
to make a long story short: stop selling images that aren’t yours. it’s not cool.
