SIMPLE: JupiterImages' decades of combined experience doing business with literally hundreds of thousands of designers around the world, we have found that our customers are overwhelmingly honest and straightforward with no desire whatsoever to be anything but scrupulously attentive to the dictates of "fair play". As creative people themselves, they understand the importance of "intellectual property" (their own as well as ours) and are utterly reliable -- and a flat-out pleasure to deal with.

In short, we hate talking about this stuff because it makes us sound like we don't trust our customers -- and nothing could be further from the truth.

Therefore, please understand the spirit in which the information in this document is given: Long experience tells us that our customers are completely scrupulous about adhering to the copyright conventions, and we make no assumptions to the contrary.

This info is for newcomers and folks who may not understand the implications of these issues.

Why We Talk About it Anyway

1. It's happening; people are stealing
   We know it, you know it, everybody knows it. It's not fair; it's not right; and the photographic community is going to do what's necessary to put an end to it.

   And the way that's going to happen is that "infringers" (people who use photos without permission) are going to be chased down and "examples" are going to be made of them, supported by a massive PR campaign to make sure everybody takes notice and begins to understand the stuff you're going to see in this document.

   The thing to remember is that the law -- the copyright and "intellectual property" law -- anticipates how easy it is for thievery to take place: So, incorporated in the rationale of the law itself is the notion that the only way to stop the easy larceny is to make the penalties so severe that even if the chances of getting caught are relatively slim, those penalties are sufficiently Draconian so as to ensure that is not worth the risk. In other words, the deterrent lies in the notion that, okay, you probably won't get caught, but, if you do, the results are going to be catastrophic for you.

   And they can be exactly that, as you'll see in the section of this document on penalties.

   Which leads to reason number two...

2. A lot of people don't get it ...

   Professional designers of long standing are well aware of these "intellectual property" laws. After all, what they do is intellectual property, too, and they understand the need to protect it.

   But, with the advent of the Internet which makes digital versions of images readily available and easily downloadable, there are a lot of relative neophytes who don't understand that just because you can do something (download the images) that doesn't mean you're allowed to do it.

   In addition, even in those cases where the person does understand that they're doing something they're not supposed to, they think that the totality of the "bad things" that might happen to them as a result is nothing more than having to to pay for the image-- what they would have had to pay, anyway, if they had purchased it "up front" as they are supposed to.

   They have no idea that, in fact, the owner of the intellectual property will go after them for "infringement of lawful copyright" that holds penalties of up to $150,000 per infringement. That can be a seriously rude awakening, almost the definition of a bad day.

   So, one of the reasons we're offering this document is provide a bit of a "heads up" for those who have no idea what sort of risk they're taking if they use images without permission. Ignorance is only bliss until you have 48 Philadelphia lawyers on your doorstep.