Every image you can see online is copyrighted by default — the moment someone takes a photo or draws an illustration, they own it. No © symbol is required. That single fact explains most of what follows.
"But It Was on Google"
A search engine is a catalog, not a license desk. Google Images finding a photo tells you nothing about whether you may republish it. Using a copyrighted image on your blog, shop or slides without permission is infringement even if you credit the author, even if you're non-commercial, and even if "everyone does it". Image owners increasingly use automated scanners that find unlicensed copies and send invoices — small businesses are their favorite targets precisely because the mistake is so common.
The License Words That Matter
- CC0 / Public Domain: no rights reserved. Use for anything, no attribution required. The safest class.
- Creative Commons (CC BY, BY-SA, BY-NC…): free to use *under conditions* — attribution always; SA means derivatives inherit the license; NC means no commercial use, which includes a blog with ads.
- Royalty-free: not free — it means you pay once (or subscribe) and don't owe per-use royalties afterwards.
- Editorial use only: news/commentary contexts only; never for marketing.
Read the actual license line, not the site's headline promise.
Where to Get Genuinely Free Images
Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay offer large libraries under permissive licenses that allow commercial use without attribution (each has minor edge cases — e.g. not reselling the photos as-is, care with recognizable faces and trademarks for advertising). For icons and illustrations, check the license per pack; "free for personal use" packs are *not* safe for business sites.
Your Own Photos: The Underrated Option
The one image you can always use is the one you took. A phone photo of your actual product, office or process — cropped square, background cleaned up, compressed for the web — is not only legally bulletproof but usually converts better than a generic stock smile. Browser tools handle that entire polishing pipeline locally.
Habits That Keep You Safe
- Record the source and license for every third-party image you publish (a simple spreadsheet works).
- When in doubt, don't — or buy the license.
- Watermark your *own* published work if theft worries you, and keep clean originals archived.
- If you receive a takedown or invoice, respond quickly: remove the image and negotiate — silence makes it worse.
Copyright feels abstract until an invoice arrives. Ten seconds of license-checking per image is the cheapest insurance on the internet.