Beware the Stock Photo Vince Vaughn PR Stunt

The Internet is buzzing with the stock photos recently created by actor Vince Vaughn and his cast-mates from a soon-to-be released movie. They are awesome, I must say. Frankly, anything to elevate the standard "office people doing something" stock photos is a win in my book, and these are just great. 

That said, be careful, folks! Be very, very careful. 

According to an article posted on Adweek, "Twentieth Century Fox has teamed up with iStock by Getty Images to create a set of stock photos featuring Vaughn along with co-stars Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco and others." In fact, you can get these photos absolutely free through iStock Photo (owned by Getty). 

Many marketers, former marketers, and aspiring marketers are going nuts over these. I mean, really, how fun would it be to have Vince Vaughn or James Franco in your next mailer, or on your website, right? 

Stop! Stop! Stop! Don't do it, I beg you! 

Here's why, and this is important: these images are licensed for "editorial use only."

If you put one of these fabulous shots on your website, you could be violating the Getty licensing agreement. If you use one of these stock photos on a mailer, or a billboard, or an advertising poster you hang on your wall, you are definitely violating the Getty licensing agreement.

You could get so sued.

You can use these images in a newspaper or magazine article, on a blog or website for descriptive purposes, or in a non-commercial presentation. You cannot use these images in any kind of promotional material or advertising, in the creation of products for resale (don't put these images on tee shirts or coffee mugs, for example), or for any "advertorial" purposes. (To see the exact language from Getty/iStock, go here.)

Since a website is usually used for promotional purposes, I don't understand why websites seem to be on the "permitted" list. I would guess that you could use a photo to support an article or a post, but not in your front-page slider, but I could be wrong. Yeah, don't think of this post as legal advice. Get your own. 

Here's the thing: Getty has a reputation for finding their images that are not properly licensed, and sending letters filled with legalese to those whom they feel are in violation of their licensing agreement. Here's a good article about that topic. My takeaway? Even if you don't end up in court, you could end up paying a hefty sum to Getty.

So.... be careful. Don't go so nuts over these refreshingly innocent stock photos starring some major movie people, and you'll be fine. Just remember, the Getty could be watching for missteps and pouncing on us all like the little mice we are. 

Oh, if you want the pics yourself, you can get them here. Looks like they are releasing them four at a time. 

In terms of PR, I think the team at Unfinished Business (there, I finally said the name of the movie) did a great job coming up with this. Let's not give Getty any excuse to tarnish their good work by sending nasty-grams for unlicensed use of these images.