Using Amazon images

Jump to Last Post 1-9 of 9 discussions (17 posts)
  1. WriteAngled profile image74
    WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

    I'm wondering if anyone can enlighten me on copyright and attribution issues with respect to products sold on Amazon.

    If I write a hub that focuses specifically on one or more Amazon products, where do I stand with respect to using the full-size images corresponding to the products I select for the Amazon capsules?

    On the one hand, some rights to these images presumably exist with the sellers who are making the product available for purchase. On the other hand, my hub is potentially driving buyers to purchase from these sellers.

    Do I have a right to use these images. If yes, should I include an attribution, and what type of attribution?

    1. Hollie Thomas profile image61
      Hollie Thomasposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I was always of the understanding that we were permitted to use these images and attribute Amazon as the source. I have never questioned this, so I will be interested to see if this is the case. Thanks for bringing it up, Writeangled. I perhaps should have queried it more.

      1. Stacie L profile image88
        Stacie Lposted 12 years agoin reply to this

        If you are an affiliate and promoting their products then why would there b a problem?

    2. Marisa Wright profile image87
      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I've never been able to find anything in writing about this.

      However, if you are marketing an Amazon product, Amazon provides you with all kinds of banners and widgets, all of which include a version of the image in various sizes.  Therefore if you choose to feature it in another size of your own choosing, I can't see how that would be a problem.

      Where I have used a bigger version of the image, I've always placed the Amazon capsules directly underneath it or above it.

    3. livewithrichard profile image72
      livewithrichardposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      From: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp … ement.html

      You absolutely do have the right to use these images as long as you are a registered Amazon affiliate. 

            The purpose of this License Agreement is to permit you to advertise items offered on the Amazon Site ("Products"). Under this License Agreement, we will make available to you proprietary application programming interfaces and other tools (collectively, the "Product Advertising API") that permit you to access and use certain types of data, images, text, and other information and content relating to Products ("Product Advertising Content"), including the following:

          Data, images, audio, video, logos, user interface designs, and other creative designs; and
          Textual materials, such as textual Product information.

       

      The real question is; does HP like for us to use these types of images?  I have seen posts by staff (either in this forum or on their blog) stating they basically frown on those images as they make the page 'look' like a sales page...

      Well DUH!!! It is what it is.  I will use them whenever I cannot find a CC image on Flickr or elsewhere.

      1. wordscribe43 profile image91
        wordscribe43posted 12 years agoin reply to this

        I use them, too when I can't find any other CC images. One problem is citing the source, too.  If you link back to the Amazon image, it counts as a link to Amazon, of course.  Then, if you have three or more images linking back to Amazon the hub is considered "overly promotional".  So, I'm not sure how to properly and legally cite the images in this case.  I had to ditch the pictures links on my last hub for this very reason.

        1. livewithrichard profile image72
          livewithrichardposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I don't see why you would need to cite the source if you took the image from Amazon but if you must, then just cite it without making it an active link.  Like Josh mentioned, these images do not belong to Amazon anyway, they are manufacturers images for the sole purpose of promoting their product.

  2. sofs profile image78
    sofsposted 12 years ago

    I do remember that this discussion came up a long time ago and most people on the thread said we could use images. I have used some images on my few product hubs. But then you cannot sell a product if it is not attractively packaged in the hub, can you?

  3. andromida profile image57
    andromidaposted 12 years ago

    Just read the TOS of Amazon affiliates.If there is nothing mentioned about the use of their product image,then you can use it.Why not email them about it?

  4. Greekgeek profile image79
    Greekgeekposted 12 years ago

    Marissa... I've been trying to find the real, honest-to-gosh legal answer to this question for a couple years. I still don't absolutely have the answer, but I've just spent an OCD hour digging up some...evidence?... for us to ponder. Where's a real lawyer when we need 'em?

    Anyway.

    MOST IMPORTANT EVIDENCE: Many law-savvy people, such as this intellectual property attorney, argue that this paragraph of Title 17 covers product images:



    "Useful articles" = products.

    Seems open-and-shut, right? However, here's a copyright lawyer working for Google who says some judges forget this clause:
    Judge rules based on Fair Use, ignores Section 113(c)

    And here's librarians -- people who know this kind of thing -- trying to puzzle out whether section 113(c) lets them display book covers on their websites. The comments are illuminating:
    legality of displaying book jackets

    Many people are ranting about this crazy shampoo company suing anyone selling its shampoo bottles online. This case reminds us that even if the law favors us, it may take a lot of time, stress, and lawyers' fees to defend ourselves in court.

    Here's a page on court cases which did rule in favor of product photos and descriptions being used without permission: Product Descriptions NOT copyrighted?


    So...er.. assuming your head hasn't exploded...what do you think?

    Personally, I think we need to elect some Congressbots who actually understand how the internet works, so they can update copyright law for the 21st century.

    1. Marisa Wright profile image87
      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Sorry, the head has definitely exploded!  Fortunately I don't feel the need to use larger Amazon images much, so I think I will simply continue to avoid the issue...

  5. WriteAngled profile image74
    WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

    Thank you, for your comments, everyone.

    From what I understand, it seems that _probably_ it's OK to use the images, but no one can say for sure 100%.

    The whole question of copyright is so complex. There is hubloads of content that could be discussed. Unfortunately, copyright lawyers earn far too well to ever want to write hubs on their specialty here!

    1. lobobrandon profile image88
      lobobrandonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I guess it's ok to use them and I've used them on product review sites. The owner of the product will be happy that you're trying to get them sales - who won't? Also Amazon gets a comission or cut so they're happy as well. Therefore, I say its ok to use them

  6. Uninvited Writer profile image80
    Uninvited Writerposted 12 years ago

    I'm pretty sure it's okay to use them when the hub in question is talking about the specific product. I used that for my Halloween by Roseanne hub, and like Marisa I have the Amazon link right below the picture.

  7. sunforged profile image70
    sunforgedposted 12 years ago

    I come at this issue from another angle.

    They aren't "Amazon Images" they are manufacturer images (in most cases) - if you take the brand name or product name and search for it + press release or press package or press photos, you will find that these images were releases specifically for promotional purposes and their use is encouraged.

    If you have a dedicated niche, following press releases is a great way to be a few months ahead of the pack.

    http://www.rca.com/press-release/rca-bu … ones-2012/

    http://www.apple.com/pr/products/

    isn't that pretty smile

  8. wetnosedogs profile image59
    wetnosedogsposted 12 years ago

    You can become an Amazon Affiliate. They will give you your link and you add that to your hub account. The Amazon image will pop up in your hub when you find which you want or Amazon will also select a product image for you. Is that what you were looking for?

  9. Will Apse profile image87
    Will Apseposted 12 years ago

    Nobody will complain if promo photos are used for promotional purposes, either by Amazon, Ebay sellers, bloggers or you.

    I wouldn't use customer images from Amazon.

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)