In a recent update, Google seems to be getting serious in helping people deal with the copyrighted images on the internet as according to reports, Google Images will now make it easier to license photographs or pictures. While this move will give the opportunity to publishers, photographers, and artists to make a name for themselves, it will also assist users in letting them find the right images which can be reused.
As a result, if a publisher has provided the licensing information with the image, the original picture will then appear a “Licensable” badge over the thumbnail in the search results. As soon as a user will click on that image, he or she will be shown the licensing requirements and also the link to buying those rights - if they are that interested. On the other hand, licensors are required to give a purchasing link that should be different from the page on which the image has already been advertised or surfaced from.
Moreover, users will now also be able to filter their image search results as per the type of license attached. As an example, you can see the search result below that is based on a less strict Creative Commons license or the one that is looking specifically for the commercial photos.
Over the past few months, Google has worked closely with the photo licensing industry to make this feature happen and the company feels it is a step in the right direction to make users understand the nature of content that they get to see on Google Images from time to time and how they should act more responsible now.
Google’s new feature has also made Shutterstock’s VP of content operations Paul Brennan extremely happy, who himself has worked closely with the company to implement the process as according to him this will help image creators and consumers in knowing how the content can be licensed properly and because of it the community of creators on the internet will also feel safe. He also said that with this feature, Google has clearly expressed its intentions to support the content creation ecosystem.
Google Images was initially introduced as a free tool to catalog pictures on the internet but as the copyright owners always had their argument over how the pictures were so easily accessible to the ones who can always steal them, Google made certain changes over the time. A couple of years ago they even removed the “Click to see full-size image” button from search results all with the hope of making users visit the associated website.
Now with another set of features coming, one can predict that Google Images might not be very free after all in the near future.
Read next: The Password Manager Of Google Chrome Will Soon Allow You To Quickly Change Leaked Passwords
As a result, if a publisher has provided the licensing information with the image, the original picture will then appear a “Licensable” badge over the thumbnail in the search results. As soon as a user will click on that image, he or she will be shown the licensing requirements and also the link to buying those rights - if they are that interested. On the other hand, licensors are required to give a purchasing link that should be different from the page on which the image has already been advertised or surfaced from.
Moreover, users will now also be able to filter their image search results as per the type of license attached. As an example, you can see the search result below that is based on a less strict Creative Commons license or the one that is looking specifically for the commercial photos.
Over the past few months, Google has worked closely with the photo licensing industry to make this feature happen and the company feels it is a step in the right direction to make users understand the nature of content that they get to see on Google Images from time to time and how they should act more responsible now.
Google’s new feature has also made Shutterstock’s VP of content operations Paul Brennan extremely happy, who himself has worked closely with the company to implement the process as according to him this will help image creators and consumers in knowing how the content can be licensed properly and because of it the community of creators on the internet will also feel safe. He also said that with this feature, Google has clearly expressed its intentions to support the content creation ecosystem.
Google Images was initially introduced as a free tool to catalog pictures on the internet but as the copyright owners always had their argument over how the pictures were so easily accessible to the ones who can always steal them, Google made certain changes over the time. A couple of years ago they even removed the “Click to see full-size image” button from search results all with the hope of making users visit the associated website.
Now with another set of features coming, one can predict that Google Images might not be very free after all in the near future.
Read next: The Password Manager Of Google Chrome Will Soon Allow You To Quickly Change Leaked Passwords
