Unfortunately, we will not accept any CoStar photos for external marketing purposes. Fines for copyright infringement can range anywhere from $200-$150,000 per occurrence. It is not something to take lightly.
Best practices when obtaining photos to use in your marketing packages include hiring a professional photographer and taking photos yourself if you are able (we have a camera you may borrow from the office). If the client provides photos for you to use, it is best to make it a habit to inquire where they came from. Did they pay for them? Did they take them themselves? Did they download them off the internet? Ignorance in not always bliss in instances like this. As long as the client or yourself have full rights to the photos, we can use them! We will start placing a small Bull head watermark on photos that you pay for or take personally to help deter others from downloading and passing off as their own, and we remove your photos from listings in CoStar/Loopnet when the listing is removed to avoid CoStar placing ownership on it or other people downloading it. As mentioned, we want to protect your business and the Firm!
As for Google images for area information or stock images, here are some great resources that provide free, high-quality images listed below. In Google, they have recently updated their filtering system that makes it a bit more complicated to sort by free use photos, but most of what we use these photos for fall under “fair use” which we can chat with you about on a case by case basis depending on the intent of the photos. However, the marketing team also has access to many photos we have paid for for specific areas, attractions, etc. Just reach out to us, and we will be happy to help you find pictures to use. When in doubt, we can always include a source note that gives credit to the owner.
Free High-Quality Stock Photos Sites-