Have you subscribed to my RSS feed yet?. Thanks for visiting!

This is a big issue that you may not be aware of, and it could cost you thousands of Dollars in fines if you get it wrong.

You probably already know that you can’t just take an image from someone else’s web page and use it without their permission. It doesn’t matter whether they have a copyright notice or not, it’s still protected by copyright. 

Where it’s easy to slip up is when you have purchased a product that contains images, like a website template.  Although you’ve purchased the template, the seller may not have had permission to include the image in a web template.

Most of the images you see in templates are bought from microstock image libraries like iStockPhoto, which is probably the most well known. IStockPhoto are very strict on their terms of use, and state that you cannot use their images in templates you want to sell.

They are a bit vague, because they say things like you can’t just make a ’superficial change’ and include the image in a template. My advice is to always check with them first, before you include any of their images in a template you want to sell.

You might think that only the template seller is at fault, but if you use the image(s) on your site, you are just as liable as they are. 

I can’t remember the exact figure, but a fellow Business Brainwaves reader was fined around $3000 last year, for a few images he had unwittingly used on his site. He outsourced the design work and wasn’t aware that he didn’t have a license to use the images. So always be careful when you outsource work that contains images.

Products with Resell Rights - Be Warned

Here’s a big problem I’m seeing in the Internet marketing niche.

People are creating web page and blog template packs and selling them with resell rights, master resell rights or private label rights.

In virtually every case I’ve come across, nothing is mentioned in the product license terms about where the images where obtained, or what rights you have to use/distribute them.

Even if the template seller has purchased the correct license to include the image in a web page template, that right is not automatically transferred to you.

If you want to sell the templates, legally you have to purchase a license yourself, for every copyright protected image in the templates.

This is a bit of vague area, because each stock photo library has varying terms on what you can and cannot do. Plus, the same images are sometimes available from more than one library. In those cases, your rights will be what was given by the site that provided the image. That’s how I read it.

Important: If you buy a web page template or any graphics pack, I would make certain what your rights to use the images are, by requesting the license terms, and keep a copy on file.

If you are selling a template pack that you have been given the resell rights to, I would find out if the seller has obtained a sufficient license to allow you to be a reseller of the images contained, and get written conformation of your license terms.

I should point out that I am not a lawyer or qualified in any copyright law, so please don’t take what I say as professional legal advice, or a complete list of what you need to know. All the Image stock libraries have extensive info on their licence terms, so you should always check with them before using one of their images.

Where To Get Images To Use In Web Templates?

According to the terms on the BigStockPhoto site, they allow you to include their images in web page templates, as long as the image is not the main or only part of the template. They also allow you to purchase extended licenses for wider distribution.

If you want to sell the resell rights to the templates you create, I would advise you to make sure you purchase the correct license to allow you to do this. Otherwise, you could be getting yourself and your resllers in a lot of financial hot water.  

I think it’s important to state that I’m not saying every template seller is dishonest, or knowingly distributing illegal images, or that their templaes even contain illegal images. There are many reputable template sellers online.

After conducting some research into this, I know more people need to be aware of the potential dangers, in particular where people are reselling products containing images.

Jason Lewis

P.S. Another problem area I see is Google Images. I’ve heard so called Internet marketing guru’s telling people to grab images from Google Images. That’s really bad advice.

What they don’t tell you is that most of the images you find through Google Images are copyright protected, and you are not allowed to just take them and use them.

Google does tell you that you must get permission to use the images, but they seem deliberately vague about this, because they obviously want people to use their service. You have to go hunting in the depths of Google’s FAQ section to be told that the images ‘may’ be protected by copyright. So be careful what you use.

Every time I sit down and use my PC, I misspell stuff and hit typos on my keyboard (In fact, I just had to re-write two words in this very sentence) …and I’m not the only one who does it.

Millions of typos and misspellings are typed into search engines and website address bars every single day.  This is a natural phenomena, that is never ever going to stop. As more people come online, more and more misspelling and typos are going to be typed in every day …it’s a given fact!

While it’s true that virtually all the best one or two word domains are taken, and that all the high traffic keywords are super competitive in the search engines, the same cannot be said about misspellings and keyword typos.  

"There is Gold in Them There Hills!"

Misspelt words, missed or skipped letters, reversed or transposed letters, wrong keys nearby, skipped spaces, inserted keys, double letters, phonetic spellings.

Let me give you an example:

According to Wordtracker, there are 3033 searches a day for the phrase "dog training", and there are 2,110,000 pages in Google with that exact phrase.

The  term "dog traning" (notice the missing ‘i’) gets 42 searches a day, but there’s only 629 pages with that exact phrase on.

Are you starting to the potential here? The people who accidentally missed out the ‘i’ are just as interested in dog training as those that didn’t, so this type of traffic is super targeted.

The number of searches is a lot less than the main phrase, but the competition is minimal in camparison, and don’t forget this is just one of the possible typos for this phrase.

Expert Guidance…

Knowing about misspellings and typos is one thing, but it’s very easy to go chasing fools gold if you don’t know what you’re doing.  All typos are not created equal, with certain types of typos getting way more traffic than others.

Just before the weekend I finished reading Typo Gold and it is without doubt, the definitive resouce on how to profit and get cheap targeted traffic, using misspellings and typos.

It’s been compiled by two best selling authors; one of them an Emmy award winning business columnist, for the Los Angeles Times - Did I mention credibility?

At 110 pages, it’s packed full of statistics, real world examples, insider strategies plus two very useful free software tools for finding typos.

Quite simply, if you want to profit from misspellings and typos and get targeted traffic for next to nothing, you need this guide! It will save you a ton of time and money, and open your eyes to ideas you would have never thought of without it.

Download your copy here:Typo Gold

Jason Lewis

I know this is going to sound strange and contradictory, but I want to tell you HOW to get big exclusive discounts on a range of good Internet marketing products and software, but at the same time tell you NOT to buy anything.

Let me explain…

Whether you buy Internet marketing products or software regularly or not, I’m sure you would like to get them at a discount …without any strings - am I right?

Jason Potash of Article Announcer fame is about to launch a new discount club membership with a difference. Before I tell you more about it, I should point out that the site doesn’t officially launch for 3 days. If you go to the home page now, all you will get is a countdown timer.

But, if you click on this link, you can sign up for free now:  DealDotCom

Here’s How This Can Save You Money…

• Membership to the discount club doesn’t cost you a penny, just your name and email address to get in.
• You then get access to genuine and decent discounts on good quality Internet marketing products/courses and software.

That pretty much sums it up in a nutshell.

Are these genuine discounts, or just a big scam to pull the wool over your eyes?

Well, I’m not running the show, Jason Potash is. But here’s a quote from the DealDotCom site, to vendors considering submitting a product for approval:

"Also, note the name of this website - DealDotCom… the operative word here being DEAL. Whatever you’re selling through us must be an actual DEAL. Offering $10 off a $500 product is definitely not a deal. Likewise, allowing us to sell your $47 product for $97, and letting us keep the extra fifty bucks is most certainly not a deal."

The Catch…

Unfortunately, the products are not available with an all year round discount.

The products are offered on a ‘deal of the day’ set up, where you can login each day and get a big discount on the current product being offered.

This is why I said I was going to tell you NOT to buy anything …unless you actually need the product!

A discount on something you don’t really need, is not a discount …it’s an unecessary purchase! Just rembember that!

BUT, and it’s a big but, you’d be mad not to sign up to this totally free membership.

Every time I decide to buy a business related product from now on, guess where I’m going to double check first, before I buy it from the sales page?

Yep, you guessed it - DealDotCom!

A Great Opportunity For Affiliates
…Especially If You Act Fast!

This is the really clever bit on Jason’s part. DealDotCom has a two tier affiliate program.

• If you promote DealDotCom as an affiliate (yes, just like I’m doing here), you make money on any discounted products that are bought by the people you refer.
• You also get a smaller cut of every sale that your own affiliates make.

I can see this free service becoming incredibly popular, and because the membership won’t offically launch for 3 days, there’s a nice little head start here for anyone who decides to promote the membership early.

This looks like a win,win service to me for both buyers and sellers.

Just remember, don’t go buying any products that you don’t really need!

In case you missed the other 3 links, here’s where you can register for your free account: DealDotCom

Jason Lewis