Replace copied gown and wedding photos with designer images used with permission for gowns the shop carries, and with the shop's own photographs. Copied photos bring removal demands and make brides doubt what is in stock.

The site

A bridal shop on a commercial street sells wedding gowns, bridesmaid dresses and accessories, with fittings by appointment. Its home page opens on a slideshow of brides on beaches, in vineyards and on grand staircases.

The collection page holds about sixty gowns. Some photos came from designers' websites, some from other bridal shops, and some were saved from Pinterest boards over several years.

The slideshow's wedding photos came from photographers' blogs found through image search. None of those brides bought a gown at this shop.

Nobody set out to mislead. Photos were added whenever a page looked bare, by whoever was updating the site that week.

The inference a visitor makes

A bride researching gowns has usually seen hundreds of photos already. She recognises a gown, searches for it, and finds the same picture on the designer's site and three other shops.

Two conclusions follow. Either the shop does not have the gown and is borrowing the picture, or it has the gown and did not photograph it.

Neither helps. She books her appointment elsewhere, or comes in asking for a gown the shop has never stocked.

What the copied photos cause

Borrowed images bring several kinds of trouble:

The first two arrive without warning, usually by email, and usually with a deadline attached.

Photos owned by someone else

Every photo has an owner, usually the photographer or the company that paid for the shoot. Finding it through a search does not make it free to use, and neither does crediting the source.

Owners find copies with reverse image search and with services that scan the web for their pictures. A demand typically asks for removal and for payment covering the time the photo was used.

Removing the photo does not always settle the matter. None of this is legal advice on a particular demand, and a lawyer should read one before anyone replies.

The same picture on other sites

Designer photos are made to travel, so a bride expects to meet some of them on several sites. What she notices is a shop whose whole collection looks borrowed.

Sites selling cheap imitation gowns often use the very same photos. A bride who has seen them there may wonder which kind of shop she is looking at.

Wedding photos from photographers' blogs are riskier still. A photographer who recognises her own couple on the site of a shop she never worked with may well say so, sometimes publicly.

Gowns that are not in the shop

A bridal shop sells what a bride can try on. A collection page showing gowns the shop does not stock sets up a disappointing appointment before it begins.

Brides often arrive with two or three gowns in mind from the website. If none is on the rail, the shop starts from behind, however good its other gowns are.

Sizes matter as much as styles. Saying which sample sizes are in the shop to try, and which gowns can only be ordered, sets the right expectation.

Designer images and their conditions

Many designers do supply photos to the shops that carry their lines, for use on those shops' websites. The permission usually covers only the gowns a shop stocks, while it stocks them.

Some ask for photos to be used unedited, or with the designer's name, and removed when a line is dropped. Ask each designer for its terms in writing.

A gown still pictured after the shop stopped carrying it brings the same disappointing appointment as a borrowed photo.

How borrowed photos pile up

Copied photos rarely arrive in one decision. A page looks bare, someone saves a picture from a search, and nobody records where it came from.

Saving from Pinterest adds distance: a pin may link to a site that copied the photo itself, so the real owner is two or three sites away.

Staff change, and the person who added a photo is gone before its owner writes. A list of every photo, its source and its permission is the only defence against that drift.

A worked example

The bridal shop's owner found out when a photographer emailed about two images in the home page slideshow, with an invoice and a deadline attached.

Going through the site, she could trace barely a third of the photos. The rest had come from searches, other shops and boards saved by a former employee.

She had the demand reviewed and took down every photo she could not trace. For gowns in stock, she asked each designer for permission and image files, and kept the replies.

She then booked a photographer for a day in the shop: gowns on the rail and on a form, lace and beading up close, the fitting room and the two consultants.

The collection page now shows only gowns in the shop, each with permitted designer photos and one of the shop's own. The slideshow became photos of the shop itself.

A gown pictured on the site is now one a bride can try on, and the shop's own photograph of it tells her so before she books.

The counter-case within the site

Designer photos used with permission are not the problem. Brides want to see a gown as the designer shot it, and a shop adding a new line may rely on those images for a season.

Real weddings belong on the site too, when the photographer and the couple have agreed and the gown came from the shop.

The fault is the copying: pictures from other shops, blogs and searches standing in for gowns the shop may not have. Those come down, whatever else stays.

What to change

  1. List every photo on the site and where it came from.
  2. Remove any photo whose source you cannot show.
  3. Ask each designer for permission and image files in writing.
  4. Show only gowns the shop actually carries.
  5. Book a photographer for the shop, the rail and the details.
  6. Ask couples and photographers before showing real weddings.
  7. Keep the permissions in one folder with the photo list.

Step two is the uncomfortable one, since it may leave pages thin for a few weeks. A short page of the shop's own gowns still serves a bride better than a long page of someone else's.

Another way a site makes visitors doubt what they see is covered in a contractor site with testimonials signed with initials.

Frequently asked questions

Can a bridal shop use gown photos from a designer's website?

Only with the designer's permission, which usually covers gowns the shop actually stocks, while it stocks them. Ask for the terms and the image files in writing.

Is crediting the photographer enough?

No. A credit does not grant permission. The photographer or the company that paid for the shoot decides who may use the picture, and on what terms.

How do owners find copied photos?

With reverse image search and services that scan the web for copies. Demands usually ask for removal and for payment covering the time the photo was used.

Why do copied photos make brides doubt a shop?

Brides find the same picture on other shops and imitation sites, and conclude the shop either lacks the gown or did not photograph its own.

What if removing photos leaves pages bare?

Accept thin pages for a few weeks while a photographer shoots the shop. A short page of real gowns serves a bride better than a long borrowed one.

Can real wedding photos go on the site?

Yes, when the photographer and the couple have agreed and the gown came from the shop. Photos taken from photographers' blogs without asking should come down.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Gown photos borrowed from other sites?

Name the site, and we will list every image on it, flag any without a clear source, and plan the replacements.

Start a Conversation