Getty Is Making 35 Million Images Free

Getty Images is making 35 million of its photos free to use.

People are now able to embed the photos — with some exceptions — on their websites and on social media for non-commercial use without a licensing fee. Getty's Craig Peters told the British Journal of Photography that the embedded photo will appear in a frame with copyright information and a link back to Getty's website.

This image, for example, was obtained by searching Getty's archives and grabbing an embed code:

The new move comes as the organization struggles with piracy. "Our content was everywhere already," Peters told the BBC. "If you want to get a Getty image today, you can find it without a watermark very simply."

It is Getty's hope that more people embedding photos — rather than simply using them without permission — will mean that the organization and photographers get proper attribution and users can also buy the photo if they desire. Nieman Journalism Lab noted that Getty could also make money in the future by selling ads in the embed tool.

(h/t The Verge)