Happy Friday!

This week, I heard from a friend who got a cease and desist letter. What did she get the letter for? Using an image on her blog that she had downloaded from a “free” stock photography site.

Sites like Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay are great. They provide access to free images for almost any use.

But they come with one huge potential pitfall, and it’s a “scam” I’ve seen dozens of times over the years. (And I got a letter for this exact reason a few years back.)

How this scam works is that someone uploads an image to a free stock site, waits several months, deletes it from the site, and then sends a cease and desist to anyone using that image.

It’s profitable because most people don’t have proof that they downloaded the image from a free site and are using it under the license they thought they were getting.

But when I got my cease and desist letter, it was an easy response. Why? Because I kept meticulous records.

I’ve since switched to using paid stock photography, but back when I used free stock photos, here was my process:

1. When I downloaded an image, I took a screenshot of the page.
2. I made sure that the image, creator’s name, stock photo site logo, URL, date, and time were visible on the screenshot.
3. This screenshot was named to match the file name of the downloaded image with “proof” at the end.
4. When I used that image, I changed both the image and the screenshot file name to match what it was used for. For example, if it was used for a social media post on 9/17/2025, I would rename the image: social-media-20250917 and the proof social-media-20250917-proof. If it were used for a blog post, I’d rename it to match the URL, like free-stock-pitfalls and free-stock-pitfalls-proof.

So when I received my letter, I just sent the attorney my proof and never heard from them again. (I also replaced that image.)

If you are using free stock imagery (or really anything licensed for free like this), then you should have a similar system to be able to “support” that your use isn’t copyright infringement. Yes, it takes a few extra minutes, but it will be your saving grace if this ever happens to you, too.

👉 Your action item: Use my system as a jumping-off point to create your own process for documenting where you downloaded free images, video, or audio.

Did you complete this task? Come share your thoughts about your process or fears of using free stock photos on LinkedIn or Facebook.

That’s all for this week, Creative! When you signed up, my promise was to add ease to the legalese of running your creative business. I’d love to know your thoughts or challenges with this week’s task. Reply to this email and let me know.

And a big thank you to the seven of you who responded last week! You rock! 🙌

Chat soon,

P.S. Tariffs have been a HUGE headache this year. That’s why I’m so happy to see Craft Industry Alliance bring together an expert panel to discuss some of the issues and how small craft businesses can adapt. RSVP for this free panel here.

Other things on my radar…

• If you send emails with subject lines that include time-sensitive offers, you need to be careful about how you execute both the subject line and the promotion after this recent Washington State decision.
• The big authors vs. AI lawsuit settled out of court this week (just prior to the class being certified), which is disappointing from a legal standpoint (and means far fewer authors will get compensated for it) because we won’t get any further legal clarification around the issues.

❤️ Easy to understand legal resources should be available to every creative, regardless of their financial situation. If one of my resources has helped you and you would like to say “thank you”, you can make a contribution here. ❤️