When you dropship, it is tempting to copy the photographs and descriptions you find online. But photographs are protected by copyright, and brand names by trade marks, and using either without permission can cost you money and get your listings taken down.
This guide explains what the rules say about product photos and brand names, and how to protect your own.
Photographs are protected
gov.uk says photographs are generally protected by copyright, and that whoever takes a photograph usually owns the copyright, or their employer if they took it at work. Copyright protection is automatic: nobody has to apply for it, and a picture with no name or copyright symbol on it is still protected.
If you want to use pictures you found online on a website that sells things, gov.uk says you will generally need permission first. Copying a picture and putting it on your own website will usually infringe copyright.
Your supplier's photographs
gov.uk doesn't say anything specific about suppliers' photographs. The safe course is to ask your supplier, in writing, for permission to use their photographs on your website, and to keep that permission. Never use photographs from another shop selling the same product.
Better still, take your own. When you order a sample, photograph it yourself. Our guide to ordering a sample explains why.
What happens if you use one without permission
gov.uk says the owner may ask you to buy a licence for the picture, or take you to court, where you could have to pay for using it, their legal costs and compensation, and take it down. Copying on a commercial scale on purpose can also lead to a criminal prosecution.
Brand names and trade marks
A trade mark protects a brand's name or logo. If you use the same or a similar name for the same kind of product, and customers could be confused, you may be infringing it. Selling fake goods that carry another brand's name is a crime under the Trade Marks Act 1994, which can be punished with a fine, up to ten years in prison, or both.
So don't sell copies of branded products, and don't put another brand's name in your product titles or your shop's name to borrow its reputation. When you choose a name for your shop, check it isn't too close to someone else's: if it is, you may have to change it.
Protecting your own brand
You can register your own shop's name or logo as a trade mark with the UK Intellectual Property Office. It costs £205 online for one class of goods, and £60 for each extra class. It usually takes three to four months, and lasts ten years before it needs renewing. A UK trade mark only protects your brand in the UK and the Isle of Man.
