The Do's & Don'ts Of Image Licensing

By Joel Albrizio, President, Adlife Marketing & Communications

"Why Do Retailers Need An Image License To Market Perishables"

Today retail supermarkets and grocery wholesalers are dealing with so many obstacles to remain profitable so many of the little do's and don'ts of good business are commonly overlooked. One that is often overlooked is proper licensing for the images that have "Branded" your retail supermarket.

Unique perishable images are a necessary tool to build a "Brand" for any supermarket retailer. Every image is a statement to the consumer when used properly, intended to differentiate between each retailer and their signature items. Without signature items and a unique perishable marketing presentation the supermarket retailer has no identity from which to build through marketing a solid perishable customer base.

"Build Your Brand With PreparedFoodPhotos.com"

Without an identity the supermarket retailer is left only to auction his or her items off in an E-Bay or Amazon style where price is all that is left. When as a supermarket retailer "Price Only" is the point of differentiation sustainable retail food success is impossible. Not difficult, not cumbersome but impossible.

In the days of the printed circular every retailer held onto his or her identity and image library with the use of color separations. The color separations (or negatives as they were referred to) used to make plates kept all of your images proprietary to your supermarket because only your marketing department could obtain the image separations.

"Copy & Paste Marketing Has Become Todays Source Of Creativity"

The world of retail food creative has now forever changed. With all of the deadlines we all face it is easy to understand why just a few minutes before the ad deadline someone might grab an image off the web to solve an immediate perishable image issue.

This tends to become the first step in dismantling the retailers formerly licensed image library.

Some retailers will do this accidentally on occasion while for others this is a dangerous business practice. The common error is that whether deliberately or accidentally the retailers image library over time is loaded with images not properly licensed.

"So What Is The Big Deal About Using Images Without A License"

Without proper perishable image licensing the retailer has (no differently than the fellow who steals a few steaks under a large winter coat) taken from another company valuable income. As professionals the industry uses the kindest of terms "Infringement".

However in reality knowingly using images not properly licensed is stealing...Period.

Even more important, the retailer without proper licensing has taken from another company it's hard earned corporate identity and a piece of it's all important "Brand". Most retail food perishable image libraries today require a license because each image is usually protected by a copyright awarded to the copyright holder by the United States Library Of Congress.

Knowingly violating an image under copyright carries stiff financial penalties under federal statutes protecting the copyright holder, Furthermore images under copyright protect the retailer who purchased the proper license and used the image to build the all important "Brand".

Any image used in violation of a companies copyright is then in violation of the rights awarded to the copyright holder by the Federal Government. The key point is the end user or retail supermarket using images under copyright without a license or written authorization is now subject to the penalties available to the copyright holder under United States Copyright statute.

These penalties (DMCA Statute) were designed by the United States Congress to be punitive in an effort to protect the artist or in this case the food photographer. Many large companies in retail food today, in an effort to reduce operating costs snicker at the DMCA statute until the realization of the copyright protection come to bear financially.

The DMCA Statute was designed to protect the "Little Guy" or artist against just this type of corporate abuse.

"Would You Use A Starbucks Or Dunkin Donuts Image Without Concern...We All Know That Answer"

When Starbucks recently enforced its image and branded copyright within the United States Federal Court, Starbucks enforced its ability to be seen as something special. If your retail food company does not employ some form of image licensing protocol, you are likely operating on "The Wrong Side Of Copyright Law".

At Adlife our customers are special retailers and grocery wholesalers demanding a special image in the search of sustainable success.

Every Adlife owned PreparedFoodPhotos.com customer has images they individually choose to define their ability to deliver "Their Individual"something special. Further, every Adlife customer is automatically granted image licensing to all 30,000 images within the PreparedFoodPhotos.comlibrary

If your company wants to be viewed as something special, work every week to build "Brand" and not just price. It is the "Brand" that brings the customer back...rarely price alone. "Brand" or "Branding" is the ultimate continuity program for any business and certainly any supermarket retailer.

This week your supermarket will work hard to market to its customers the right items at the right price. However, every week we need to work just as hard to bring attention to the "Brand". Our goal is to have your retail food company as a "Brand" and just a little less dependent on whats on sale this week.

Many have asked why I choose to write about what I see in the supermarket industry today and my ideas. At PreparedFoodPhotos.com & Adlife we believe great ideas and the resulting branding will give new life and direction to any company. So for that reason we chose to open the discussion.

Yes, I understand I probably misspelled something or butchered the English language in a few places, the goal however was to open your minds to new ideas. Many thanks to Sharon Albrizio for her help with this article.

Joel Albrizio, President of PreparedFoodPhotos.com & Adlife 

Follow Me On Twitter @joelalbrizio or right here on LinkedIn!

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