Short answer: Use photos whose license allows them on a business website, such as those on Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay or a paid site like Adobe Stock. Read each license first, because free doesn’t mean free of rules. Don’t copy photos from Google Images or other websites without permission.
Before you read: This guide explains how stock photo licenses and U.S. copyright work, based on the license pages and the U.S. Copyright Office’s own pages. It is general information, not legal advice. For your specific case, talk to an attorney licensed in the United States.
Why you can’t use any photo you find
The U.S. Copyright Office says copyright protects original works as soon as the author fixes them in a tangible form. Photographs are among the works it names.
No registration is needed for that protection. The Office gives taking a photograph as an example: once you do, you are the author and the owner.
The owner holds the exclusive rights to reproduce the work and to display it publicly. If you use a copyrighted work without authorization, the Office says, the owner may be entitled to bring an infringement action against you.
Editing the photo doesn’t make it yours. The Office says you can’t claim copyright to another’s work, no matter how much you change it, without the owner’s consent.
Permission is what lets you use someone else’s photo. The Office lists buying or licensing a work among the ways to use one that isn’t yours, and in cases of doubt it recommends getting permission.
Free stock photo sites and what their licenses allow
Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay let you download photos at no cost and use them without asking the photographer. Each has its own license, and each lists uses it doesn’t allow.
Unsplash allows commercial and non-commercial use with no permission needed. Credit isn’t required, though its photographers appreciate it. Its license doesn’t allow selling the images without significant modification, or compiling them to replicate a similar or competing service.
Pexels says its photos and videos are free to use and can be modified, and that attribution is not required. It names websites and ads among the uses it welcomes.
Its list of what isn’t allowed matters most for a business site. Identifiable people may not appear in a bad light or in an offensive way. You also can’t imply that the people or brands in a photo endorse your product.
Pexels also rules out reselling its photos on other stock platforms, and selling unaltered copies, such as posters or prints.
Pixabay’s license summary allows free use, with no attribution required, and lets you modify the content. If a photo contains a recognizable trademark, logo or brand, it can’t be used for commercial purposes in relation to goods and services.
Pixabay also warns that some content may carry other rights, such as trademarks, design rights or privacy rights. It says checking whether you need a third party’s consent is your responsibility. Only its full Content License, not the summary, is legally binding.
Neither Pexels nor Pixabay lets you use a photo as part of your trademark or business name. Our guide to trademarking a business name or logo covers what you can register.
In our view, photos with people or brands in them deserve the most care on a business site. That is where Pexels and Pixabay draw most of their limits.
Paid stock photos and the Standard license
On a paid site, the license you buy sets what you can do. Adobe Stock, for example, says its license is perpetual and worldwide and covers all media, including websites and social media.
Most of its photos come with a Standard license. It lets you post the photo to a website or social media site with no limit on views, and reproduce up to 500,000 copies, such as printed marketing materials.
Its Enhanced and Extended licenses lift that limit of 500,000. With a Standard license, you can’t distribute the stand-alone file or make products people would buy for the image itself, such as a poster, a t-shirt or a coffee mug.
Photos labeled Editorial Use Only are different. Adobe Stock says they can’t be used for commercial purposes, such as ads, promotions or commercial blogs, even with an Extended license. That takes the copyright owner’s prior written consent, plus any other permissions needed.
If an agency buys the license for your site, Adobe Stock lets it transfer the license to its client. It can’t transfer one license to more than one client unless each is licensed separately.
In our view, ask whoever builds your site whose name each license is in, and keep a copy of it.
Creative Commons licenses and the public domain
Creative Commons licenses let creators grant permission in advance, in a standard form. There are six, and every one of them requires credit to the creator.
CC BY allows commercial use as long as you give credit. CC BY-SA adds that adaptations must be shared under the same terms, and CC BY-ND allows no adaptations at all.
The licenses that include NC allow only noncommercial use. Creative Commons defines it as use “not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation.”
In our view, a business website isn’t the place for an NC photo.
You can also use works in the public domain, the Copyright Office says. They include works never protected, like facts, and works whose term of protection has ended.
All works published in the United States before January 1, 1931, are in the public domain. For works created on or after January 1, 1978, protection generally lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. Works made for hire and anonymous works follow other terms.
Finding usable photos on Google Images
Google warns that images might be subject to copyright. Its Usage rights filter narrows the results to images that have license information attached.
On a computer, go to images.google.com and search for an image. Click Tools under the search box, then click Usage rights and choose a type of license. Select an image and click License details to see how to use it.
Google filters by the information that the sites hosting the images, or the image providers, give it. So it asks you to always confirm the license, with both the license provider and the site that hosts the image.
Creative Commons images are usually free to use but require credit, and may limit how you use them. Images under commercial or other licenses can come from free sites or from paid ones.
If the photos on your site are your own, you can add license metadata to them. Google Images can then show who created an image, how people can use it and the credit, and the image can become eligible for the Licensable badge.
Photos an employee takes within the scope of the job belong to the employer, the Copyright Office says. The same rule applies to certain independent contractors, for certain types of commissioned works. Ownership can also come from contracts like assignments.
If an owner finds their photo on your site
The Copyright Office describes a notice-and-takedown system: a rightsholder can notify the online service provider where infringing material appears. Once the provider receives a compliant notice, it must act expeditiously to remove the material or disable access to it.
The provider must then tell the user who uploaded the material. If that user believes the removal was a mistake or a misidentification, they can send a counter-notice asking for it back.
The damages can be high. In its answer on peer-to-peer downloads, the Office notes that an infringer may be liable for statutory damages up to $30,000.00 for each work infringed.
If the owner proves the infringement was willful, it adds, the amount may rise to $150,000.00 per work.
In our view, keep a record of every license, with the page and the date of the download.
How to add stock photos to your website
- Choose a site whose license allows your use, and read that license before you download.
- Check what the license says about logos, brands and people before you use a photo that shows them.
- Save the license page and the date with each photo you download.
- Resize and compress the photo before you upload it, and use WebP where you can.
- Write alt text that describes what the photo shows on that page.
These steps follow the license pages cited below. Our guides to image compression, WebP images and alt text explain how to prepare the photo for upload.
Before you publish a stock photo
- The license allows the photo on a business website.
- You saved the license page and the date of the download.
- The license allows any logo or brand the photo shows.
- The license allows the way the photo shows people.
- The photo isn’t marked Editorial Use Only.
- You gave credit wherever the license asks for it, as every Creative Commons license does.
RememberA photo you didn’t take usually belongs to someone. Use photos whose license allows your use, read what each license forbids, and keep a record of it.
Our web design service builds every plan in WordPress with Bricks. The Growth plan, a business site of up to six pages in one language, comes with copy we write and 15 stock photos.
Questions about stock photos for your website
Can I use images from Google on my website?
Only if the image’s license allows your use. Google warns that images might be subject to copyright. Its Usage rights filter shows images with license details, but Google asks you to confirm each license with the license provider and the site that hosts the image.
Do I have to credit free stock photos?
Not on Unsplash, Pexels or Pixabay: their licenses don’t require attribution, though credit is appreciated. Every Creative Commons license requires credit to the creator, so check the license of each photo before you publish it.
Can I use stock photos in ads?
Usually, yes. Pexels names ads, banners and marketing campaigns among the uses of its photos, and the Adobe Stock license covers websites and social media. Photos marked Editorial Use Only can’t go in ads without the copyright owner’s prior written consent and any other permissions needed.
What happens if I use a photo without permission?
The owner may be entitled to bring an infringement action against you, the U.S. Copyright Office says. The owner can also notify the online service provider where the photo appears, which must then remove it or disable access to it quickly.
Can I use public domain photos on my website?
Yes. The Copyright Office says you can use works in the public domain, such as works whose term of protection has ended. All works published in the United States before January 1, 1931, are in the public domain.
Sources
Read on November 7, 2026. The licenses of the free stock sites: Unsplash’s License, Pexels’ Free Stock Photo & Video License and Pixabay’s Content License. From Adobe Stock: License information and Terms of Use. From Creative Commons: Sharing Openly, Sharing Globally. From the U.S. Copyright Office: What is Copyright?, Fair Use (FAQ) and Section 512 of Title 17: Resources on Online Service Provider Safe Harbors and Notice-and-Takedown System. From Google: Find images you can use & share and Google Images SEO: Image Metadata. Also from our site: the web design service page, and our guides to alt text, image compression, WebP images and trademarking a business name or logo.