What are my options moving forward?

We are currently setting up easy-to-use light box collections of destination-specific photography and will make those available on this platform soon.

In the meantime, we encourage you to avail yourself of ample licensed stock photography resources around the web. Examples include

• 123rf.com (Guyana | Suriname | French Guiana)
• Adobe (Guyana | Suriname | French Guiana)
• Corbis (Guyana | Suriname | French Guiana)
• iStockPhoto (Guyana | Suriname | French Guiana)
• Getty Images (Guyana | Suriname | French Guiana)
• Minden Pictures (Guyana | Suriname | French Guiana)
• Shutterstock (Guyana | Suriname | French Guiana)

What about Creative Commons images – they’re OK right?

Not necessarily – Images that you obtain from so-called “creative commons” repositories (such as Wikimedia Commons) are subject to copyright restrictions. Those restrictions are individually specified for each image by the contributor of the image. The vast majority of images in the Creative Commons space are restricted in one way or another from commercial use, so you must be diligent about using Creative Commons images in an appropriate manner.

Aren’t royalty-free images essentially “free”?

No – When an image is made available on a royalty-free basis, you still have to purchase a license to use it. The lack of royalty obligation means you owe nothing to the photographer after the initial licensing. Usage specifics may be restricted, depending on you license.  The licensed image may only be used by the party that initially obtained the licensed  – usage licenses are generally not transferable. You are responsible for using the licensed photography in a manner that is consistent with the terms of the license you were granted.

But, haven’t ground operators always provided photos as a convenience to their overseas partners?

Indeed, its been common practice to share a handful of photos with resellers to promote sales and mutual benefit.

But, times change.

In the 20 years since the landmark Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was passed in the U.S., practical, technical, and legal realities surrounding photo sharing have dramatically changed across the globe. On the one hand, digital cameras have moved from novelty to mainstream, photo-rich websites are the norm, and we share voluminous quantities of photos every day on social media without a second thought.

Meanwhile, stock photography houses have adapted to the explosion of digital content by making it dead-simple to find and legally acquire a specific photograph. That business model includes protections of photographers’ intellectual property rights and the evolution of sophisticated and automated (some would say aggressive) copyright enforcement tools that efficiently scan the web for license infringements.

Ironically – but predictably – as photo sharing has gotten easier, the perils of sharing inappropriately have become more acute. Especially for businesses.

When we got into this business over 20 years ago, our photography tools were rudimentary (who remembers holding a physical loupé up to a light box table full of 35mm slides to print next year’s glossy brochure?) And, the inventory of Guyana-specific photography suitable for travel promotion was painfully negligible.

That is simply no longer the case.

You can now obtain stunning and beautiful, fully-licensed stock photography for our destinations with ease and at limited cost from numerous sources around the web. It’s never been easier to access and utilize a huge library of professional-quality photographs for our destinations.

So, moving forward, we will be maintaining a very limited private library of images to share with our partners. And, we will be curating a collection of light boxes from some of the world’s best stock photography houses to help you enhance your websites and print publications. You will be able to easily obtain the necessary license for only the images you need, at the size you need, for the purpose you need. We think that your brochures and websites will look better, and we all can focus our attention on what we do best: creating memorable experiences for adventure travellers!