The Bacon Podcast with Brian Basilico | CURE Your Sales & Marketing with Ideas That Make It SIZZLE!

The Bacon Podcast with Brian Basilico | CURE Your Sales & Marketing with Ideas That Make It SIZZLE!


Episode 983 – Visual Impact – The Rights and Wrongs of Images In Marketing

September 11, 2024




One of my all-time favorite jokes is about babies…


“How many babies does it take to screw in a lightbulb?”

“None – they neither have the cognitive or motor skills to perform such a task!”

You could imagine a baby holding a lightbulb and trying to insert it into a lamp or socket. But if you wanted to see it, you could log into an AI image generator to create one.


AI opens some interesting conundrums about the use of images. Who owns the copyright? What if you use a well-known person? Can you be sued?


Images are assets. These assets can be bought and sold. What once was a free image that you picked up from free image sites like Pixabay or Pexels can be sold to a paid-for library. Those libraries can use tools like Google Lens or a metadata search to find that specific image.


At this point, I feel safe creating images with Firefly because I have a paid account with Adobe for their creative suite and their Stock Images (two different accounts). I would not be as confident using anything I am not paying for. Even if you win the battle, you are spending your time trying to ward off what I consider an attack.