I need a background with a blue sky and snowfall. I found some on Ink and Elm. I also found one on eBay sold from China. I was thinking if I could paint that by myself onto a blue background and so I looked on SS to see what backgrounds they are having. How that looks like. I was astonished to see some images on SS which Ink and Elm must have bought for printing them on a vinyl background. Can I buy this background from Ink and Elm to items in front of it and sell it on the microstock websites. Nearly the whole background with the sky and the snow would be visible. Isn't that like stealing someone's art  even though I have not bought, downloaded and used their image? On eBay the seller has bought two different backgrounds and stitched them together as one. I do not want to get into trouble and I'm sure the photographer who took the background will notice that the background is his/her photo. I also saw bokeh images as vinyl the backgrounds which were clearly bought on the microstock websites.

Why do I need to contact Ink and Elm? They bought the backgrounds and are printing them on vinyl as photography backgrounds. Are they doing something wrong? My question is if I can buy such a background and put a still life in front of it and upload it to the stock websites.

You can only submit things that you TOTALLY own the copyright to. Somebody else made the background, not you. So you can�t submit to stock. Ink & Elm might think and say it�s ok to use, but the stock sites have the copyright rule.

I found 4 images on SS where someone has bought this background, put an object on it and in front of it and uploaded it to SS. I personally feel that it is not right doing it. It's not a generic wood panel background where you place items on it.

What about the wood panel backgrounds that many buy from for  Ink and Elm for food photography? This is not about Ink and Elm. It's just that I found the rather unique backgrounds on SS that are getting sold for food photography etc. Do I need to make my own wood panel backgrounds?

If you want to use them as backgrounds for images you submit as stock, yes, make your own.

Hi DallasP. No I don't. I don't do composites. And no, I don't want to use someone else's photo that's on the stock websites. I haven't ordered from Ink and Elm yet either. There are wood panel backgrounds and I asked if it is okay to put it on my table and lay for example fruits on it or a cake etc. and upload that. It all started when I saw a vinyl snow background a view days ago on eBay. The seller has stitched two photos together but I saw the top part of it on SS. I went on SS to see if I can maybe make my own snow background or if I am just not good enough. I was shocked to see that image on SS and asked here if it is okay to use it if I put a still life on the part that lays on the table but the sky with snow would be visible. It didn't feel right to me to do that and so I asked. I do very few images and certainly not composites. There is a lady I know who makes here own backgrounds and before I bought one I asked her if I am allowed to put cake etc. on it and sell the photo with her background on the stock websites. I am not a low life rat. I asked here because I know of a lot of people who buy for example on Ink and Elms website and they sell backgrounds to photographers. It worries me, that's why I asked. I am a photographer. I don't want to do harm to others. And I don't know what GTFO means.

I think I can help shine some light on this. It seems your question is about copyright laws and what is allowed when creating work that will be sold for licensing and how it is used. It's confusing at first, but it will make sense eventually. I recommend doing more research. The simple answer is no, you can not use that background to shoot for stock photography and then sell an image that includes it without expressed written consent from the original artist or through the appropriate licensing. I'm assuming that is what other photographers here are referring to as a composite, because it is your photograph, but it also includes a photograph of another photographer's work, aka the background. It would be considered a derivative work.

Ink and Elm is making backgrounds to sell to photographers that include artwork created by other photographers. Most likely Ink and Elm purchased an extended license to be able to sell them in a commercial setting. This is no different than purchasing an extended license if you plan to sublimate a stock photograph onto a t-shirt or a mug and sell that mug for profit.Those usages are also considered derivative works. By creating backgrounds for sale, Ink and Elm is creating derivate works with (I'm assuming) the appropriate licensing from the art creator or representative agency to do so.

Most photographers who are purchasing these backgrounds will be using the backgrounds to take pictures of products that they are selling on their website, or to capture family photographs, etc. The difference between what they are doing and what you are asking to do is quite substantial.

Their end product will not be sold as a resale of the original commercial work. The product photograph will be displayed on a website, but the photograph will not be for sale. The senior or family portrait will be displayed on a wall or social media site, but the photograph will not be for commercial sale. That is considered personal use, or commercial use.

Ink and Elm has purchased licensing rights to sell the artist's image for extended commercial sale, that license does not transfer to you when you purchase a background from them. You can't sell the artwork of an artist without expressed written permission to do so, a transfer of copyright, or a license. The artwork that Ink and Elm is selling doesn't belong to them. The license they purchased allows them to use it. They probably purchase that license from a stock agency.

Most extended licenses allow for derivatives to be created, and also for commercial resale of the derivative, but it does not allow for transfer of those licenses for commercial purposes. Also most (if not all) stock agency licenses do not allow for resale of the original image or creation. It's the same reason that you can't take a picture of a pretty fabric pattern and sell it as a background on stock sites. You took the photograph, yes it may be pretty, but you didn't create the pattern, the textile artist did. You can't take a picture of an artists painting and then sell the photography without the artists permission, the interesting part wasn't created by you, it was created by the painter.

If you want to create a background to use for your stock photography that shows a wooden table you will need to be the creator of the wood table photograph that is turned into the background, or you will need to procure a license from a photographer that allows that type of use, otherwise you are infringing upon another person's copyright. Just because you can buy something to use in photography, doesn't mean that you can use it for commercial reselling purposes, especially if you are selling those photographs as your own. If you need a blue sky with snowfall, you will need to shoot an image of that yourself and then turn it into a background.

Does that make sense? If it doesn't I can try to answer some more. Hopefully this helps.

Addition:

You might think about reaching out to Ink and Elm if for some reason they have an agreement with the artwork creators to allow for such usage. My guess is that they don't. If they say that you can use the background for stock, I would ask to see the written agreement. Just because they say you can, doesn't mean that they are giving you accurate information. They may be confused about the copyright law and usage. If the original artist sues you for copyright infringement you don't have protection just because someone else sold the background to you or because they said you could use it. "I didn't know" isn't a valid form of protection in this case. The go ahead always needs to come from the original artist.