WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT PHOTO? When you are using photographs of military topics, perhaps several things may go wrong. You can pay too much, you can get a photo that is laughably inaccurate, you can violate the Department of Defense's regulations, and you can violate the privacy of people in uniform. We can help you avoid all these issues.

PAYING TOO MUCH: many of the military photographs offered by other agencies are actually public domain images distributed free by the US Government. Some of these agencies even suggest that the images on their web site are original, covered by copyright, and they charge "rights-managed" fees for their use. One of these agencies was asking over $3000 for a license to use a public-domain photo that anybody could download for free. Our photographs are not free, but they are virtually the ONLY original coverage of the US armed forces available as stock.

SOLDIER'S PRIVACY RIGHTS: many advertisers are using DoD photos for advertising and these photos often include recognizable people. Military personnel all have the same rights of personal privacy that you do, and have legal recourse when they find their smiling faces in an advertisement. So far as we know, none has yet filed suit, but the risk is substantial. DoD is clear about this issue and state that its photographs are not covered by "model-releases" or consent-to-publish forms.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE REGULATIONS: DoD has detailed and strict regulations for the use of photographs in advertisements of military-related products and services. These regulations essentially prohibit photos of most active-duty personnel, their uniforms, insignia, and anything that clearly identifies an element in a photograph as being a component of a DoD organization. We are the only stock photo agency offering substantial numbers of images that comply with DoD regulations. Find out more about DoD regulations HERE.

ACCURATE IMAGES: several stock agencies are offering photographs that are captioned as showing US military personnel but that in fact show actors in hilariously inaccurate "Halloween-costume" versions of uniforms. One major agency has a series of photos of a man wearing a mixture of officer's and enlisted soldier's uniforms; others have photographs that show uniforms and gear that haven't been issued in twenty or thirty years. Most of these images include "soldiers" whose hair is long enough to give a first-sergeant a fit. These photographs have been produced by photographers who don't know what a soldier or Marine really looks like, what they wear, or how they cut their hair. Using these images in any communication intended for a military audience is guaranteed to make the advertiser look foolish.