WHATSWRONG

Buying and using military-related stock photography is a bit different than other forms of stock. Stock photo buyers sometimes make mistakes acquiring this sort of illustration, so here is some advice about how to prevent those mistakes:

PAYING TOO MUCH

The photographs on this site are from US government collections and are in the public domain, available to anybody with the time and patience to find them. But some other agencies, including two of the biggest, are offering some of these same images as "rights-managed" photographs and these agencies are quoting fees of hundreds or thousands of dollars and specifiying restrictive terms and conditions for the same image offered here for $99.95. So don't pay too much for a photograph!

MODEL RELEASES

Users of photographs sometimes assume that US armed forces personnel don't need to sign model releases or publication consent forms when their recognizable image is used in an advertisement. This assumption is wrong -- servicemen and -women have the same rights of privacy the rest of us do and using a recognizable photograph of them in an ad is risking an "invasion of privacy" lawsuit. None of the photographs on this site are "model-released". If you require model-released photographs of people for use in advertising, we provide them on our primary site, MILITARY STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY, but those images are NOT priced at $99.95 and are not royalty-free.

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE REGULATIONS

The US Department of Defense has regulations concerning the use of photographs in advertising. It doesn't matter who made the photographs or where you get them, the regulations apply to the ads themselves. DoD's concern is that the government does not wish to appear to endorse or approve any commercial product or service.

Advertisers can meet DoD requirements by insuring that DoD-specific markings on vehicles and aircraft are "Photoshopped" out, and personnel in photographs are (1) not members of the US armed forces, (2) wear only "sterile" or unmarked BDUs, and submit layouts for advertising and promotional material to the Office of the Secretary of Defense Office of Public Affairs, Attention Cynthia Minnick, email to Cynthia.Minnick@osd.mil) in PDF form (with high-resolution image files) prior to publication for approval.

Our primary site, MILITARY STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY, offers model-released, DoD-compliant, photographs designed for advertising, but again, these are NOT royalty-free, low-cost, images.