Can I Use Images from an Employer's Website on My LinkedIn Profile?

We have managed one of the world's most popular online courses on career management since 2014, and students frequently ask me whether or not they're permitted to use images found on a former employer's website on their LinkedIn profiles.

The short answer is this: in consideration of US trademark and copyright laws, you can use images sourced from a former employer's web presence (for example, by downloading a publicly-available image from a company webpage or social media account) on your LinkedIn profile as long as you're not using it to deceive or defraud anyone.

Three Key Concepts: Trademarks, Copyrights, and Fair Use

You need to understand what a trademark is, what copyrights are, and what "Fair Use" is in order to understand why you can use publicly-available images related to a former employer on your LinkedIn profile.

• Trademarks are legally-protected ways that an organization distinguishes themselves from others. Trademark law is based on the idea that enabling people to easily identify organizations is good for society, and allowing for confusion is bad. For example, you couldn't sell computers under the brand Applet because it might confuse people into thinking your computers were made by Apple computers.
• Copyrights legally enable the owners of "works" (these could be images, videos, music, and many other things) to control how others use what they've made. Generally speaking, any original work that a person or company creates is copyrighted. If you take a photo and publish it on your blog, you own the copyright to that photo.
• The "fair use" doctrine describes situations when you can use?copyrighted or trademarked?material without having to get permission from the rights holders.

Is Adding a Photo from an Employer's Website to My Profile Fair Use?

What's considered "fair use" in the context of your LinkedIn profile?

Well, there are three factors that determine whether the use of trademarks and copyrights is "fair" in the context of using images and trademarks on your LinkedIn profile. Summarizing from Harvard :

1. Whether or not you're making money from it (for example, by charging people to download it)
2. Whether or not you're using it to convey truthful, factual information and whether or not the image has already been made public
3. Whether or not the use of the trademark or copyright is costing the rights holder (usually, your former employer) money

If you're truthful, it's your right to communicate about your work

You're probably reading this article because you're on a job search or you're looking to advance a career goal. In order for you to do that, you need to communicate with other professionals. It's lawful for you to use trademarks to and copyrighted works to describe that you were associated with an organization.

Company Policies that Claim Trademark Infringement Don't Stand Up in Court

In the past, companies have argued that an employee who uses their logos or images to say that they were associated with the company is infringing on their intellectual property rights. Those companies have lost those cases in court. For example, both GM and Pepsi have tried to limit how employees can represent themselves in their personal capacities (i.e. not at work) through official company policies, and they've been struck down as illegal. In both cases, the judges decided that the trademarks were used by the employees to identify the company, and that's considered "fair use." That's exactly what you're doing when you use a trademark of a former employer on your LinkedIn profile. You're identifying them as your former employer.

The courts have also said that preventing a former employee from identifying their employer through the use of the employers' trademarks is a violation of that employee's labor rights.

Your Use of Copyrighted Images or Videos on Your LinkedIn Profile is Likely Protected Under the "Fair Use" Doctrine

Remember, these are the three filters to determining whether or not use of a copyrighted image or video is "fair use":

1. Whether or not you're making money from it (for example, by charging people to download it). You're not--this is your personal LinkedIn profile.
2. Whether or not you're using it to convey truthful, factual information and and whether or not the image has already been made public. If you are using the image with the intent to convey truthful information (for example, that you worked there), you're good. If you got the images from a public company webpage, social media account, or public video link, it is already public information.
3. Whether or not the use of the trademark or copyright is costing the rights holder (usually, your former employer) money. It's not--you're not going to reduce the value of a company or their products or services by using a public image on your LinkedIn profile.

It's important to note that "fair use" does consider your intention, and if your intent is to deceive--for example, by making the false claim that a company was your former employer--your use of copyrighted or trademarked materials is much less likely to be considered legally protected.

Conclusion

Laws in the US that protect the rights of the owners of trademarks and copyrights are designed to encourage creativity and to enable the public to identify the providers of goods and services in their communities. From a corporate standpoint, the your former employers are given the right to protect their intellectual property when someone else is making money on by using that intellectual property or when they're causing the value of their intellectual property to be decreased. When you use a former employer's trademarks or copyrights to accurately communicate that you had a professional association with them in the past, you are neither confusing people nor are you illegally profiting from or harming the value of their intellectual property. In fact, there have been recent judgements in the US that strike down company policies demanding that employees and former employees not use trademarks on social media platforms to associate themselves with their employers or former employers.

Having said that, I'm not a lawyer and you'll need to make your own decisions about this issue, so please see my legal disclaimer and take what I've said as a well-researched grain of salt.

Legal Disclaimer

The information provided in this article does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available are for general informational purposes only.?Information in this article may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information.?This website contains links to other third-party websites.?Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser.

Readers of this article should contact their attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular legal matter.?No reader, user, or browser of this article should act or refrain from acting on the basis of information on this site without first seeking legal advice from counsel in the relevant jurisdiction.?Only your individual attorney can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation.?

The views expressed at, or through, this site are those of the individual authors writing in their individual capacities only – not those of Eazl as a whole.?All liability with respect to actions taken or not taken based on the contents in this article are hereby expressly disclaimed.?The content on this posting is provided "as is;" no representations are made that the content is error-free.