There are two very important things to know about the images that you use to represent the products you’re selling – both in the context of your Hello Pretty store, as well as when it comes to the internet in general (that is, your own website).

Photographs from other websites & the internet in general

Copyright is implied with all creative works.

A creative work like a photo (or painting, song, article, etc) is implicitly copyrighted when published, with all rights reserved. Just because a website doesn’t contain copyright text does not mean that it’s ok to copy, or even to use, that work. If the work can be re-used, modified, re-mixed, etc. then those copyright terms must be explicitly stated.

Lifehacker has an article explaining online copyright from a US legal perspective, but most of those same ideas apply in South Africa as well. There’s also a good read about The Berne Convention, an international agreement dealing with copyright matters.

Photographs in your store representing what you’re selling on Hello Pretty

The photos in your Hello Pretty store must be your own. They must be photos of your actual products, not similar products made by other people. No matter how similar the products are, they have to be your own.

Store Suspension

Believe us when we say that we hate that we have to put this in writing here, and it makes us truly sad, but we have to be clear that if you’re in violation of these rules in your Hello Pretty store, your store will be immediately suspended. So pretty please don’t do it because it sucks and upsets all parties involved. We’d always be in touch with you straight away if this were to happen.

If there has been some sort of a misunderstanding or mistake, we will re-activate your store on the double.