Using Instagram photos on your website: copyright and permission basics

The short answer

1. Posts you created yourself (you took the photo, shot the video, wrote the caption) are generally yours to show on your own website. Instagram does not take ownership of them.
2. Posts on your account that someone else created, such as a photographer’s images, a customer’s photo you shared, or artwork by a designer, may need that person’s permission for website use, even though they are already on your Instagram.
3. Posts on other people’s accounts are theirs. Giving credit does not replace permission. Instagram offers an official embed option for public posts, and the owner controls whether it is available.
4. When in doubt, ask in writing. A short message and a “yes” you can find later solves most problems before they start.

Copyright basics in plain English

A few principles from the U.S. Copyright Office explain almost everything else in this article.

1. Protection is automatic. The Copyright Office says a work is protected “the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form.” A photo is protected as soon as it is taken and saved. Nobody has to file anything, add a © symbol or write “all rights reserved”.
2. Registration is optional, but it matters for lawsuits. Registration is generally voluntary, but in the U.S. it is required before the owner of a U.S. work can sue for infringement. “It isn’t registered” does not mean “it’s free to use”.
3. The creator is usually the owner. Copyright initially belongs to the author, the person who created the work. The main exception is a “work made for hire”, explained below.
4. The owner controls copying and public display. The exclusive rights of a copyright owner include reproducing the work and displaying it publicly. Putting a photo on a website involves both questions, which is why permission matters.
5. Rights can be licensed or transferred. A transfer of ownership generally has to be in writing and signed. Permission to use a work without transferring ownership (a nonexclusive license) does not require a written agreement, but having it in writing is far easier to prove later.

What Instagram’s Terms of Use say

People often assume Instagram owns what is posted there, or that anything public on Instagram is free to use. Neither is what the Terms of Use say. Three parts are worth knowing:

In short, the license flows from you to Instagram. It gives you no rights over a photographer’s images or a customer’s photo.

Is it really “your own” post? Common cases

An account is often a mix of content from many hands. Here are the usual cases.

Employees and “work made for hire”

Under U.S. law, a work made for hire belongs to the employer, not to the person who created it. The Copyright Office describes two situations: a work created by an employee as part of the employee’s regular duties, or certain kinds of specially commissioned works where both sides sign a written agreement that it is a work made for hire.

For a small business, the first case is the common one: a social media manager on your payroll photographing products is creating work for the business. A staff member who takes a great photo on a day off, with their own phone, is less clear. Asking costs nothing.

The second case does not cover most photography. The written work-made-for-hire agreement only applies to a specific list of categories (such as a contribution to a collective work or part of an audiovisual work), so a freelance photographer you book for a product shoot usually keeps the copyright and gives you a license. The Copyright Office itself calls the concept “complicated”, which is a good reason to rely on clear contract terms rather than labels.

Hired photographers: check the license, not just the invoice

Photographers usually license images for particular uses: “social media and website”, only “social media”, or one campaign or period. Having paid for a shoot and posted the photos on Instagram does not by itself tell you whether they can also live on your website.

1. Find the contract, quote or email for the shoot and look for “license”, “usage” or “permitted use”: does it name websites, is there a time limit, is a credit required?
2. If anything is unclear, email the photographer and ask. Most are happy to confirm, and it is better to ask now than after the feed has been live for a year.
3. For future shoots, ask for website and social media use to be written into the agreement from the start.

Customer and fan photos (user-generated content)

Photos customers take of your product, food or venue are some of the most convincing content a business has. They are also, by default, owned by the customers who took them, and once you share one on your account it appears in a website feed like any other post.

Instagram’s own guidance on avoiding copyright problems is direct. It recommends posting content you created yourself, and getting written permission from the author before posting someone else’s work. It also lists things that do not by themselves protect you, including:

1. Giving credit to the copyright owner.
2. Including a disclaimer that you did not intend to infringe.
3. Believing the use is a fair use.

So “Photo by @customer” in the caption is polite and good practice, but it is not permission. A clear reply such as “Yes, you can share it on your Instagram and website” is.

Things inside your own photos

Even a photo you took can contain other people’s work: a mural or painting that fills the frame, a screenshot of someone’s post or design, or a collage of other people’s photos. Other brands’ logos raise trademark rather than copyright questions, mainly when a photo suggests an endorsement that does not exist. Most everyday photos are fine, but give these a second look before featuring them.

Reels and music

Reels add a layer that photos do not have: audio. Instagram’s help center explains that a Reel can use your own original audio, another creator’s original audio, or audio from the Instagram audio library, and that licensed audio in the library is copyrighted material such as music, movies, TV shows and sound effects.

Instagram’s help pages we checked do not say whether that licensing extends to playback on your own website, and we cannot answer that for you. In a Social Feed widget, a video post opens in the lightbox, where it plays muted at first with controls, so visitors can turn the sound on.

If music rights are a concern, use original audio (your own voice-over, ambient sound, or music you have rights to) in Reels you expect to show on your website, or keep Reels out of that page’s feed with the Reels filter set to “Exclude Reels”. More in showing Instagram videos and Reels on your website.

Showing other people’s posts: your options

Sometimes you want a post from another account on your website: a partner’s announcement, a press feature, a customer’s review video. Here are the realistic options and how they compare.

Whether embedding someone else’s post can raise copyright questions depends on the country and on the facts, and it is not something this article can settle. Asking first removes the question. For step-by-step instructions on Instagram’s embed option, see how to embed a single Instagram post and Instagram’s “Allow embeds” setting.

What Social Feed by grip space does, and does not, show

Understanding the tool makes the rights question simpler. Social Feed by grip space shows posts from one Instagram professional account that its owner connects by signing in. It does not search hashtags, does not collect posts where you are tagged, and cannot show another person’s account unless that person connects it. One feed shows one account.

So the feed shows the posts Instagram’s API returns for your account, which, as shown above, are not all necessarily yours. Agencies setting up a client’s feed should have the client connect their own account; see showing someone else’s Instagram feed.

A few practical details are useful when you think about rights:

1. Images and videos load from Instagram. The widget displays media from Instagram’s servers. It does not copy your photos to our servers or to your website’s files. This is a technical description, not a legal conclusion about whether permission is needed.
2. The feed shows your username. With “Show account info” on, the header shows your profile picture, username and post count, and visitors can open a post on Instagram if you choose “Open Instagram” as the click action.
3. Deleting a post removes it from the feed. On the Light and Standard plans, a post deleted on Instagram disappears on the next page load. On the Free plan, posts are refreshed once a day, so it disappears at the next daily refresh.
4. You can hide the feed instantly. Switching a widget to Unpublished in the dashboard makes the embed code show nothing, without touching your website. See how to hide your feed temporarily.

Keep specific posts off your website

You do not have to delete a post from Instagram to keep it off your website. If some posts are fine on Instagram but you are unsure about website use (a customer photo you never asked about, a collaboration with unclear terms), the caption keyword filter can hide them. Add a hashtag such as “#repost” to those captions, then set the widget’s caption keyword to “#repost” with “Exclude matching posts”. Details are in filtering an Instagram feed by keyword.

The reverse also works. If you only want posts you are sure about on a commercial page, tag them with a hashtag of your own, such as “#ourwork”, and use “Only matching posts” mode. Only posts with that tag will appear, so a reposted customer photo cannot slip in by accident. The date range filter can also keep the feed to recent posts if older content came from a period when you did not track rights.

Fair use: why it is a poor plan for a business website

Fair use is a U.S. legal doctrine that permits unlicensed use of copyrighted works in certain circumstances. The Copyright Office lists four factors courts weigh:

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether it is commercial.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work.
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used.
4. The effect of the use on the potential market for or value of the work.

The Copyright Office stresses that courts decide fair use case by case and that there is no formula. Instagram’s help center adds that common examples include criticism, commentary, parody, news reporting, teaching and research, and that commercial, or for-profit, uses are less likely to be considered fair use.

A feed that promotes your business uses whole images commercially, which is not where you want to rely on fair use. Permission is simpler.

How to ask for permission

Permission does not need to be complicated. What matters is that it is clear about what you will do, and that you can find it later. A direct message or email works. Here is a template you can adapt:

Hi [name], we love your photo of [what it shows] from [date].
Could we share it on our Instagram account and show it on our
website ([your site]), with credit to you as @[their handle]?
We won't use it in paid ads or print without asking again.
If that's OK, a quick "yes" reply is all we need. Thank you!

1. Be specific about where. “Instagram and our website” is clearer than “share it”.
2. Say how you will credit them. And then do it.
3. Say what you will not do. This makes people more comfortable saying yes.
4. Keep the reply. Take a screenshot or save the email in a folder, along with the post link. Messages can be deleted later.
5. Respect a “no” or no reply. Silence is not permission.

A checklist before you put your feed on your website

1. Scroll through the posts the widget will show. The preview in “Settings & preview” shows exactly which posts pass your filters.
2. For each post you did not create yourself, check that you have permission that covers your website.
3. Check photographer contracts for website use and credit requirements.
4. Decide what to do with Reels that use licensed music on commercial pages.
5. Tag uncertain posts and exclude them with a keyword filter, or tag cleared posts and include only those.
6. Keep permissions in one place, with the post link and the date.

If someone says you are using their photo

It happens, often without bad intent: a photo reposted years ago, or a license that has ended. A quick response usually resolves it.

1. Thank them for getting in touch and check the post they mean.
2. If you cannot show permission, remove it from your website straight away. Add an exclusion hashtag to the caption, delete the post on Instagram, or switch the widget to Unpublished while you sort it out.
3. If the request involves money or legal claims, talk to a lawyer before agreeing to anything.

Instagram also has its own process for copyright reports about content on Instagram, described in its Copyright help pages. That concerns the post on Instagram itself; your website is your responsibility.

Frequently asked questions

Do I own the photos I post to Instagram? If you created them, generally yes. Instagram’s Terms of Use say it does not claim ownership of your content. You give Instagram a license so it can run its service.

Can I show my own Instagram posts on my website without asking anyone? For posts you created yourself, generally yes. For posts on your account that someone else created, check whether your permission covers your website.

Is tagging or crediting the creator enough? No. Instagram lists giving credit among the things that do not by themselves prevent infringement. Credit alongside permission is the right combination.

Can Social Feed show posts that customers tag us in? No. It shows posts from your own connected account only, not tagged posts or hashtag searches. To feature a customer’s photo, get their permission and post it on your account.

Does the widget add copyright notices or watermarks? No. It displays your posts as they are on Instagram. If a photographer requires a credit, put it in the caption, which visitors can see in the lightbox when “Caption” is enabled, or on the page next to the feed.

Related reading

1. Can you show someone else’s Instagram feed on your website?
2. How to embed a single Instagram post
3. Instagram feeds for wedding vendors, including couples and consent
4. Instagram feeds for salons, including client photos
5. Ready to try it with your own account? Create a free Social Feed account or compare plans.

Sources

1. Instagram Help Center, “Terms of Use”: https://help.instagram.com/581066165581870
2. Instagram Help Center, “How to make sure content you post to Instagram or Threads doesn’t violate copyright law”: https://help.instagram.com/354736791367645/
3. Instagram Help Center, “What are fair use and other exceptions to copyright?”: https://help.instagram.com/116455299019699
4. Instagram Help Center, “Copyright”: https://help.instagram.com/126382350847838
5. Instagram Help Center, “What audio you can use in your reel on Instagram”: https://help.instagram.com/329208821595430
6. Instagram Help Center, “Embed an Instagram post or profile”: https://help.instagram.com/620154495870484
7. U.S. Copyright Office, “Copyright in General” (FAQ): https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html
8. U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 1, “Copyright Basics”: https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf
9. U.S. Copyright Office, “U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index”: https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/