Hang Outdoors®

Hang Outdoors uses images to help people discover outdoor places, activities, businesses, destinations, waterways, trails, parks, public lands, services, and related outdoor experiences. We respect photographers, creators, businesses, agencies, contributors, users, and copyright owners.

Our goal is to use images responsibly, provide credit when appropriate, and avoid using images in a way that misleads users or violates the rights of others.

General Image Use

Hang Outdoors does not use an image simply because it appears online. Before using an image, we make a reasonable effort to confirm that the image is available for our use, properly licensed, in the public domain, created by Hang Outdoors, provided by a business or contributor, uploaded by a user with appropriate rights, or otherwise used with permission.

Images on Hang Outdoors may come from sources such as:

Photos created by Hang Outdoors.
Images uploaded by users.
Images provided by businesses, partners, contributors, or public agencies.
Public domain or CC0 image collections.
Properly licensed Creative Commons images.
Paid stock image services.
Media kits or image libraries where reuse rights are clearly stated.
Government, park, tourism, or public agency sources where reuse rights are reasonably clear.
Other sources where permission or reuse rights are reasonably clear.

User-Uploaded Images

Hang Outdoors may allow users to upload images, including photos of outdoor places, activities, businesses, products, services, trails, waterways, access points, events, reviews, or other outdoor experiences.

By uploading an image to Hang Outdoors, you represent and confirm that:

You took the image yourself, own the image, or have the necessary rights and permissions to upload and share it.
Your upload does not violate copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, contractual, property, or other rights of any person or organization.
You have permission from any identifiable people shown in the image when permission is legally or reasonably required.
The image does not falsely suggest endorsement, sponsorship, affiliation, or approval by any person, business, agency, brand, or organization.
The image is accurate and not misleading in relation to the place, activity, business, product, service, or experience it is connected to.
The image does not contain unlawful, harmful, deceptive, offensive, or inappropriate content.

By uploading or submitting an image, you grant Hang Outdoors permission to store, display, publish, crop, resize, format, reproduce, distribute, and use the image in connection with Hang Outdoors services, including listings, reviews, maps, search results, recommendations, articles, guides, emails, social media, marketing, and promotional materials.

You remain responsible for the images you upload. Hang Outdoors may remove, restrict, edit, replace, or decline to display user-uploaded images at any time.

Images Found Online by Users

Users should not upload images they found online unless they have confirmed that they have the right to do so.

Do not upload images copied from Google Images, social media, review platforms, blogs, news sites, business websites, tourism sites, park sites, government sites, or other online sources unless:

You own the image;
You have written permission from the rights owner;
The image is clearly public domain or CC0;
The image has a license that allows your intended use on Hang Outdoors; or
You can otherwise demonstrate that you have the right to upload and share the image.

Finding an image online does not mean it is free to use.

Business, Partner, and Contributor Images

Businesses, partners, agencies, and contributors may provide images for use in listings, profiles, articles, guides, maps, search results, promotional materials, or other Hang Outdoors content.

By providing images to Hang Outdoors, the provider represents that they own the images or have the necessary rights and permissions to share them. The provider grants Hang Outdoors permission to store, display, crop, resize, format, publish, and use those images in connection with Hang Outdoors services, listings, maps, recommendations, marketing, and related materials.

Image providers are responsible for ensuring that submitted images do not violate copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, contractual, property, or other third-party rights.

Wikimedia Commons and Creative Commons Images

Hang Outdoors may use images from Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons sources, public domain collections, or similar open-license platforms.

Each image is reviewed individually because license terms can vary. Some images may be public domain, some may require attribution, and some may have restrictions on modification or reuse.

When using these images, Hang Outdoors may record or display information such as image title, creator or author, source, license or public-domain status, attribution requirements, and the original source link when available.

A typical public-domain credit may look like: Photo: “Perched dunes above Lake Michigan” by Grod028, via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

A typical Creative Commons credit may look like: Photo: “Image Title” by Creator Name, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Google Images and Web Searches

Google Images and other search engines may help locate images, but they do not grant permission to reuse those images.

Before using an image found through a search engine, Hang Outdoors reviews the original source page and any available license, permission, or usage information. If the source, ownership, or reuse rights are unclear, Hang Outdoors generally avoids using the image. Users should follow the same principle before uploading images they found through a search engine or other website.

Government, Park, Tourism, and Public Agency Images

Hang Outdoors may use images from government agencies, parks, public lands, tourism offices, chambers of commerce, visitor bureaus, and similar public or quasi-public sources when the image rights and usage terms are reasonably clear.

Some images created by U.S. federal government employees as part of their official duties may be in the public domain. However, not every image on a government website is automatically free to use. Government websites may include images, maps, logos, videos, documents, or other materials created by contractors, partners, photographers, state agencies, local agencies, concessioners, tourism organizations, or other third parties. Those materials may be protected by copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, contract, or other restrictions.

Before Hang Outdoors uses an image from a government, park, tourism, or public agency source, we make a reasonable effort to review the original source page, the image caption or credit, the posted copyright/media/reuse policy, whether the image was created by the agency or a third party, whether commercial use is allowed, whether attribution is requested or required, and whether the image includes logos, maps, identifiable people, private property, or restricted locations.

Images from the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state parks, county parks, city parks, tourism offices, destination marketing organizations, and similar sources should be reviewed individually before use. If the source, creator, license, permission, or usage rights are unclear, Hang Outdoors generally avoids using the image unless permission is obtained or another suitable image is available.

Attribution

When attribution is required or appropriate, Hang Outdoors may provide image credit near the image, in a caption, in an image credits section, on a source page, or in another reasonable location.

A short image credit may look like: Photo: Creator Name / Source / License. A fuller image credit may look like: Photo: “Image Title” by Creator Name, via Source, licensed under License Name.

For business-provided images: Photo provided by Business Name. For Hang Outdoors original images: Photo: Hang Outdoors. For user-uploaded images: Photo uploaded by Username.

Images We Generally Avoid

Hang Outdoors generally avoids using or displaying images when the source, ownership, license, permission, or accuracy is unclear. We generally avoid:

Random images copied from the web.
Images copied from social media without permission.
Images from review platforms without permission.
Images marked “editorial use only” for promotional or commercial use.
Images with unclear or disputed ownership.
Images with license terms that do not fit the intended use.
Images that may falsely suggest endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation.
Images that misrepresent a place, business, product, service, condition, or experience.

Photos of People, Children, Logos, and Private Property

Images that show identifiable people, children, private property, logos, signs, branded products, business names, license plates, or other protected materials may require additional care.

Users and contributors should not upload images that invade someone's privacy, expose sensitive personal information, or show identifiable people in a way that may require permission unless they have the appropriate rights or consent.

Hang Outdoors avoids using images in a way that falsely suggests a person, business, organization, agency, or brand endorses or sponsors Hang Outdoors unless that relationship exists. When appropriate, Hang Outdoors may request additional permission, documentation, or releases before displaying or continuing to display an image.

Accuracy and Representation

Images should reasonably and accurately represent the place, activity, business, product, service, or outdoor experience being described. Hang Outdoors does not want images to mislead users about a location, access point, trail, waterway, business, facility, safety condition, product, service, or outdoor experience.

Users should not upload images that are intentionally false, staged in a misleading way, altered to deceive, assigned to the wrong location, or connected to the wrong business, product, service, or activity. Illustrative images, representative images, stock images, or AI-generated images should not be presented as factual photos of real places, people, businesses, or conditions unless clearly identified as such.

AI-Generated or Illustrative Images

Hang Outdoors may use AI-generated or illustrative images in limited situations, such as general design, concept artwork, placeholder visuals, or non-factual promotional materials. Users should not upload AI-generated or illustrative images in a way that misrepresents a real place, business, trail, waterway, public access point, safety condition, product, service, event, or person.

Review and Removal

Hang Outdoors may review images before or after they are published. We may remove, restrict, edit, replace, decline, or disable images for any reason, including concerns about rights, attribution, accuracy, quality, safety, privacy, appropriateness, or compliance with Hang Outdoors policies.

The presence of an image on Hang Outdoors does not mean Hang Outdoors has verified every fact, permission, license, person, place, or condition shown in the image.

Reporting an Image Concern

If you believe an image on Hang Outdoors is used incorrectly, lacks proper credit, violates your rights, violates someone else's rights, misrepresents a location or business, or should be removed or corrected, please contact us. Please include:

The URL of the page where the image appears.
A description of the image.
Your relationship to the image or rights owner, if applicable.
The correction, credit, license information, or removal request.
Any supporting documentation.

Hang Outdoors will review the concern and may update attribution, replace the image, remove the image, restrict the image, or take other appropriate action.

Our Commitment

Hang Outdoors is committed to using images responsibly. We want to respect creators, support outdoor businesses and communities, encourage useful user contributions, provide accurate visual information, and maintain a trustworthy platform for outdoor discovery.

Image Use Policy