Question:
I sell tools on my website which I purchase from an authorized distributor. Manufacturers create high-quality photographs of their tools and make them available to distributors. My distributor passes on the images to its re-sellers but the quality of the image is degraded by the time I get it so I go to amazon or other websites to copy their high quality images (which are usually the manufacturer’s images). I could otherwise go to the manufacturer’s website to pull the high quality image but it is easier finding them in one place. My understanding is that this is common practice for many small websites, amazon/walmart marketplace sellers, and ebay sellers. Is it OK to do this given that A) it is the Manufacturer’s freely distributed photo, B) It is fairly common practice?
Answer:
Answer from Horav Y. Fleishman shlit”a
I don’t see anything wrong because of A. I would add that the manufacturer is happy that you do it since they want their product sold.
B I would not think is satisfactory because common practice does not justify wrong behavior
