About the Images on Mode Tide
Effective Date: August 2026
If you’re a photographer, nail artist, brand, or visual creator who has just found one of your images on Mode Tide, this page is written for you.
We want to make it as easy as possible for you to understand how we source and use images on this site, and to give you a simple, direct path to reach us if you have a question or a request.
No lawyers, no complicated forms. Just an email.
Our Honest Stance on Image Use
Mode Tide operates in good faith. We believe that every image used on this site either belongs to us outright, is licensed for our use, sits in the public domain, or falls within fair use as understood under copyright law, particularly where images are used in an editorial or commentary context.
We have no intention of infringing on anyone’s intellectual property, and if something has slipped through despite our best efforts, we want to know about it and fix it.
That’s the short version. The rest of this page gives you the full picture.
We Respect the People Behind the Work
Nail design is a visual niche. The quality of what we publish depends on imagery, and that means we genuinely care about where images come from and who created them.
A nail artist who spent an hour on a perfect chrome set deserves credit for that work.
A photographer who captured a flawless flat lay deserves to know where their image is being used.
Mode Tide takes that seriously, and this page is part of how we show it.
Where Mode Tide’s Images Come From
This is the part of the page we want to be the most thorough about, because transparency here matters.
Mode Tide uses images from several different sources, and we’ll walk through each of them.
Original Photography and Content
A significant portion of the images on Mode Tide are produced specifically for this site.
Nail design tutorials, product flat lays, step-by-step process shots, and finished look photography are often created by our editorial team using our own hands, our own polish collections, and our own equipment.
These images are owned by Mode Tide and are not sourced from anywhere else.
Where an image is entirely original to this site, no third-party rights are involved.
Licensed Stock Photography
For certain articles where original photography doesn’t fully cover what’s needed, Mode Tide licenses images from commercial stock libraries.
These include platforms like Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, Depositphotos, and Canva Pro. Images sourced this way are used strictly within the terms of the license granted by the platform.
We keep records of licensed image use and do not use stock images beyond their licensed scope.
Creative Commons Images
Some images on Mode Tide come from Creative Commons-licensed collections.
We use images from platforms like Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay, all of which offer images under licenses that permit use with or without attribution depending on the specific license type.
Where a Creative Commons license requires attribution, we provide it. Where we’ve failed to do so correctly, we want to hear about it so we can fix it promptly.
Public Domain Images
On occasion, Mode Tide uses images that have passed into the public domain or that were dedicated to the public domain by their creators. Sources for this type of image include Wikimedia Commons, the Smithsonian Open Access collection, and the Library of Congress digital archives.
Public domain images are used without restriction, as is legally permitted, but we still aim to attribute them where a clear creator is known.
Brand, Product, and Editorial Images
Mode Tide covers nail products, tools, and trends, which means some articles include images of products, product packaging, or brand visual materials used in an editorial context.
Where we include a product image for review, commentary, or informational purposes, we treat that use as editorial fair use. We aim to attribute these images to the brand or original photographer and link to the source where possible.
Reader and Collaborator Submissions
From time to time, Mode Tide publishes images shared by readers, nail artists, or collaborators who have explicitly given permission for their work to appear on this site.
These images are used only with that permission in hand, and the contributor’s name or handle is credited where provided.
How We Handle Attribution
Attribution is something we take seriously across the board. When a Creative Commons license requires a credit line, we include one.
When a product image comes from a brand’s press materials, we note the source. When a collaborator shares their work with us, we credit them by name.
We link back to original sources wherever a working link is available. If an attribution on any Mode Tide page is wrong, incomplete, or missing, we want to know so we can correct it.
Attribution errors are never intentional, and we handle correction requests quickly.
When an Image Appears Without Complete Attribution
Mode Tide publishes a high volume of content, and across hundreds of posts, it’s possible that an image has been used with incomplete or missing attribution, most often because a source link was broken, because the image’s origin was unclear when it was sourced, or because the image had circulated widely before reaching us.
None of that is an excuse, and we’re not offering it as one. If you find your image on Mode Tide without proper credit, please contact us and we’ll sort it out right away.
You Don’t Need a Lawyer to Reach Us
If your image is on Mode Tide and you’re not happy about it, the only thing you need to do is send us an email.
You don’t need to file a formal notice, hire legal representation, or go through any complicated process before reaching out.
A straightforward email is enough to get things moving, and we’d much rather handle this directly and quickly than have anyone feel they need to escalate before being heard.
Contact us at: images@modetide.com
If You Find Your Work on Mode Tide
Rights holders have three options when they find their image on this site, and we’ll follow whichever path works best for you:
- Request credit and attribution. If your work is on Mode Tide without proper credit, we’ll add it. Tell us your preferred credit line and any link you’d like us to include, and we’ll update the page.
- Request a modification. If there’s something about how your image is being displayed that you’d like changed, whether that’s the size, the crop, the context, or a watermark you’d like added, let us know and we’ll work with you on it.
- Request removal. If you’d prefer your image not appear on Mode Tide at all, we’ll take it down. Simple removals are usually processed within the same business day we receive the request.
What to Include When You Write to Us
The more detail you can give us, the faster we can help. Here’s what makes a request easy to process:
- The URL of the Mode Tide page where the image appears
- A link to the original image or proof of ownership, such as your portfolio, photographer website, or the original post where it was first published
- Your name and the best way to contact you back
- Which of the three options above you’d like us to take (credit, modify, or remove)
That’s genuinely all we need. No legal language required.
What Happens After You Contact Us
When Mode Tide receives a rights holder request, here’s what happens:
We confirm that we’ve received your message, usually within 48 hours. We look into the request to understand where the image came from and verify the concern as best we can.
We then take the action you’ve requested, whether that’s adding a credit line, making a modification, or removing the image entirely. Once the action is complete, we follow up with you to confirm it’s been handled.
We aim to have most requests resolved within 48 hours of first contact. Removals are typically done the same day.
A Note Before You Go
Mode Tide is a site built on visual content, and we have genuine respect for everyone who creates in this space, from nail artists who spent years developing their technique, to photographers who know exactly how to light a bottle of polish so it sings.
If something on this site doesn’t reflect that respect, we want the chance to make it right.
The door is open. Reach out any time.
Mode Tide Images and Copyright Notice — Effective August 2026
All image-related questions and requests: images@modetide.com
