Duplicate Book Cover Images

Recently, a FB friend posted about the fact that a lot of books have duplicate cover images, and she suggested that authors find ways to check and see if the image they've chosen might be an image already used on another book. This did happen to me as a photo I'd bought for the cover of my title, Turnabout Is Fair Play, is also the cover used on two other books that I know of, one of those novels being Wendy Williams' upcoming title below. Even though my book was released prior to these titles, and it is true that titles, covers, etc., are open game, I do admit that I'd prefer not to select an image that has already been used on a previous or upcoming title, though in some ways, it's quite flattering - the image is hot!!

I usually check the following sites when looking for a cover image: www.thinkstock.com,www.istockphoto.com, www.corbisimages.com, www.shutterstock.com, www.gettyimages.com, www.bigstockphoto.com, www.fotolia.com, and the site I use the most is www.photos.com. Mainstream publishers use these sites as well, though some conduct photo shoots for many reasons, one of them being that they won't see that picture elsewhere. I've also bought images from photographers, which can be more expensive, but if the cover fits and you can fit it into your budget, buy it!

Does it matter to you if you find that your book and a book by another author have the same cover image? Are there ways around this in your opinion? Do you think it's worth the time to check and see (through image matching sites and valued opinions from others in the industry) if the image you've chosen is already out there? I do.

Thanks for your feedback!

Happy New Year, and Write On!