April 2009
Getty Tells Removal Firm to Remove Images from it's Website
Photo bank giant, Getty Images, is pursing yet another infringer for using an image from its bank without Getty’s consent. This time Getty’s sights are set on London based removals and haulage firm, JA Coles, and Getty have issued court proceedings alleging copyright infringement.
According to Getty, JA Coles have used a photograph on its website called 'Mother with daughter (6-8) looking at each other and smiling'. The photograph was taken by Canadian photographer Larry Williams and Getty have licensed the rights to market the image for Williams.
Getty uses special image tracking software to find infringing images on the internet. This same software was used to track the photograph on JA Coles' website in late 2007. Getty is demanding payment of a reasonable royalty plus its legal costs, as is usual in any copyright infringement case. However Getty are also seeking additional compensation for "the insidious damage" caused by the alleged use due to the potential damage to Getty’s business. Getty says that infringers prevent Getty from being paid full royalties for use of its images and "makes it more difficult for Getty Images to obtain rights to images and to exploit such rights."
Although Getty have yet to quantify its damages, they are waiting to get full disclosure from JA Coles on the extent of its use of the image before specifying the amount of the claim.
So far the only action taken by JA Coles on receiving a letter from Getty was to remove the image from its website. JA Cole have refused to pay any royalties and have not provided any explanation to Getty.
Briffa’s Comment:
Getty are known for their very aggressive approach to enforcing their rights. They also have one of the largest photo banks on the internet so it can be quite easy to come across Getty images on other websites just by doing a simple “Google Images” search. As a general rule you need to be careful about simply cutting and pasting images from other websites if you are going to be putting them to commercial use, for example on your website. In addition, if you are getting somebody else to design a website for you then you should always get the web developer to warrant that they are authorised to use all materials used on the site. Often it will be the website owner who is pursued by the rights holder long after the web developer has been paid for their work and moved on.
However if you are unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of a nasty letter from Getty or any other photo bank then there are certain things you should do. Firstly you should not ignore the letter since it is likely that Getty will start increasing their damages after the initial notification. Secondly you should go onto the Getty website and find out what the actual cost of the image is on the Getty website. According to the Getty website the 'Mother with daughter (6-8) looking at each other and smiling” is available in medium resolution - up to 300 x 250 pixels on a 5 year licence for use in the UK for £610.00 (or just over £50 a year). You can then use this information to try and bargain your way down. Final the third thing you should do is speak to a lawyer.
For more information contact info@briffa.com