It Really Is A Shame

Here is a link to a post on the Copyright Action forum called, "The Real Cost of Being Sued By Getty [Images]."

http://copyrightaction.com/forum/the-real-cost-of-being-sued-by-getty

A small company used one unlicensed image "about the size of a postage stamp" on its website. Getty sent them a bill for unlicensed usage for £1,700 (the image could probably have been licensed for a tenth of that, or a similar image licensed royalty-free for a hundredth of it.)

They relied on advice from "experienced business people," Internet lawyerin', and all the old tired arguments we hear when such issues are discussed 'mongst the crowd.

Net result?

They paid the license fee, they paid lawyers, and they paid Getty's legal bills. They won't disclose the final amount but it is surely north of £25,000, or roughly Forty Thousand US dollars.

It was a small company, the error was inadvertent (and made by a third party web developer) and... it cost them a significant portion of their operating revenue. It could very well end up bankrupting them. Not to mention the enormous stress it placed on multiple employees of the firm as well as diverting time and resources from operation of the business.

Bottom line?

If it isn't yours, don't take it.

If you do, and somebody calls you on it, 'fess up, pay up, and move on. If you admit fault (when you're clearly caught) and offer to negotiate, they'll probably work with you. Start relying on Internet Lawyerin', and, well, you end up where these poor folks did. And that doesn't really help anybody.

M More after the jump - click here!

One WHOPPER of a Copyright Infringement Verdict

From Carolyn Wright, the Photo Attorney we learn of a photographer in Florida who just won a $12 MILLION verdict for infringement of the copyright of seven photographs. In fact, the actual award was for the infringement of just three of them.

Sadly, a little research on my own makes me believe that the judgment is probably uncollectable. The named corporate defendants appear to have been involuntarily deregistered/dissolved for failure to file various papers with the state. I'm guessing that the actual capital of the firm(s) is either safely offshore or, more likely, disappeared into the sinkhole of the real estate bust. On the other hand, the named principal got defaulted too... she can put a skiptracer on him and with the prospect of a multimillion-dollar commission, I'm betting they'll find anything that can be found.

However, whether or not this individual plaintiff ever collects, it does provide a pretty good example of just how high damages in such cases can go. Even if the particular use (advertising the sale of some high-end houses) hadn't provided such a massive gross revenues number, the court indicated that it would have been prepared to award the plaintiff over a million dollars in damages anyway. Register, register, REGISTER those works!

M More after the jump - click here!