Is your business about to get a big bill from Getty ?
Article posted on 6th June 2007
by Jane-Louise Green
Do you have a company website? Do you know where the pictures on your website come from and who owns them?
The myth still pervades that ‘internet stuff' is free because it's easy to get.
When company director Gena Jenkins hired a web designer to build her new business website, she specifically stated she had no extra budget for images. ‘No problem', said the web designer, and presented her with a professional website, complete with images of office-type, telephone answering grinning people.
18 months later, Gena has opened a bill from Getty Images - the world leader in image provision with a turnover in excess of US$800 million per year. Her bill - for nearly £2,000, for 3 images on her website that they had traced and identified as their copyright.
Gena had never heard of Getty, and was shocked and confused.
"Their letter said that my company was using an image of theirs with no valid license. They also attached a settlement demand invoice for £1996.50 and a note saying that action MUST be taken within 21 days of the date of the letter", says Gena.
"There is no way out of paying this ‘fine' and even after paying it, my company would still have to then purchase the license."
Unbeknown to Gena, her web designer had lifted images off the internet and used them without paying for them. She had assumed the images were part of the package he had charged for with the website.
Getty's images are embedded with coding - not difficult to do - we do it at Picture Nation. It enables picture libraries to identify their photos. New technology is emerging all the time that enables businesses like Getty to ‘trawl' the internet like a digital spider and seek out images with their coding in them.
If they find one and it doesn't match up with a paid invoice, they just send you a backdated bill for the use plus a bill for the ongoing license of that picture. A bill for thousands of pounds is quite normal. And it doesn't matter whether you're in San Francisco or Stoke-on-Trent. They'll find you. It's not just Getty who are after you. Corbis is owned by Microsoft billionaire, Bill Gates. Corbis also track their images and send out backdated bills for unlicensed use.
People are catching on to the fact that it's getting easier to track their intellectual property on the internet, and that it's also worth their while sending out invoices for unauthorised use.
Copyright is a complicated issue, but with a basic and very simply rule of thumb. If you are the inventor of something - be it a written article like this one, a piece of research, a drawing or photograph - then you own the copyright of that work and it cannot and should not be used without your permission.
Of course, the internet is impossible to police on a wide scale. It's just too big. But as a business, can you take the risk of using someone else's property without paying for it, to promote your service or product? How would you feel if someone walked into your factory and walked out with a few boxes of your manufactured product for free? You'd call the police wouldn't you?
If a professional photographer has spent a few grand on camera equipment, then flights, hotels, country visas and permits and then weeks trekking in the Himalayas to get fabulous photos, with the intention of selling his work to make a living, he's not going to be too happy about you using those photos without his permission or an exchange of money.
Popular business photos include sparkly toothed, shiny haired young people on telephone or using laptops in a very white environment. These images involve models and studios and professional camera equipment - all costing the photographer money. He wants his fee please!
So, what can you do? First of all, check your company website and printed promotional material. Do you know where the images you're using came from? If your web designer provided them does it mention their source and any copyright and costs on the invoice from the web designer? If not - contact them and get something in writing about the source and copyright of the images.
If you are in any doubt, take them off.
Then what can you do?
There are several image libraries out there from where you can buy a wide range of professional looking, business images for legitimate use, and have peace of mind.
The image business has changed massively in the last few years. You no longer have to buy a right-managed license from companies like Getty who can charge hundreds of pounds for one picture and a limited use of it.
A new service has emerged called ‘microstock' image libraries. They charge very small amounts for royalty-free licenses. That means you pay once and can usually use the image as many times as you like. They're great value for money and once you have the image you need not worry about any nasty bills landing on the corporate doormat.
Former BBC news director and journalist, Jane-Louise Green, saw what was happening in the image industry, and the growing need for easy to get, affordable pictures for business educational and personal use.
Now Picture Nation http://www.picturenation.co.uk/ , sells pictures of anything and everything, from as little as 30p royalty-free. Images are uploaded by anyone who's good with a camera and fancies making a bit of money from their snaps.
Royalty-free images are being demanded more and more by buyers, which is why pricing for images has come down so much.
Gena Jenkins thinks business owners should be more aware of the consequences of breaching someone's copyright or IP.
"Perhaps we should be more aware of what we are asking of a website designer. Perhaps be able to request a signed document from the designer that the design and implementation is the total responsibility of them and not the company. We are not technical people and basically put our trust in a company who knew what they were doing."
Try these image libraries for legally acquired pictures:
http://www.picturenation.co.uk/
For regular and up to date information about copyright and intellectual property for business, take a look at the new UK Intellectual Property Office website http://www.ipo.gov.uk/
Jane-Louise Green is a former BBC news director and journalist, and now director of the royalty-free image business, Picture Nation Ltd.
