27 Nov 2008

Are picture agencies bullying?

Author:

Olivier Laurent

Today, The Guardian published a column by Wendy Grossman on the alleged 'heavy-handed tactics picture agencies use when pursuing payment.' She cites the case of a church in Lichfield, Staffordshire, that was recently asked to pay a £6000 bill by Getty Images for using two photographs on its website.

When creating the church’s website, a volunteer had included a couple of images sourced from Getty, without paying for them. A couple of months later, Getty sent the church a demand for £6000, according to Grossman.

Apparently, many small businesses have come across the problem of copyright infringement. And many have complained about the ‘heavy-handed’ enforcement tactics used. But Alison Crombie of Getty explains that ‘the thing we try to do is just have a conversation with the customer. We make them aware that it has happened, and that they need to look at addressing it and making sure it’s licensed.’

And one wonders why a lot of photographers are still afraid on the Internet.

Read the column here.

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