SINGAPORE : It was a simple brochure about his consultancy
services which he put on his website, and for about two years,
businessman Alan - not his real name - barely gave it a
thought.
Then last week, he got a bill of over $14,000 from Getty Images, a
photo agency, informing him that he had used their images without
authorisation on his website, and he had to pay the licensing fees
owed within seven working days.
This put Alan in a dilemma, since the images were obtained by a
freelancer he was no longer in contact with. "I have no way of
verifying whether the images had been used without authorisation,
and I had such a short time to respond to such a huge claim," he
told Today.
More small businesses could inadvertently find themselves in hot
water when they engage a third party to design their websites or
company material, without knowing where the images come from.
Such cases have been happening in countries like the United States
and the United Kingdom since 2006, sparking a furore on Internet
forums where netizens swap stories on how they've been billed by
photo agencies like Getty Images and Corbis.
In Singapore, intellectual property lawyers that Today spoke to
have heard of at least one other similar case.
The first thing businesses can do, is refer to their contracts in
engaging such third-party contractors, which should state that the
third party is responsible for obtaining the right to use the
images, said Harry Elias intellectual property lawyer Jonathan
Kok.
But small businesses tend not to draw up such contracts because of
the costs, he noted. They need to take such a potential business
risk seriously, stressed National University of Singapore
intellectual property expert Elizabeth Cardoza.
"Government bodies like IE Singapore and Spring Singapore are
places they can turn to get some kind of guidelines on matters like
copyright and indemnity," she said. "If such services are
inadequate, then that's something we have to address."
Don't just settle
What do you do when confronted with a claim from an image
agency? First, investigate its basis, rather than settling it to
get the matter over with.
"Someone can send me a letter asking for all kinds of things, but
they are not necessarily entitled to all those things," said Ms
Cardoza. "It's perfectly reasonable to ask them to explain clearly
their basis for the claims and negotiate."
Also, if the images were obtained through third parties, or from CD
compilations as in cases cited by some netizens, then providing
evidence of such legitimate transactions would help, she
said.
In Alan's case, he questioned the legality of demanding payment
that was three times the amount of what it would have cost to
purchase the images. When he went back to Getty explaining his
situation and asking the agency to justify its basis for the
claims, it reduced his settlement by half.
Other netizens, too, have reported that when they demanded more
information and negotiated for smaller settlements, they either got
it or the agencies did not pursue further action.
People also should not be put off by the perception that settling
such civil claims through legal action would be costly. "If you
asked around you might find it's not the case," said Ms
Cardoza.
"So if you have substantive claims and a good chance of succeeding,
then going to court could be an option."
- TODAY