Copyright infringement - Do you have a license? - Online news from MSO.net's Net.Matters - March 2007

In recent months, there has been publicity surrounding settlement claims for copyright infringement.  In many cases, the owners of websites have been unaware that images on their sites were protected - and the first time they are made aware of the fact is via a solicitor's letter and a financial demand running into the thousands.  The 2 largest picture agencies Getty Images and Corbis are coming down hard on web developers and it is the responsibility of the website owner to ensure all materials used are not subject to copyright infringement legislation.  An image may have been sitting on your website for years - copied from a photograph on the web way before this issue was even mooted but that doesn't make you exempt.  The agencies will demand payment of a one-year's license for that particular image as settlement.

There are 2 main types of license - Rights Managed - if you use an image that is rights managed, it must be licensed every time you use the image - but it will be exclusively  yours.  A Royalty Free license will allow you to use the same image over and over, but will generally be of a lower quality.  There are no restrictions on how many times you can use the image or how you use it.  Other variations, such as Getty's license for a fixed term and fixed use (Rights Ready) but fundamentally there are 2 licenses that are applicable to most websites.

For further information on terms and conditions of image use visit these websites:

Getty Images:  http://creative.gettyimages.com/source/home/license.aspx
Corbis:  http://pro.corbis.com/creative/terms/

Be warned - Getty Images and Corbis both have software which enables them to trawl the web and check whether a website has a license to cover the use of images owned by the respective agency .  Their images are coded in such a way that their software can identify when images have been used illegally - compensation claims will then commence.  To avoid litigation you must be able to prove that the images on your site do not require a license and importantly, ensure that whoever develops your website can confirm the source of all images used.