Businessman billed S$14k for images on website
By Lin Yanqin, TODAY | Posted: 27 May 2009 0716 hrs

	Photos  of

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