There are a growing number of cases where businesses, big and small are facing significant fines for using copyrighted images without a licence. Copyright Correct offers advice on these types of issues wanted to highlight the pitfalls of sourcing images for your website.
“The use of images has become an increasingly integral part of any good business website design and are easily accessible for w
eb designers and businesses to use. Trying to use text alone often doesn’t do enough to get the feel of the service you wish to portray. When advertising a physical product, using images becomes even more vital. Many companies have innocently used images without realising the need to acquire a legitimate license from the copyright holder. This has led to a growing number of cases where the copyright holder has tracked down and sought recompense from the company using their images without a licence. Image libraries and copyright holders are using increasingly sophisticated technology to track and trace the users of images that have not been correctly licensed, leading to difficult and often costly payments to the ‘owner’ of an image. There were over thirty new cases from one photo library alone last week with demands ranging from several hundred to many thousands of pounds. Please be careful where you source your images from and make sure that you have a valid licence from the copyright holder.”
There are some excellent resources and information on the Intellectual Property Office website and if you are in any doubt please seek advice.
