{"id":4320,"date":"2012-09-18T10:35:42","date_gmt":"2012-09-18T10:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.policybee.co.uk\/blog\/?p=4320"},"modified":"2023-11-01T14:49:26","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T14:49:26","slug":"designers-are-you-safe-from-getty-images-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.policybee.co.uk\/blog\/designers-are-you-safe-from-getty-images-part-two","title":{"rendered":"Are you safe from Getty Images? (Part two)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The big picture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week we looked at the perils of using unlicensed pictures from digital media providers, particularly Getty Images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although we talked about how to avoid getting into trouble in the first place<\/a> (always the best option), we all know what happens to best laid plans …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So this week we\u2019re looking at an actual claim against one of our customers, the circumstances behind it and how it was resolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s nothing like a real-life tale of woe to help focus the mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What went wrong<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our insured is a design agency specialising in branding and corporate identity. The contract in question, and what got Getty\u2019s attention, was for the design and build of a yacht harbour\u2019s new website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like most design agencies, they recommend Getty stock images to their clients on a regular basis. They\u2019re no stranger to Getty\u2019s terms and are well aware of their licensing obligations when using their pictures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this occasion \u2013 and as usual \u2013 they\u2019d used watermarked, low-resolution images as placeholders in a private, non-live version of the website. This was so their client could see what their site would look like prior to giving the thumbs-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following sign off, and depending on their client\u2019s feedback, our insured\u2019s intention was to either buy the images or replace them with some from another source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only problem would be if those images somehow found their way into the public domain first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they were on a non-public website designed for proofing purposes only. That could never happen. Could it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed it could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To cut a long story short, an unnoticed programming error meant that data from the staging site pulled through on to another, live website held on the same server. The live website\u2019s domain moved to the staging site \u2013 redirecting every user there and effectively making its content live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That meant the images were up for everyone to see. It was only a matter of time before Getty\u2019s tracking software found them and identified the images as live and unlicensed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, sure enough, that\u2019s exactly what happened. A few weeks after the programming error, our insured got a letter from Getty stating they\u2019d infringed their (Getty\u2019s) copyright by using unlicensed images, and they owed them \u00a31,936.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How it was fixed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it might seem odd to say so, our insured was lucky. That\u2019s to say they were lucky they were insured. Professional indemnity insurance<\/a> covers claims of copyright infringement, even if the claim isn\u2019t from a client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without a policy, they\u2019d have to stump up for the legal advice and the cost of the licensing themselves. Granted, the amount in question wasn\u2019t enormous this time<\/em>; but claims of a few thousand pounds or more are common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, all they needed to do was get in touch with us and run through what\u2019d happened. When we had the details we needed, we spoke to their insurer (Hiscox) and discussed the best course of action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiscox agreed that the insured was liable, that the amount should be settled and that their policy would respond. Copyright claims like these are often open and shut cases: there\u2019s a clear breach of the licensing agreement, regardless of whether it\u2019s intentional or not. Unfortunately, designers often don\u2019t have a leg to stand on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good insurers know this and look to settle quickly. The claim won\u2019t go away and it\u2019s best to bite the bullet before the costs escalate. It\u2019s unlikely to go as far as court but that doesn\u2019t mean it shouldn\u2019t be taken seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides which, claims like these take months to resolve and divert resources away from core business, holding projects up. It\u2019s easy to make a bad situation worse by missing deadlines with other clients, for example. That, potentially, could lead to more negligence claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it turned out, their insurance eventually picked up the tab for everything (minus the policy excess) and that was the end of it. Their client remained oblivious and the new website launched without a hitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landmine: side-stepped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not everyone\u2019s so lucky. Plenty of those on the receiving end of a letter from Getty have to fight their own corner \u2013 and that\u2019s if they know what to do in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next time we\u2019ll look at what you should and shouldn\u2019t do if you find such a letter on your<\/strong> doormat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The big picture Last week we looked at the perils of using unlicensed pictures from digital media providers, particularly Getty Images. Although we talked about how to avoid getting into trouble in the first place (always the best option), we … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[45,181,44,150],"class_list":["post-4320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-professional-indemnity-insurance","tag-claims-2","tag-design-and-illustration","tag-getty","tag-managing-risk"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nAre you safe from Getty Images? (Part two)<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is what happens when Getty come knocking. 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