Hi, I'm a freelance web designer and designed a small website about 2.5 years ago for a local self-employed client. He told me he would take some relevant pics for his website and would forward them to me very soon. In the meantime, as he wanted to get the site up and running asap, I used an image from google images as a placeholder (I was just starting up and had never needed to source images as clients always provided them. I had no idea the image was from getty (someone else must've copied it and removed the watermark, I have no idea!) and didn't even think about it as he told me he'd get some images within days of the site going live so they were really only ever intended as placeholders).

 

After sending me a few emails telling me he'd get the images to me very soon, he then never got in touch with me again (for about 2 years) and I also forgot about it. The image on his site was about the size of a postage stamp. Now a few months ago he got a letter from getty images re. copyright infringement - a standard letter demanding over £1500 for unauthorized use of the image. He contacted me and finally provided me with his own images, which i placed on his site and removed the one in question. He further decided to ignore the letter they had sent and also the second letter they sent him about a month later. I never gave him any advice on it, I just took down the image and replaced it with his own, as he requested.

 

Now he got a letter from a uk based solicitor about it, basically saying that he should pay up or go to court (the amount has been increased by £400 + VAT, presumably for the cost of the solicitors).

 

He now (not before) says he wants me to look into this and he will seek recovery from me. Yet the claim is against him and the letter from getty clearly states this.

 

My questions are: am I legally responsible for this or is he?

If I am legally responsible, surely the £400 + VAT are due to his error in not dealing with it. The letter was after all addressed to him..

 

What is the best way for me to deal with this? He mentions something along the lines of perhaps making 'a without prejudice offer' - what is this?

How does getty calculate the cost? The demand letter offers no explanation.

 

Has anyone else had this happen to them? What did you do?

Thanks!

 

Thank you for your advice

Edited March 15, 201214 yr by locodesign

Before you get to worried about it try a google search for this, here's an example.

Getty images have been trying it on for years, with many calling it extortion.

 

That being said, if you sourced the images and used them on the site knowing full well they were not free to use, then yes you have committed copyright infringement. Have you got letters/emails from your client regarding the use of his own images? These may be useful in proving that you never intended the image to be used for a commercial purpose.

 

As for your client coming back to you after an amount of time claiming he can off load the issue to you, well, you're both liable but if you have those emails then you're likely to be able to share the blame rather than have the client palm it all off on you.

 

That being said, it is getty images and they do try it on.

 

Edit: As i said they've been doing it for years i thought you might be interested in this thread from this very forum in 2008!

Edited March 15, 201214 yr by MikeChipshop

the client ok'ed it, so stand up in court and lay the blame at his feet. Say that he wouldnt pay you unless the work was done, and promised to correct the image but failed to do so. Thus the fault is his.

Edited March 16, 201214 yr by jamesosix

I used an image from google images as a placeholder (I was just starting up and had never needed to source images as clients always provided them. I had no idea the image was from getty (someone else must've copied it and removed the watermark, I have no idea!) and didn't even think about it as he told me he'd get some images within days of the site going live so they were really only ever intended as placeholders).

 

After sending me a few emails telling me he'd get the images to me very soon, he then never got in touch with me again (for about 2 years) and I also forgot about it.

 

As long as you can back this up in court I wouldn't worry about it IMO - but I would possibly consult a solicitor regardless.

I had no idea the image was from getty (someone else must've copied it and removed the watermark,

If you ever get taken to court that comment above must help. You need to point getty to whoever removed the watermark. Can you still find the site that you got it from? Bookmark it.

 

You're still guilty of copyright infringement, but it must be a defence.