Do you understand the basics of Copyright Law, in the UK?

I ask because I had to do something today, which I detest:

I had to confront a business with a "Cease & Desist /Takedown Notice", and it highlighted how little people know about the most basic facts of Copyright Law in the UK.

So, in a bid to help anyone out there who is using a third party image for any reason whatsoever, I would like to share this experience, and some basic facts.?

???Here's what happened:?

This business was using two of my clients' images on their Facebook business page with no credit to me, the creator and copyright owner, or without having obtained my consent, or paid for the use.?

This unauthorised usage was flagged by the software that tracks ALL of my images online - And yes, photographers do use that!

?I sent the business two emails asking them to takedown the images, and explaining why.?

One was sent via their own website contact form, and the other through my email client.?

This was done over a period of three weeks, to allow time for them to reply and/or rectify the issue.?

I received no reply, and the images remained.?

Today I sent them one final message, this time via Messenger on Facebook, advising that I was going to contact Facebook and report their unauthorised usage, and take legal action to recover payment for usage for my images -? and the reply was almost immediate.

??The exchange went like this: ?

• They denied having ever received any emails, and I offered to forward it to them.
• They then advised that the images had just been deleted from their page.
• I thanked them for their immediate action, and thought that would be the end of the exchange… But NO!?
• They proceeded to blame the client who gave them the images.
• They told me : "If this is how you treat your clients I will be sure not to use your services" - (How does that reflect on how I treat my clients?)
• When I explained that it is their responsibility to ensure that they know where the images come from and how to use them legally, their reply was "Oh, dear ??".

?

This from another person in business, who should know better…?

At this point I decided to no longer engage in this exchange.

??With the above in mind, this is how their behaviour breached my Copyright, in UK Law:

?As a third party, who is not my client, they did not obtain my consent to share my work: It is no good blaming my client for giving them the images. The onus is on them to ask the questions, and to act on it!

BEST WAY TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE? IT IS WORTH REMEMBERING:

• Every work of art, photograph, video, text, or anything which can be considered intellectual property, has a rightful owner and it is not free to use;
• Even if an image is available online with no copyright mark, it still belongs to a person or organisation, and it is dangerous to assume that any of these creative works are free to use;
• The copyright owner does not need to be a professional - if anyone takes a photo on their phone, for example, they are the copyright owner and their images are not free to use;
• If you are using professionally created images on social media, or to promote an event with another business, always use a watermarked images or ensure that credit is given to the copyright owner.
• Lastly, if you have had a photo shoot and the photographer gives you the right to use the images for your business, the watermark-free images should never be freely given to third parties for their use, unless a credit will be given to the photographer.

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Ultimately, though, it is always the responsibility of any business, or individual, to ensure that any images they are using give credit to the copyright owner, unless they have purchased the right to use that image or they have a prior agreement for this type of use, normally by means of a contract.

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This is a topic which I could write much about, but I will possibly have to serialise it!

My last words on it, (for now!):

?If in doubt always use stock images - there are plenty of free resources out there, and this will ensure you do not end up being sued!

You can find out more about UK Copyright Law, at: https://www.gov.uk/copyright