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If you thought copyright infringement was a cut and dry issue, it isn’t. Copyright infringement is a serious concern which is dangerous for both photographers and even those who use free stock photos. The latest scandal concerns the photography sharing site Unsplash.
Simon Palmer is a photographer and blogger who has been accused of copyright infringement, but he might be the victim more than a thief. To defend himself against the claim that he used an online photograph in his blog without the correct copyright, Palmer has spoken out to tell his side of the story.
The result?
The debate over who is to blame is being used in headlines everywhere, with titles and captions such as, “Photographer in Legal Battle”.
Simon Palmer downloaded the image in question from the website Unsplash and used it in his blog. He thought he was doing so legally since Unsplash says that it is a website with “freely useable images”.
Imagine his surprise when he received a message from Copytrack suggesting that he had used the image (of a woman with a horse) illegally. They asked him to see his copyright and demanded a fee if he did not have one.
He searched for the image on Unsplash, where he originally downloaded it, but could no longer find it, nor the user who originally uploaded it. Palmer then told The Phoblographer:
I contacted Unsplash, and raised a ticket with them, and until today, I hadn’t had much communication aside from one of the folks at Unsplash saying they would pass it on to the person who handles the legal issues.
He sent Unsplash proof that he had downloaded the image from them but, meanwhile, Copytrack emailed him again about his “copyright infringement” and said it was his “final offer” to pay them. Otherwise, they threatened legal action and to ask for damages.
It turns out that whoever uploaded the image to Unsplash, initially, never actually owned the rights. Therefore the site offering copyright-free use was invalid.
Unsplash said they were aware of that and admitted that was a “common occurrence”, where people lacking copyright would upload images to their sites. Unfortunately, for Palmer, Unsplash refused to pay for the Copytrack fee and said that they were protected by their terms of use, Section 5B.
Palmer was concerned as he felt he had used the photograph in “good faith”. This could create a trap for photographers or those who download free photos, where images were intentionally uploaded by online criminals and then taken down from photo sharing sites and copyright fines subsequently requested. However, both Copytrack and Unsplash have both reiterated their terms of use and copyright laws as the reason why he is responsible for the copyright fine!
Do you think this could be a form of copyright trolling, where photographers are set up to take the fall when site users post images that they don’t have the copyright for? How will stories like this change how you use copyright free photographs?
At Berify, we work with photographers daily and give them the search tools to protect their copyright. Whether you take an image yourself or find it on a free to use the website, Palmer’s experience makes it clear: we should no longer rely on copyright-free websites to protect us legally.
Have an image you got for free on Unsplash, Pixabay, Creative Commons, etc.? Search it on Berify and make sure it’s not owned by someone who will turn around and sue you!
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