Today, The Guardian published a column by Wendy Grossman on the alleged 'heavy-handed tactics picture agencies use when pursuing payment.' She cites the case of a church in Lichfield, Staffordshire, that was recently asked to pay a £6000 bill by Getty Images for using two photographs on its website.
When creating the church’s website, a volunteer had included a couple of images sourced from Getty, without paying for them. A couple of months later, Getty sent the church a demand for £6000, according to Grossman.
Apparently, many small businesses have come across the problem of copyright infringement. And many have complained about the ‘heavy-handed’ enforcement tactics used. But Alison Crombie of Getty explains that ‘the thing we try to do is just have a conversation with the customer. We make them aware that it has happened, and that they need to look at addressing it and making sure it’s licensed.’
And one wonders why a lot of photographers are still afraid on the Internet.
