Social Media Copyright Infrigement

A

Anotherguy

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Hi,

Hope someone could give some insight how to go abot this please before considering legal represenation

Friend of mine owns a small restaurant business
He hired a local company to manage their website and post promotional content on instagram & facebook
The commpany is registered, legit and pays taxes etc
The company had posted a copyrighted photo as part of a tribute night promotion
My friend the owner was not aware of such action nor did he have knowledge of same
My friend simply asked that the tribute night is promoted on the socal media but did not specify what images to be used
It was assumed the local company knew what they were doing including the workings of copyright material
A debt recovery company is now asking for copyright infrigement payment
The local company does not want to deal with the issue because their name is not on the letter sent by the Debt recovery company.

Can someone please explain what are my friend's rights in this case and what actions could be considered
I understand the advise here is not formal and should always consider legal representation

I would be gratful for any input

Thank you in advance
 
Your friend is 100% liable for the infringement. Whether costs or damages would be recoverable from his contractor is a separate issue.

That's the bad news and there is no good news.
 
NoRegretsCoyote said:
How much are they looking for?
Click to expand...

This is really the only issue.

He should deal with the issue.

Either pay it or contact the owners of the copyright and explain. They will probably do it cheaper.

I suspect legal advice will be more expensive than the amount sought.

Brendan
 
Yes he should deal with this issue as he is directly liable for the reuse of the photos in an unauthorised fashion. However he should also keep the marketing company in the loop on communications and then ask them to reimburse him for the damages. It sounds like they caused the issue if they selected a photo without checking the rights attached. Be clear that this is a separate matter between him and his service provider.

I’ve had to deal with these types of issues before and in my experience you can also usually agree a lesser amount than the starting amount claimed by the photo rights holders. So it would be interesting to hear how much he is being asked for? Anyway it would be great if you could report back on the outcome just to hear what happened.
 
DeeKie said:
I’ve had to deal with these types of issues before and in my experience you can also usually agree a lesser amount than the starting amount claimed by the photo rights holders.
Click to expand...
My guess is that the rights holder has sold them to a third-party collection agency. The agency will issue outrageous demands on the basis that a certain % of people will pay the full amount demanded.

My guess is that no one will take the OP to court for non-payment, but there will be lots of boilerplate letters threatening legal action if he doesn't pay something.
 
Is this from Stefan Schnebelt? His name came up on liveline a few times last year.

Have a look at



Or have a listen to this clip (needs to be on a browser with ads enabled - RTE) https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/21994607/

The summary of the advice was to offer 250e as a reasonable license fee, and ignore any demands for 5k or 10k or whatever.

The local website provider, probably should be aware but if they're new it might their first time seeing it. In any case good chance that a large bill for them is as unaffordable as for the restaurant.
 
Is it a debt recovery company or an agency licensed by the copyright holder to collect payable royalties?

Big difference.

The first suggests a strong arm approach to pay an amount that’s legally enforceable. The second would suggest something that’s more negotiable.

Use of copyrighted material attracts a fee but the amounts aren’t set in stone (or in any other form).

Just because a copyright holder attaches a certain value to their work doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone else should do likewise.

Your friend should offer a modest amount and hold his/her nerve - a rights-holder is unlikely to invoke legal action when there’s a reasonable offer on the table.

He/She should also kick the ass of the third party company that got him/her into this mess in the first place.
 
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