fairlicensing@pamediagroup.com - infringement

[AndyJ]

Hi bullnation,

You may need to tidy up the last sentence of the first paragraph. "the legal fees for PA taking this matter to the IPEC would likely incur legal fees that match the amount you are claiming for" doesn't really make sense. I assume that what you mean is that if PA take the matter to court, the legal fees they will incur, which under the Court's rules will not be recoverable from you, will exceed the overal amount of the damages which might be awarded.

Otherwise, the response looks OK.

[Footballguy]

Hi bullnation,

How was this resolved? I have felt intimidated by Adrian from PA with a similar issue of an image used by a student on a website that I owned which made no money on a blog that they made to try and get a career in football. Currently they are demanding £450 but it is apparently available on Alamy.

Would love to know how this went for you.

Thanks!

[bullnation]

No not yet. The latest responses are below: (would be interested in AndyJ thoughts on this!
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Your contention that you should simply have to pay a fee equivalent to the fee that you possibly could have paid for a valid licence before committing copyright infringement is misguided. By way of analogy, this particular argument is not unlike being caught attempting to shoplift and attempting to resolve the matter without involving the police by paying the sticker price for the goods. The law does not work this
way, Shoplifting, like copyright infringement, is unlawful, and, once found committing such infringement, one does not get to simply rewind the clock.

Before you committed copyright infringement you had the option of obtaining a valid licence, and had you exercised that option, you could have obtained such a licence via either Alamy or PA. However, because you did not obtain a licence and you have now been caught out committing copyright infringement the fee requested is reflective of PA’s licensing structure.

Best wishes,
Adrian
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Good afternoon Adrian,

I do not believe your analogy to be particularly accurate. Rather, I am unsure if it is an attempt to intimidate me by way of comparison to such flagrant criminal activity.

In this case, my not acquiring the licence at the correct time due to the lack of realisation that the image was under copyright is not comparable to shoplifting. My attempting to
resolve the dispute amicably through a fair agreement, is in no way like trying to reach an agreement ‘without involving the police’. One is not looking to ‘turn back the clock’, rather find an agreement that reflects true value of licencing the image. In
a civil dispute a copyright owner is only entitled to damages that reflect the loss sustained through the correct licence not being obtained. In the small claims track of the IPEC there are no legal or other ancillary admin fees admissible. The image is legally
available on Alamy for a small percentage of the PA cost requested. Therefore, this must represent the true amount that has been lost.

I have been very open and agreeable to finding a solution to this situation. My offer still stands to settle the matter.

Kindest regards
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Thank you for your email.

You are absolutely correct, this is what would be awarded in a court of law. Here's the link to the PA Editorial and Commercial Rate Cards for website usage pricing on the PA images website: https://www.paimages.co.uk/, and the detected image was used on the homepage of your site, which is commercial. You'll also note on Alamy that PA images are restricted for Editorial use only, and it would therefore need a release, and a custom licensing. Here's the link to their custom licensing information - https://www.alamy.com/licenses-and-pric ... m_licenses

As a gesture of goodwill, I will extend the 10% early payment discount to 28/08/2024, which if paid on or before this date, leaves a total settlement fee of £1344.60 to conclude this matter.

To make the payment, please log into fairlicensing.pamediagroup.com using your case ID: 9THXP7 and your PIN: 817441 to settle this claim. In the portal you can see more details of the case. Once you have made the payment, you will be covered for the online use that we have found, and the case will be closed.

Thanks,
Adrian
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I do not have £1344 to pay, and have no intention of.

I have one question for AndyJ........ just to check from you.....my website is a business website (physiotherapy). The use of the image in question was at the bottom of the homepage, a thumbnail ima alongside a testimonial from a client who is a professional boxer. Is it the case that because it is a business site, and using the testimonial is to attract business, that the licence would have to be for commercial?

[Evandalism]

Hi Bullnation, I’m wondering if you have received any updates as I now have a similar case where I’m being asked to pay £1300 my website is a hotel but the photo I used was just showing a nearby attraction. Any information following your last message would be appreciated. Thank you