In the last issue I featured Chris and Lin Beckett (The Bottleneck, Broadstairs in Kent) who were billed for £612 for using a generic picture of two glasses of wine along with some bread and some fruit on their website.
The company demanding copyright payment, StockFood, had waited three years to bill them.
I suggested waiting until the court demand arrived and then making them an offer. Courts like settlements and I think would have looked on them favourably.
Unfortunately, the stress got the better of them and they paid up. They could have spent £40 online to get the use of an image, so what does that tell you about StockFood?
Chris puts it well: “We puzzled long and hard as to why they are attacking the end user rather than the designer of the website? It is so simple: the potential earnings are much bigger if you go for the end user. A web designer may use the same generic image many times on different websites!” •
