Black Shadow Photography

The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, the trade union for journalists in Australia is launching a campaign to have international brewing giant Heineken Ireland settle a copyright claim by a number of photographers for the misuse of their copyrighted images.

The misuse of the images occurred on the www.heinekenmusic.ie website and was only terminated after a number of photographers raised their concerns at the copyright breaches with the company. The company then made a derisory offer of €15 per image but only after seeking to force the photographers to fully justify their ownership of their own material. The original material was appropriated without obtaining photographers’ approval from the flickr website even though the images were clearly watermarked as being not for general use and were also copyrighted.

The offending website was being used to promote the Oxegen festival, a music festival sponsored by Heineken Music, and the material in question was displayed on the website from at least June 19 until July 8 2008 when the site was pulled down. This was in response to concerns by a number of photographers about the misuse of their copyrighted material rather than a unilateral action by the company acting as a good corporate citizen.

Mr Richard Sharman, an Australian freelance photographer expressed his concern at the action of the company in allowing material that was clearly identified as belonging to him and was not to be used without proper authorisation and the subsequent inaction by the company to resolve the matter equitably.

“This is a large multinational organisation with a brand name that it seeks to protect around the world. It uses copyright laws to ensure its name is protected but it won’t accept responsibility for using some 26 images of mine without proper payment or approval. Certainly the company is correct to ensure its intellectual property is secure, it’s just that they should apply the same standard to the copyright of others,” he said.

Speaking for the Alliance. Mr O’Donnell, Federal Industrial Organiser said, “The photographers whose images have been appropriated by the company are disappointed that it now simply refuses to enter into negotiations to get the matter fully and equitably resolved. Respect for copyright is an international obligation and the company must be aware that the internet is also international in nature. The opportunity is now available for the company to start discussions with the affected parties to prevent any further harm to its reputation.”

The media release and background information can be downloaded from the link below.

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