From the Sunday Business Post in Ireland.
16 November 2008
By Ian Kehoe and Gavin Daly
Heineken Ireland is at the centre of a copyright dispute with an Australian trade union, which claims the firm used copyrighted pictures on a website to promote its links with the Oxegen music festival.
The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), an Australian union for journalists and photographers, has formally lodged a complaint with the brewer over the use of hundreds of pictures that it sourced from the Flickr website and other sources.
Heineken is a major sponsor of the music festival and the pictures in question appeared on a related website, heinekenmusic.ie, in June and July. The website has since been taken down, but the MEAA is still pursuing full payment for the use of the images.
While it has denied any copyright breach, Heineken has offered a “full and final settlement” of €15 per picture, for what it described as “the inconvenience caused in having to write to us”.
Leona Daly, a communications executive with Heineken, has written to the MEAA, saying: “After our investigations, we have concluded that any use of the images was, at best (if it could be said to be use at all, given they were immediately removed), use on a temporary basis and would not form the basis of any copyright claim in this jurisdiction.
However, members of the alliance have rejected the offer, claiming that the figure is far below the market rate of more than €600 per picture. Heineken has retained A&L Goodbody to handle the dispute.
The law firm has written to the MEAA claiming that Heineken was not responsible for photographs appearing on its website.
Richard Sharman, an Australian photographer and a member of the alliance, said he found Heineken’s behaviour “rather offensive”. Sharman said that 26 of his images had been used without proper payment or approval.
“Heineken used my photos for their commercial advantage without my permission,” he said. “Firstly, they deny using the photos, then they make an insulting offer to make a paltry payment for ‘the inconvenience caused in having to write to us’.”
A spokesman for Heineken Ireland said the company was satisfied that “no breach of copyright had occurred”. He said Heineken took the issue of intellectual property very seriously, and the company’s policy was consistent with best practice.
--By Ian Kehoe and Gavin Daly
Heineken Ireland is at the centre of a copyright dispute with an Australian trade union, which claims the firm used copyrighted pictures on a website to promote its links with the Oxegen music festival.
The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), an Australian union for journalists and photographers, has formally lodged a complaint with the brewer over the use of hundreds of pictures that it sourced from the Flickr website and other sources.
Heineken is a major sponsor of the music festival and the pictures in question appeared on a related website, heinekenmusic.ie, in June and July. The website has since been taken down, but the MEAA is still pursuing full payment for the use of the images.
While it has denied any copyright breach, Heineken has offered a “full and final settlement” of €15 per picture, for what it described as “the inconvenience caused in having to write to us”.
Leona Daly, a communications executive with Heineken, has written to the MEAA, saying: “After our investigations, we have concluded that any use of the images was, at best (if it could be said to be use at all, given they were immediately removed), use on a temporary basis and would not form the basis of any copyright claim in this jurisdiction.
However, members of the alliance have rejected the offer, claiming that the figure is far below the market rate of more than €600 per picture. Heineken has retained A&L Goodbody to handle the dispute.
The law firm has written to the MEAA claiming that Heineken was not responsible for photographs appearing on its website.
Richard Sharman, an Australian photographer and a member of the alliance, said he found Heineken’s behaviour “rather offensive”. Sharman said that 26 of his images had been used without proper payment or approval.
“Heineken used my photos for their commercial advantage without my permission,” he said. “Firstly, they deny using the photos, then they make an insulting offer to make a paltry payment for ‘the inconvenience caused in having to write to us’.”
A spokesman for Heineken Ireland said the company was satisfied that “no breach of copyright had occurred”. He said Heineken took the issue of intellectual property very seriously, and the company’s policy was consistent with best practice.
