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 We always recommend taking great care and attention when using other persons’ images to illustrate your online content. There are many pitfalls if you don’t perform “due diligence” to satisfy yourself that you are entitled to use an image (either by purchasing an image or a licence to use it, or otherwise ensuring that you have the permission of the copyright owner, or establishing that the image is out of copyright or public-domain and therefore free to use).
There is also the other side of the coin, where you find that your own content has been appropriated for use without your permission. I have recently been involved in a situation where a competing law firm made unauthorised use of a photo that I took myself just before the hearing of a case. You would think that a law firm who claims to be “highly regarded for copyright and intellectual property generally” would know to check this most basic point, but apparently not. If you’d like to know the outcome then please read more. Suffice it to say, I think that justice was done.
Returning to the idea of using other people’s images, it is a good idea to keep good records and document any images that you use (where you found them, on which date, payment receipts etc) and to make sure you understand any permissions, license agreements and terms of use that might be applicable. Ignorance will not save you.
Meet the team, meet Emma
Moving on, we thought that our readers might be interested to learn more about our talented team and how we conduct our work on behalf of our clients. With this in mind we have produced a series of videos where a member of our team briefly introduces themselves, outlines what they do and explains their role within our organisation. I hope that you find this reassuring and of interest. We begin by introducing our Formalities Administrator Emma…
In the news
 We have previously mentioned the perils of trying to trade mark stripes. This month the General Court of the EU upheld decision of the EUIPO Appeal Board to invalidate sports retailer Adidas’ attempt to register its three stripes logo. Further details are available at the World Trademark Review website.
As I write, the English summer is in full swing, as shown by the torrential rain that I sat through over the weekend! I trust that you will be able to enjoy the remaining weeks of summer, and of course don’t let any heat that does come our way go to you head when using images on the Internet!
Best Wishes
Michael Downing
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