Savills slammed over property image that has cost news website dearly
A not-for-profit news site is facing a £460 bill for an image it was sent eight years ago by the estate agency to promote a listing.
Savills is in dispute with a small independent news website over a £460 bill for copyright on a photograph of a pub for sale.
One of the growing number of agencies trying to squeeze money out of website owners for images used in error like this – and in this case representing a well-known stock agency – says use of the photo in 2016 by the Marlborough News was not paid for and it must now be reimbursed.
Volunteers
The website (main image), which is run by volunteers and is not-for-profit, says the picture that accompanied a story about the pub came with a press release and was ‘rights free’.
But Co-Founder Neil Goodwin has now been asked to pay the bill by Visual Rights Group which is working for photo library Alamy.
Goodwin says the sum is “a lot, especially when it was for something almost irrelevant to us and a third party’s puff”.
He says he may have to pay the sum out of his own pocket, Press Gazette reports.
Lose access to market
Goodwin said the image was used by Savills itself in its listing for the pub called The Barge Inn, outside Pewsey in Wiltshire, and by other local titles.
“Any property agent supplying copy, especially images that still have copyright restrictions, are in danger of losing their access to their marketplace,” he says.
“Agents rely on us to promote editorially what they send. We (as media) will tell them to ‘go away’ (or possibly slightly stronger language) if there is any possible risk of breach of copyright.
“Other media need be aware of this as in our case, Savills assurances were worthless and costly.”
Savills has declined to comment.
