Copyright Laws Relating to Use of Product Stock Images

Aceboy884 on 23/02/2017 - 08:58

Hi

Lately we've been harassed by one of the brand we sell because of our discounting,

Initially they claimed we were selling fakes, but that was proven otherwise when we supplied an official invoice from their authorised distributor.

The authorised distributor in question are now bankrupt

Anyway, fast forward 2 weeks later,

They are now using photo copyright laws to try and get us to take down our products.

Whilst I can simply take our own photos of the products sold, but I don't see why we will have to, if we are selling the products legitimately

Any advice on this matter would be appreciated

Thanks

General Discussion

Comments

  • pantsparty on 23/02/2017 - 09:40
    +3

    I would imagine that the manufacturer has the rights to images they have taken of their own products. Depending on how many different products we are talking about, can you take your own photos of the product for your website?. Surely they have no argument then?

  • imcold on 23/02/2017 - 09:44

    Fair use lol..

    You can always take photos of the said products, best done in a place where u are permitted to take photos.

  • Diji1 on 23/02/2017 - 09:51

    They're trying to stop a race to the bottom where you sell for X-1 so they sell for X-2 so you sell for X-3 etc. until no one makes money.

  • cjbowden on 23/02/2017 - 10:15
    +1

    Clearly they are going after you because of the discounting. The ACCC looks very dimly on any practice that will have the effect of lessening competition. Contact the ACCC or local Fair Trading for advice.

  • Hellfire on 23/02/2017 - 10:15

    A lot of brands try to limit discounting by preventing use of their images. They own the copyright and you can only use them with permission. You can take your own photographs of the items if you wish.

  • scotty on 23/02/2017 - 10:39
    +1

    IANAL and OzBargain might not be the best place to seek legal advice. However as stated by the community that copyright holders have the right here, and in Australia there's not really fair use here (although selling the product does not seem to be covered by fair use). We (OzBargain) have been asked to remove posts by companies using copyrighted producing photo / logo / screenshot as excuse, which is why we replace some images with some generic ones.

    • Aceboy884 on 23/02/2017 - 11:21

      Thanks Scotty

      I like to tell them to shove it up their anus

      But hey, we have to play nice time to time

      No point stressing over these cheap shots

      • rompastompa on 23/02/2017 - 12:21

        Is it from one of the fruit varieties?

        It's OK, I don't go to the dentist anyway.

  • BigTed on 23/02/2017 - 13:59

    The first question is, who actually holds the right to the image? Is it the same entity currently threatening you? If not, tell them to rack off.
    It kinda sounds like the copyright owners may be the distributor - where did you get the pics from?

    • airzone on 23/02/2017 - 15:28

      Quite often it's the branding and trademarks..

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