Over the past year, copyright enforcement around images and video used online has intensified significantly. Even small and medium-sized businesses are now being aggressively pursued, with payment demands often reaching thousands of dollars and short response windows before escalation — even for minor or unintentional infringements.
Recently, we assisted a client who received a formal copyright claim relating to a single image published years earlier on an archived blog article by a long-gone contractor.
The image had been uploaded nearly a decade prior and had long since been forgotten. The claim alleged unauthorised commercial use and included a demand for several thousand dollars within a short timeframe to avoid further legal action.
Importantly, the email was not ignored or dismissed. It was escalated internally and handled properly. Ignoring these notices typically increases risk and cost.
Scenarios like this — including the stress, disruption, and potential legal expense involved are becoming increasingly common with even very small businesses falling into the crosshairs of these types of operators
The purpose of this article is to provide practical guidance on how businesses can better manage their digital assets and reduce exposure to similar situations.
The first thing to understand as a business operator is this: most copyright issues relating to online marketing are not deliberate. They are typically unintentional, often involving assets uploaded years ago by former staff or contractors, sitting out of sight and out of mind while quietly accumulating legal exposure.
