COVID-19 has propelled businesses into unprecedented times. Many businesses will be able to adapt to new lockdown measures by moving to partially or fully operate online. Businesses moving online must understand and act fast to protect intellectual property. In the case of Hardingham v RP Data Pty Limited,[1] a photographer assumed an “implied licence”, mistakenly relying on the assumption that an implied licence restricted the use of his intellectual property.
James Hardingham, a professional photographer, who was the sole director and shareholder of Real Estate Marketing Australia Pty Ltd (‘REMA’), took photos and made floor plans for a number of real estate agencies. Those agencies then uploaded the content to realestate.com.au (‘REA’) who then shared it with corelogic.com.au (‘RP data’) (‘the websites’). The legal battle that ensued comprised of two parts:
Whilst Mr Hardingham recognised that there was an implied licence for the agencies to use his photographs and floor plans for the marketing of sale and lease of the properties on REA, he argued that the implied licence did not extend to RP data nor that any such implied licence would allow his intellectual property to be used long after the sale or lease (for which the images were originally made) had been completed.[3]
The Court found that Mr Hardingham had known that real estate agencies had been uploading his intellectual property to REA since 2014. He should have known that the REA privacy policy was freely available to him. Since 2014, Mr Hardingham had set the fees of his services with the knowledge that the images would almost certainly be uploaded to both websites.[4] These factors pointed to the existence of an implied licence for the websites to not only use the images for the purpose of the sale or lease, but that the websites could retain the photos and floor plans uploaded by real estate agents. Furthermore, the Court found that as such listing platforms were used by the overwhelming majority of Australian real estate agencies, and so Mr Hardingham would have known that agencies were going to upload his content to these platforms.[5] The Court concluded that the agencies who had commissioned REMA’s work did not “own” the copyright over the uploaded images. Rather, proving such “ownership” was unnecessary for reason that an implied licence allowed the website owners the right to retain and use those images.[6]
There are two main lessons that can be drawn from the case of Hardingham:
Put another way, if you don’t take reasonable steps to control your copyright, allowing it to be taken and used in a system with established rules of use, then you might lose your right to that control, at least within that system.
Contact BAL Lawyers dedicated Business & Commercial team for advice on protecting your Intellectual Property rights online. Our lawyers will work with you to establish clear guidelines and expectations around the use of your IP, or possible infringements, in the context of Australian Copyright Law.
Written by Riley Berry with the assistance of Claudia Weatherall.