Chris Pearsall Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 Has anyone else with pictures of Esso forecourts, tankers or buildings been contacted by their legal department ? I have just received a threatening letter from them telling me that my (76) images on Alamy are infringing their trademark. The images I believe they are referring to are shots of forecourts and service stations taken from public property and naturally their logo is displayed on the forecourt canopies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Estall Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 it took a while but I flicked through your pages of thumbnails and could find very few where the logo was even remotely predominent. They are pointing at 76 images so that means they are counting every shot where their logo is visible even in a very insignificant way. Very surprising that anyone at ESSO might think this worth a punt. And what on earth could be their problem?! Probably best not to reply but I don't think you need lose a lot of sleep over it. If you were a member of the NUJ you might ask advice. To answer your question directly, no I've not heard from ESSO, but without going through every page I couldn't swear I have absolutely no images with any ESSO logo. But it's generally not the kind of work I do. Sometimes I do high streets as identifiers of county towns which would include numerous commercial logos, will they all be at risk of offending legal eagles? Somehow, I don't think it's going to be a problem as long as we stick to RM and don't claim any kind of release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincent Lowe Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 As I understand it, you can only infringe a trademark if you are passing off goods or services as your own which, by merely photographing them, you are clearly not. If they do contact you again it might be worth pointing out to them that if you threaten someone with proceedings for infringing a registered trade mark this could be an offence under UK law (Trade Marks Act 1994) - "groundless threats". See here, paragraph 5.... http://www.seqlegal.com/blog/10-things-you-should-know-about-trade-marks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Esso feeling the pinch. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Coombs Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 RM editorial, shot from public property. My answer to them would be very blunt and to the point! I shall refrain from publishing my likely reply here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 As far as I am aware you have no problems at all with RM editorial images of Esso forecourts/logos etc taken from public property Kumar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Quist Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Taken from a public area and selling as RM I would neither think you were in any trouble. But why not ask Alamy through Member Services for a comment. It may be useful in your possible reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armstrong Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Do they refer to a specific piece of law in their letter? As a layman I would say that so long as they are marked as editorial, unreleased and taken from public property then "Freedom of Panorama' would cover this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprocket Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 The images I believe they are referring to are shots of forecourts and service stations taken from public property and naturally their logo is displayed on the forecourt canopies. Are you sure you were on public property? These appear to have been taken on the forecourt: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 My advice on taking legal advice from strangers in an online forum is NEVER take legal advice from strangers in an online forum. dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Has anyone else with pictures of Esso forecourts, tankers or buildings been contacted by their legal department ? I have just received a threatening letter from them telling me that my (76) images on Alamy are infringing their trademark. The images I believe they are referring to are shots of forecourts and service stations taken from public property and naturally their logo is displayed on the forecourt canopies. Chris, i am curious, how did they contact you if your details on here are private ! Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Quist Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 deleted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Brooks Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 I avoid logos because the only possible sale would be to the news, when the logo owner gets in trouble, or to the logo owner itself. I agree with DD that you should ignore any legal advice you receive online. I try to be generic when possible. For instance I switched the RGB channels in order to switch the colours of this airplane’s livery in order to make the airline unidentifiable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Thousands upon thousands of logos on Alamy. I wonder how often this is happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inchiquin Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 See here, paragraph 5.... http://www.seqlegal.com/blog/10-things-you-should-know-about-trade-marks And in particular this sentence: "because of the way in which the trade mark crime provisions have been drafted (in particular, a reference to "material" being involved) it is arguable you cannot commit a crime under English law by including a trade mark on a website" Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 My advice on taking legal advice from strangers in an online forum is NEVER take legal advice from strangers in an online forum. dd That's right, of course, but the OP is in the UK so those of us in the UK or EU can sensibly discuss it. IP is our business after all. I don't think the lack of a release is too relevant to trademark infringement, which is pretty specific, as opposed to registered design or copyright. Most of your images are clearly taken from the highway anyway. You're not selling petrol, oil, or CNG. I would be getting some advice from my trade association, if I had one, which I don't, or otherwise having a very close look at the law. I'm not sure ignoring it is a good idea if you can come up with a very careful reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 My advice on taking legal advice from strangers in an online forum is NEVER take legal advice from strangers in an online forum. dd That's right, of course, but the OP is in the UK so those of us in the UK or EU can sensibly discuss it. IP is our business after all. I don't think the lack of a release is too relevant to trademark infringement, which is pretty specific, as opposed to registered design or copyright. Most of your images are clearly taken from the highway anyway. You're not selling petrol, oil, or CNG. I would be getting some advice from my trade association, if I had one, which I don't, or otherwise having a very close look at the law. I'm not sure ignoring it is a good idea if you can come up with a very careful reply. Mark, those of us NOT in the UK or EU can discuss it too . . . my advice was about advice :-) dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Estall Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 a simple keyword search for ESSO throws up 1406 images some of which don't actually show the logo at all (some nice drill bit details). There is a scattering of images which are really just a presentation of the logo with nothing much in the way of context. In the first couple of pages, I don't see any Chris Pearsall shots. So his question "anyone else been contacted?" seems fair enough and nobody has put their hand up. as raised in another thread, the presentation is very different. I quite like it, but the strategy of square pictures no longer works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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