Oh Aviva! Oh Aviva!
I had the dubious pleasure of meeting Aviva Weinman a few weeks ago. She was supposed to give a lecture at a conference on photos and copyright. However, I sued her company for 47 million shekels that very same morning, and she left without speaking. Can't imagine why!
The article is about MAROT IMAGES, Gettyâs representative in Israel. MAROT IMAGES is not â Getty Israelâ , however much they would like people to believe otherwise. They are registered here (in Israel) as a completely separate Israeli company.
The blogger indeed writes
âFirst, Aviva points out that âImage Bank Israelâ are merely Gettyâs delegates in the region.â
I think for the first time, I actually agree with Aviva Weinman!
âCopyright infringement is an offenseâ, states Aviva. âJust like stealing a car or robbing a supermarketâ.
Well actually not! Clause 52 of the Israeli copyright act states as follows:
Infringement of copyright or moral right is a civil wrong and the
provisions of the Ordinance on Torts (New Version), shall apply
mutatis mutandis subject to the provisions of this Act.
Furthermore, how ironic that we have just sued Marot Image for falsely representing themselves as owners of the right to sue, when in fact they have no such rights!
âFirst, at least the Israeli law defines a âdefaultâ penalty per picture that was used against terms. This is the same in most countries, and usually serves as the starting point. If we go to court, the photographer can sue for the entire value of the photo, determined by much money he could make of licensing it over a period of ten years.â
Fascinating! There is no default penalty, or statutory fine in Israeli law. Since the new copyright law of 2007 - the minimum penalty has been ZERO!
I should add - I am not a lawyer.