BBC coughs up over Flickr image copyright breach

Davey Winder
Wednesday, 11 February 2009 19:45

IT Industry - Market

The BBC is more often in the news for hassling others over the misuse of BBC copyrighted material on the web. Imagine our surprise when we learned that the BBC was on the other end of the copyright infringement stick for a change.

The BBC Technology Correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones, is apparently the most visible person online in the UK. The BBC itself is always picking up awards for innovative Internet use.

The BBC is also quick to act when it considers it's own intellectual property rights have been abused, such as when a website offered knitting patterns for Dr Who dolls.

The chap whose site posted those patterns got a short sharp reminder from the BBC which included the words "We note that you are supplying DR WHO items, and using trade marks and copyright owned by BBC. You have not been given permission to use the DR WHO brand and we ask that you remove from your site any designs connected with DR WHO."

Now, in a story very quietly broken by by Bitter Wallet yesterday, it seems the BBC is getting a taste of it's own medicine.

Mike Bailey, a semi-professional photographer from Birmingham in the UK, had taken what he believes to be "by far the best Birmingham night time skyline photo available to view on the web."

It looks like the BBC thought so to, because after Mike posted the image to Flickr he noticed it also appeared on the TV as a backdrop during a 'Live from Birmingham' story on BBC News.

Naturally, Mike was more than a little miffed and contacted the BBC who offered him UKP £75 for the copyright misuse oversight. Mike did not accept as he found "this a derisory offer." What he did do this morning, was contact us at iTWire and we took up the case on his behalf.

Find out what really happened in Mike Bailey's own words, read the full text of that BBC apology and offer as well as what Auntie had to say to iTWire on the matter over the next page or two.

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