I'm glad you are stirring the debate on blogging and copyright as this is the hot topic.

The threat of a Federal lawsuit comes after scores of demands, cease and desists and negotiations with Perez to simply use watermarked images and link and not take valuable exclusive copyrighted images. He refused to do so. All other agencies have done the same.

He knows full well and has been told the law requires him to seek authorisation for the use of copyrighted images.

Perez is being targetted right now by eight agencies in total because he

1. is a thief
2. infringes copyright
3. makes hundreds of thousands a year, but pays none of the people he has relied on for making him a success.
4. Now he has money he can pay for images like any other 'respectable' company should.
5. being a blogger does not mean you can break the law.

I would direct you to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, in which Congress has already legislated on this issue. Section 5:12.. clearly states any website or person who posts a copyright infringement or defames someone can be held accountable under the law.

Watermarked images are given out by splash and other agencies, as long as a link is given to our blog, by us for free to meet the fans needs. This is made clear at the bottom of the blog at splashnewsonline.com

We want traffic to drive ad revenue as a business. The same model Perez has used to enrich himself. But unlike legitimate sites, he uses copyrighted images without authorisation, a clear breach of federal law.
The difference is we share our revenue with contributors.

By law we can sell to news and editorial websites. The law makes it very clear when the celebrity owns their own image and has the right to commercially profit from it and when agencies can sell their image. You should check the law.

We don't just sell to print media. We all sell widely to online clients, mobile phones etc. You havent done your homework. We have also started to sell to blogs. Brian at Popsugar being a primary blog that has understood the need to be legitimtae in its commercial endeavours and we applaud them for that.

Remember, these images are taken by professional photographers who have an inalienable right to make a living. Stealing images and posting them on blogs is therefore theft. It is no different to coming to your house, taking your framed photos and posting them on a blog without your permission. I suggest you would be upset at this. You would have the right to sue and to report it as a criminal act.

Try going into a cinema with a videocamera and recording the film. That is a copyright infringement under Federal Law and a criminal act.

Photo agencies represent professional and amateur photographers. We sell images on their behalf to make them and us money. We are legitimate businesses making money and paying taxes. We have a UGC site called peoplepaparazzi.com where the public can make money. Have a look at some of the prices we have got for the public.

My photographers rely on me as their agent to make sure they are paid. That is an obligation we take seriously and why we are successful.

You make a good point about the new blogging business model. Photo agencies were slow at taking up the model. But most blogs are amateur sites who are non-profit. These are the ones the watermarked images are aimed at.

Blogs that actively seek ad revenue and financial backing are now profit making businesses and therefore must pay for images used.

You mention you buy your images at iStock, instead of Getty. Thats the point of business. Businesses make money and there is a business for each level. However, you get what you pay for. iStock only have old images, most blogs want uptodate images.

You might be interested to learn we were actually around before Getty.

Blogs are part of the online future as you say and as such its about time the ones that make money share it with the people whose product they steal.

At the end of the day, all photo agencies have been asking for is payment for services rendered. Only a thief would argue that stealing is the correct method.

Any blog that would like to purchase images or use watermarked images are more than welcome to contact Splash News for rates, which by the way reflect the traffic on the site asking for images, so the prices can be suited to the pocketbook of each site.

Gary Morgan
CEO Splash