Agence France-Presse and several others have reported that a French court has ordered Getty Images and the Advertising Educational Foundation to pay over $1.29 million to photographer Alain Ernoult for unauthorized marketing of his images.
AEF had a contract to market Ernoult’s images from 1993 to 1999. The photographer was also a major AEF shareholder and had transferred his shares to Image Bank France in 1995. When Getty Images acquired the Image Bank in 1999, it apparently continued marketing Ernoult’s images after the original contract expired.
The court ordered Getty Images to pay Ernoult close to $600,000 for licensing his images to advertisers, which included Toshiba, Peugeot and Air France. The court also determined that advertising uses damaged the photographer’s heritage rights, banalized his work and prevented him from earning a profit from the work.