“Photolure” news agency has accused many Armenian media of using their photos without permission, violating copyright laws.

“Photolure” filed a complaint with the Information Disputes Council. The agency presented around 40 active links as evidence of copyright violations. These links showed several websites, such as Armday.am, freenews.am, analytic.am, hayeli.am, noyantapan.am, civic.am, mediahub.am, and others, had used pictures belonging to “Photolure” without permission, even though they were not subscribers of the agency.

“Photolure” Director Melik Baghdasaryan stated that while around 15 media outlets subscribe to the agency, many others use “Photolure” images without permission or payment.

 “I must say that the stealing of visual content is happening constantly nowadays. Anyone can take and use any picture they want at any time. Copyright protection is at an all-time low. Even our subscribers have stolen our pictures at times.” The agency director stated they only included a fraction of media outlet names in the IDC application.

Warning letters were sent to the editors regarding the problem, but discussions with them did not resolve the issue. For instance, “Photolure” received a response from Hayeli.am, stating that they had taken the photos from Google, and the logo of the “Fotolur” agency had already been removed from the photo at that time.

Melik Baghdasaryan states that in the response he received, it was mentioned that the inaccuracy was related to Google. Their only error was posting a photo without a logo on the website. They offered to clarify the issue with Google and apologized for the misunderstanding. However, even after receiving the letter, Melik Baghdasaryan claims nothing has changed.

After analyzing the facts provided, the IDC has given its professional opinion, stating that both the property (which protects the financial interests of the creator) and non-property (which recognizes the creator as the author) copyrights of “Photolure” were violated in the cases presented.

“Considering the severity and extent of the infringements, the “Photolure” agency is entitled to seek legal protection by requesting a civil court to grant compensation for any property damages caused. Additionally, the agency may request a temporary ban on publishing the photos during the trial and a permanent ban based on the final court decision as a legal protection.”

If copyright infringement has resulted in damages exceeding 500,000 Armenian Drams, it can result in criminal responsibility. Additionally, as per the new Criminal Code passed in 2022, organizations can face criminal charges. The IDC Council stated this conclusion.

Ashot Melikyan, a member of the IDC, has expressed concern over the numerous copyright violations in the Armenian media industry. Although his statement refers to a specific case, it should be taken as an example and serve as a wake-up call for the entire media field.

Melikyan stated that the council is willing to act as a mediator and resolve the dispute outside of court by offering compensation to the agency and working together on a contractual basis. However, if ethical and moral considerations do not lead to a resolution, legal action should be taken to address similar issues.

He believes the lack of responsible media is the reason behind the numerous copyright infringement cases. He suggests leveraging professional ethics to establish a culture of shame and reforming the laws governing “Copyright and related rights” to mitigate the issue.

“A  media legislation reform is currently being developed, including legislative regulations related to copyright. Moreover, I believe that establishing a self-regulation system for the mass media will contribute to solving this problem. Adopting journalistic ethics norms by the media and creating a self-regulatory body will serve as a deterrent mechanism against plagiarism. As of now, no code of ethics considers such behavior acceptable,” stated a member of the IDC.

“Photolure” is uncertain whether the reforms will contribute to the recovery of the sector and the solution to the problem. Before that, they are preparing a court case against more than twenty news organizations.

Marianna Danielyan