A NIS 900,000 lawsuit for copyright violation was filed against the "Haaretz" group at the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court. The claim involves a paparazzi photo of model Bar Refaeli. The suit was filed by US photography company Mavrix Photo, which two years ago photographed Refaeli on her vacation with her husband in Greece, and which guaranteed the "Daily Mail" British daily exclusivity for the photos. According to the lawsuit, the photos appeared on the "Haaretz" group's website. The lawsuit was filed through Advocates Cobi Marcus and Alon Peled.
In its lawsuit, Mavrix Photo states, "There is no need to waste words proving that photographs of Bar Refaeli are in demand. Special, personal, and candid photographs from her vacation are in great demand, and attract a large audience of Internet surfers and advertisers. This is the reality. The respondents copied the photographs from a UK website that purchased a license to use them, as if they were ownerless, although they knew that the complainant owns the rights to the photos. The respondents' acts were committed for the sole purpose of producing a commercial profit. The respondents, who were aware of the public's great interest in the model, sought to profit from her popularity by using here photographs to create interesting media on their website, thereby encouraging users to enter the website."
The lawsuit states that the photographs remained on the website for 18 months, and were finally removed when a lawsuit was threatened. "The first report, published on the 'Daily Mail' website on August 29, 2014, contained seven photographs. The second, published on September 1, 2014, contained 16 photographs (plus an additional photograph that did not belong to the complainant). The third, published on September 2, 2014, contained 12 photographs. All the reports prominently featured the model's photographs, mostly in various bathing suits and at parties, which constituted the main point of interest in the reports."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 17 2016
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