16 CRAFTBUTCHER l FEBRUARY 2017


WATCH OUT FOR THIS NASTY SCAM!


currently of £863. Te website for Commercial Register does actually exist but it is very poor quality and extremely unlikely to bring participants any extra business. Unfortunately one or two


members have been caught out by this fraud and they received quite a shock when the invoice arrived a few days later. Tis is followed by aggressive chasing letters and threats of recovery or Court action. Fortunately because this


RICHARD STEVENSON, TECHNICAL MANAGER Delivering advice to Members


BUTCHERS and small businesses around the UK have been receiving letters from a Company in Madrid called Direct Publisher S.L.U. Te letter is headed Commercial Register and gives the appearance of something official. Te letter requests


recipients to check their details are correct and then date and sign the form and return it in a prepaid envelope. Again the form looks very official and is in fact very similar to a Companies House annual return form. Te Scam is that there is


some small print at the bottom of the form that they hope businesses won’t notice. Tis wording commits the business to a web based advert for three years at an annual fee


scam is such an obvious fraud it is relatively easy to deal with. If you become a victim of this or something similar please get in touch and we will do our best to help.


DOWNLOADING IMAGES ONLINE It’s so easy to copy images


MEMBERS ADVICE


from the internet that it is oſten overlooked that most photos are owned by someone. Tis means that photos and drawings etc. are automatically protected by copyright even if it is not immediately obvious that there is a copyright attached. Just because it’s on the web it does not mean that it is in the public domain. Make sure all your staff know about this situation. It is very easy indeed to get caught out. Users will have to get


permission from the owner (photographer) or more usually from a picture library who will sell you permission to use the work for a license fee and then pay the photographer a commission. Tere are many picture


libraries on the internet and they will oſten advertise


Please be warned however that not all scams are easy to deal with and diligence is the best defence.


Always make sure you know exactly what you are


dealing with and read all the small print. If you don’t understand it don’t sign it. Never be pressured to sign there and then by a pushy salesman and always get him to confirm in writing any agreed changes that are not referred to in the paperwork. Don’t forget that with business to business contracts


there is no cooling - off period or other safeguards that consumers benefit from.


GOLDEN TIP: Always study the termination of


contract section carefully. You may find that the term is too long or giving notice is too complicated. Can the contract be terminated without penalty in the event of retirement or closure etc?


Dibal CB_Layout 1 20/10/2014 12:30 Page 1


images at very low prices. Some will even offer a few free pictures in the hope of winning repeat business. Beware though that if you are planning to use the image for any length of time on a business website the price will soon escalate. Te picture libraries are very


clever at finding unlicensed images being used without permission on the web and in fact by using special “bot” soſtware it is much easier than you might imagine. Tis is where the “fun”


starts of course. Te library organisation will write to you demanding not only the original license fee but compensation plus all sorts of other extras. Te total will oſten be inflated fivefold or more running into thousands of pounds. Tey are very aggressive and will start threatening legal action very quickly but will usually offer a substantial discount for early settlement. Tere are also deliberate


scammers operating in this area. Tey make it very simple to find photos and imply that they are free of copyright when of course they are not. None of these situations are


ever easy because “intellectual property” law is very precise and infringements are quite easy to establish by the claimant. Tere is not much defence or mitigation that you can offer because it is a strict liability offence. As ever we are here to help members where we can.


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