EVA joins CEPIC‘s competition law complaint against Google Image Search
EVA’s members approved to join the competition law complaint against Google image Search, which was filed by CEPIC with the European Commission.
EVA is the umbrella organisation for 25 European collective management organisations managing the rights of 100 000 painters, sculptors, illustrators, photographers, street artists, designers, architects and other visual authors as well as picture agencies.
Google Image Search is the dominant market player in offering access to images online in Europe. Modified in 2013 Google’s service is offering access to high resolution images bypassing the source websites and allowing the direct downloading of images. The new features facilitate accidental copyright infringement by internet users, including the general public and commercial entities. Google’s functionalities provide the users directly with the final image material, making all contact with the original source website and the authors or their representatives redundant. These changes have allowed Google to maintain its monopoly over site traffic, engagement data and advertising spent but deprive authors and their representatives on a return on their investments and creativity.