Berlin, 27.02.2017
In an open letter to Google Germany, nine associations from the field of photography criticize the infringement of the interests and rights of photographers, picture agencies, illustrators and graphic artists by the new Google image search. These associations are: Federal Association of Professional Image Providers (BVPA), German Association of Journalists (DJV), dju in ver.di, Center of Picture Industry (CEPIC), Illustrators Organization, Professional Image Creators (pic), AGD (Alliance of German Designers) , Berufsverband Freie Fotografen und Filmgestalter eV (BFF) and the Central Association of German Professional Photographs – Bundesinnungsverband.
In contrast to the current one, the image in original size (Blow-up) appears in the grid view without website but with supposedly similar pictures, without copyright, but with a button “Share” in Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and to e-mail. To display the image in original size and to integrate it into the source code of the site is an unauthorized duplication and online accessibility. The display of the image search results in original size replaces the visit on the source webpage. Google is thus itself the content provider, which provides a search-generated picture album for browsing. The “Share” function is also not a necessary part of the search result display and therefore not covered by any factual consent.
The nine federations are calling on Google Germany to return to a right-to-look search screen, especially to remove the Blow-Up and Share features.
Letter in German: Brief_Google_gemeins_Brief_2017-02-27_final
Letter in English:Letter_Google_image_search_2017-02-27
For any question :
Mathias Jahn
Leiter der BVPA-Geschäftsstelle
E-Mail: jahn@bvpa.org
