How Zalando let a German fashion blogger fall into the warning trap
In Germany, a fashion blogger was warned because she published photos that were sent to her by Zalando via press release.
Fashion bloggers receiving media releases is normal. That they will think twice about publishing the material in the future, on the other hand, is a rather new phenomenon. Which - one might think - is only possible in the warning paradise of Germany.
The case about which the portal Meedia.com reports, makes one prick up one's ears. Fashion designer Berit Müller, who runs the blog Shopazine, received a press release from Zalando in November 2013 about the new collection "Eleonora Carisi" with the "request of a publication". Attached were also pictures of the collection.
Since the photographer had only made the photos available to Zalando for a period of use of six months, the latter issued a warning to the blogger who had published the images in 2018. It was not an oversight on the part of the blogger that the photos were not deleted after the six months - she simply did not know about the limited period of use. A reference to this was missing in the press release. Zalando regretted the omission to Meedia.de: "We expressly apologize for this and have reviewed and adjusted our processes again.
Zalando assured Müller that it would clarify the matter. The blogger deleted the photos and considered the case settled - without responding to the photographer's demand for payment. But apparently there was no clarification between the fashion mail-order company and the creator of the images. Because at the end of the year, the blogger was sued for breach of a cease-and-desist agreement and a court hearing was scheduled for the end of the year. Even if Müller can prove that she had not been informed about the restricted period of use, she is still in violation of copyright law. Or in the language of the lawyers: Not knowing does not protect against punishment.
Zalando apparently sees little reason to rush to the blogger's aid. "The blogger has made the images we provided in 2013 available online until 2018," a spokeswoman told Meedia.de. "Such a period of use is not customary in the industry."
The online retailer also claims that the blogger did not take some of the offending images offline after signing a cease-and-desist declaration in 2018 - contrary to her own assurance to the photographer - and therefore had to pay a contractual penalty to the photographer.
Zalando has ended its collaboration with the photographer in question. And Müller, who had to pay a four-digit sum, is ending her career as a blogger - she's run out of steam, as she says in her anticipated last post writes.
