SINGAPORE: Property listing portal PropertyGuru's copyright infringement case against rival 99.co was dismissed by the High Court on Friday (Mar 9), with the judge ruling that the copying and editing of an image does not amount to a copyrighted work.
PropertyGuru, Singapore’s largest property listing website, first filed a Writ of Summons against 99.co in 2016, accusing it of reproducing content from its website without permission.
The case centred around the use of a third-party platform, which property agents used to cross-post their listings on portals. Some photos which were first uploaded and edited on PropertyGuru by property agents ended up on 99.co, bearing PropertyGuru's watermark.
In her decision on Friday, Justice Hoo Sheau Peng said that the addition of the watermark "does not, in my judgment make the altered image an original work".
However, Judge Hoo agreed that 99.co had breached its settlement agreement with PropertyGuru by “substantially reproducing” a listing with nine photographs from the PropertyGuru website, and awarded damages to be assessed.
PropertyGuru had accused 99.co in its lawsuit of breaching the settlement agreement entered between the two portals on Sep 28, 2015, under which 99.co cannot substantially reproduce content found on its website unless approved by PropertyGuru. It is also not allowed to put up any links on its website connecting users to PropertyGuru.
AdvertisementAdvertisementIn a blog post, 99.co founder and CEO Darius Cheung called the judgment a "victory for the Internet", and said that the rights of content “naturally” belong to content creators.
"If you were to upload a photo to Facebook Instagram or eBay - these sites do not and should not automatically get the rights on your photo simply by adding watermarks or basic modification," he added.
Meanwhile, PropertyGuru co-founder and executive director Jani Rautiainen said in a media statement that they were “very happy” with the court’s decision: “Today’s verdict sends a strong message about fair-play and good business ethics.
"The defendant broke the rules and we are happy that the court today has validated that. The defendant must stop reproducing our listings.”
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