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Content theft has become a significant concern for website owners & content creators in today’s fast-paced digital world. A recent case sheds light on the severe repercussions of stealing content. It involved NaturesLens, a UK-based wildlife photography tour company known for offering wildlife photography experiences around the world. Founded in 2014 by David & Pui Hang Miles, NaturesLens focuses on providing small group tours to ensure personalised guidance to photographers of all levels. Nick Dale & Tammy Marlar were accused of unlawfully appropriating NaturesLens’ content, leading to legal action & a settlement agreement.
At the centre of this case is Tammy Marlar, who stole & published NaturesLens’ content from the NaturesLens website without authorisation & when challenged denied the same. She then shared the stolen content with Nick Dale, after lightly amending it, removing Pui Hang’s name as the guide & inserting her own name, & removing embedded copyright notices, who published it on his website. These actions violated NaturesLens’ intellectual property rights & resulted in a legal case that went to the High Court in London.
The matter escalated to the courts, where Nick Dale chose to evade the judicial process by refusing to attend court or respond to any hearings. On the other hand, Tammy Marlar admitted her guilt in the content theft case through an email, which became a crucial piece of evidence in the legal proceedings.
Despite initial discord caused by the unauthorised use of content, both parties eventually agreed to a settlement amount. As documented in the email, Tammy’s admission of guilt validated NaturesLens’ claims & facilitated a smoother negotiation process.
Here is an excerpt from the email where Tammy Marlar admits her guilt in the content theft:
Beginning of the Email excerpt
March 08th 2024
Dear David & Pui Hang,
This letter comes from me in my capacity as the sole director of my company, Marketing & Fundraising Consultants Ltd, the 1st Defendant; a “from the heart” letter which accompanies the letter from New Media Law sent last Friday afternoon, March 01st. The Company made an offer to you in the hope that we can settle this without the unwelcome pressures & costs of a further court hearing.
We were directed by the judge at the hearing in August 2023 to try to come to an out of court settlement. I tried to take advantage of the mediation service offered to us but it would seem I was alone.
For the record therefore, I would like to set out & explain again the background to events relating to my trip to Lake Kerkini in February 2023, in the hope that further wrangling can be avoided.
Firstly, please allow me to say that I am sorry this situation has advanced to this point, & to acknowledge & to apologise for my mistakes. I do not want to spend the last resources my Company has on legal fees to prepare for the hearing & for representation in three weeks’ time. I would very much like to apologise, organise reasonable compensation for a possible infringement of copyright & move on.
As I set out to you in a “Without Prejudice” letter in February 2023, I am a single mother with two children who makes a very small amount of money each year on photography-related activities, mostly journalistic or commission-based. I had an extremely difficult year after we met in January 2022 with a partial amputation of my right hand in March. Please take a moment to consider that sentence. A photographer losing part of their right (and dominant) hand. I was then put on a very difficult drug regime to alleviate some horrendous post-surgical symptoms after the amputation, & naturally found it very difficult to work & to earn. At the end of September 2022, my father died suddenly & unexpectedly in contentious circumstances. He was a high-profile man which added layers of complexity to his passing. Additionally, I had to endure a protracted & traumatic coroner’s inquest. The death of a parent is an all-consuming event, even without these additional factors, & through those first 3 weeks of October, I was really struggling.
I needed to generate some revenue urgently & pitched the idea of a feature about the pelicans to the editor of Outdoor Photography, a leading photography magazine. The editor loved my pictures from the trip with yourselves, & commissioned me to write a feature for publication in 2023.
Naturally, I contacted Nikos to see if he could accommodate me. I had 2 friends, Nick Dale plus 1 other, who had indicated they would like to accompany me if I could make necessary arrangements. 4/5 paying guests would make the trip cost-effective, whilst giving me content for my feature & some training experience. I posted the opportunity on Instagram on October 23rd and, as a direct result, 2 of my close followers contacted me directly by Instagram message/email the following day. These enquiries then immediately resulted in 3 individual bookings.
I had promoted this essentially private trip once on social media, but wanted for completeness sake to feature some basic information for my website. In this somewhat frantic & highly charged moment (immediately following my father’s death), I did use the NaturesLens information as a structure for describing the proposed trip, but amended & augmented it from my own experience of my trip with you. I fact-checked with other websites including Wikipedia, Guy Edwardes (a personal contact), Greenwings, Natures Images, & Wildlife Worldwide, all of whom had very similar copy describing what is essentially the same tour.
Nick Dale had asked me to send information to him urgently about the trip as he had numerous trips which he was considering & needed to make a decision immediately. Essentially, I hurriedly cut & pasted the information from the NaturesLens website to give him an outline of what such a trip would consist of. Of course, in hindsight, I should have just sent him the links to your website. No harm was intended. Unfortunately, he then posted that information to his website without my knowledge. If I had known, I would, of course, have asked him to take it down at the same time as I removed mine.
I had already filled the 5 spaces + me that Nikos had reserved for our trip. Ultimately, we didn’t get any further enquiries either through my website or indeed his. Records to substantiate the source of the participants & crucially the dates of their enquiries are available & will be presented as part of the court hearing, if we are unable to reach agreement.
My difficulties with my hand continue unfortunately & I am recovering from yet more surgery which I underwent last month.
I honestly don’t believe that I’ve caused any damage to your business. The 5 friends & followers that accompanied me were not influenced by the copy on my photography website. My friends came with me because they were my friends. The other 3 guests who signed up did so after seeing my pelican pictures & individual post on Instagram (which I believe you have been sent), together with my reputation as a leading nature photographer.
The 5 individuals accompanied me on what I regarded as a small & essentially private trip that just covered the costs of writing the feature. You have been sent the income & expenditure of the trip & will see that it basically washed its face. The £1000 offer to NaturesLens represents a significant amount of money for the Company.
Yours sincerely,
Tammy Marlar
On behalf of Marketing & Fundraising Consultants Ltd
End of Email excerpt
The judge who heard the case commented on Tammy’s assertion that she used our content as a basis for hers. The judge stated that the commonality is incredible in that only the guide’s name has changed from Pui Hang Miles to Tammy Marlar. To say this is not copied content is something the judge could not believe.
The resolution was reached through mediation, which remains confidential due to the terms of the agreement. This highlights the significance of accountability & restitution in cases of content theft.
While Nick Dale’s evasion of legal proceedings complicated the situation, Tammy Marlar’s admission demonstrates that she was the key party. However, Nick Dale was part of the resolution & implicitly accepted his part in content theft, which is a genuinely despicable stance for a professional photographer to have taken; who would ever want to be known as one of the photographers who acted in a totally unethical fashion & stole copyrighted content?
In conclusion, Nick Dale & Tammy Marlar’s actions serve as a stern warning for individuals & businesses involved in online content creation, urging them to be vigilant & respectful of intellectual property rights.
The ramifications of content theft extend beyond legal implications, encompassing reputational damage, financial consequences, & ethical considerations. The potential economic impact on your business should be a strong deterrent against such actions.
Upholding the integrity of intellectual property rights & abiding by copyright laws are essential pillars of a responsible digital presence.
This case is a stark reminder that respect for original content & adherence to legal standards are non-negotiable in the rapidly changing digital landscape. Let it serve as a guiding beacon towards a more responsible & ethical digital presence.
