Bookmark thumbnails triggering copyright violation claims

Bugs
1

Issue Summary

  • I included a bookmark pointing to the Guardian website in a public article here:

    Stop Rosebank — More than just a Bad Deal for the UK

    The bookmark widget renders a beautiful short summary of the shared post along with a thumbnail image.

    thumbnail
    thumbnail729×356 100 KB
    Several months later I received notice from the PA Media Association that I had violated the copyright on this image by sharing it and that they want me to pay £475 to cover the licensing cost. The image is rendered as a tiny 184pixel wide thumbnail.

    I have argued that the image is shared from the Guardian website and that the original article’s metadata includes a version of the image with a watermark, designated for public sharing.

  • I expected the image to be shared directly from the Guardian website, however when the bookmark was created, it appears to have downloaded the image and then shared it from my own website, putting me at risk of copyright violations.

  • Can we have an option not to download or cache images from bookmarks as repeated claims of this nature could put many small sites out of business.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Create a post on Ghost
  2. Insert a bookmark from any well known host
  3. Publish the post
  4. View the post
  5. Right-click on the thumbnail next to the bookmark and choose “Open image in new tab”
  6. Check the address bar to see if the url for the image is the original domain or the current one.

Setup information

Ghost Version
6.8.1

Node.js Version
Not sure

How did you install Ghost?
Hosted with MagicPages.co

Provide details of your host & operating system
Not sure

Database type
MySQL 8

2 Likes
2

Social images from structured data have been explicitly designated by the originating site for public consumption by other websites, as you mentioned. Most services, including Ghost, Twitter, Facebook, etc - all cache a copy of the image to avoid putting excessive load on the originating server, but that’s unrelated to copyright.

It’s pretty easy to demonstrate this to them, if you need to!

CleanShot 2025-11-26 at 21.23.49@2x
CleanShot 2025-11-26 at 21.23.49@2x1920×875 242 KB

3 Likes
3

I had the same problem in Australia from an org called picrights chasing money for a bookmark with a pic from AP.

I removed the bookmark immediately, then explained the bookmark was no different to social media posts of that story, and they don’t chase money for those.

I haven’t back from them. No payment made.

1 Like
4

Also, check the credentials of the org requesting payment. I got a request for payment by a firm that makes their money by filing copyright claims. You might contact PA Media directly (NOT using any info in the notice) to see if they are, indeed, the ones who sent the request.

3 Likes
5

Like Bruce said, you might want to check the source - who actually sent you the notice @UltraSimplified

I received a similar notice a few months ago for using a photo that apparently “one of their customers took in the UK”. I had taken that pic myself in a beach in Melbourne – the pic literally had just the sky, beach, and ocean.

6

Thanks all - this is all great advice. I will follow up on the credentials of the organisation now.

Robin

1 Like