Alcohol advertising has very strict strict rules in Ireland. And I believe that they cannot use anyone under the age of 23 (or 25 or something - i.e. they can't use young looking people). So the fact that many Oxegen photos may contain people (or models now because Heineken are using this to promote their brand hence it should be considered advertising and hence come under the strict guidelines) that are under 25 would be a breach of said guidelines and could get them into much mroe trouble than copyright breach of non-professional photograpgers.

This isnt a dig at non-pro photographers just saying that you could increase your arsenal.

Here we go:
http://www.asai.ie/entiresection.asp?Section_Num=7

7.6

Marketing communications should not be directed at children or in any way encourage them to start drinking. Accordingly:

(a) Anyone depicted in an alcohol marketing communication should be aged over 25 and should appear to be over 25.

Heineken took a long time to respond to demands from my union and from representatives of other photographers.

Heineken's lawyers are now laying all blame on their web developer and taking no responsibility at all. Furthermore, Heineken's solicitors are threatening to sue individual photographers for bringing Heineken's reputation into disrepute by discussing the matter with the media or on internet forums.

They are also threatening to start legal action in the Irish High Court to absolve themselves of any blame and then charging individual photographers for their legal costs.

This matter is starting to attract the interest of the business media in Ireland. Below is an article from today's Sunday Business Post in Ireland. The article can be seen here

Heineken tackled over alleged copyright breach
16 November 2008
By Ian Kehoe and Gavin Daly
Heineken Ireland is at the centre of a copyright dispute with an Australian trade union, which claims the firm used copyrighted pictures on a website to promote its links with the Oxegen music festival.
The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), an Australian union for journalists and photographers, has formally lodged a complaint with the brewer over the use of hundreds of pictures that it sourced from the Flickr website and other sources.
Heineken is a major sponsor of the music festival and the pictures in question appeared on a related website, heinekenmusic.ie, in June and July. The website has since been taken down, but the MEAA is still pursuing full payment for the use of the images.
While it has denied any copyright breach, Heineken has offered a “full and final settlement” of €15 per picture, for what it described as “the inconvenience caused in having to write to us”.
Leona Daly, a communications executive with Heineken, has written to the MEAA, saying: “After our investigations, we have concluded that any use of the images was, at best (if it could be said to be use at all, given they were immediately removed), use on a temporary basis and would not form the basis of any copyright claim in this jurisdiction.
However, members of the alliance have rejected the offer, claiming that the figure is far below the market rate of more than €600 per picture. Heineken has retained A&L Goodbody to handle the dispute.
The law firm has written to the MEAA claiming that Heineken was not responsible for photographs appearing on its website.
Richard Sharman, an Australian photographer and a member of the alliance, said he found Heineken’s behaviour “rather offensive”. Sharman said that 26 of his images had been used without proper payment or approval.
"Heineken used my photos for their commercial advantage without my permission,” he said. “Firstly, they deny using the photos, then they make an insulting offer to make a paltry payment for ‘the inconvenience caused in having to write to us’.”
A spokesman for Heineken Ireland said the company was satisfied that “no breach of copyright had occurred”. He said Heineken took the issue of intellectual property very seriously, and the company’s policy was consistent with best practice.

This issue is still alive and unresolved.

To date, Heineken has buried their head in the sand and haven’t responded to correspondence since they sent out their paltry offer.

The MEAA, the union representing journalists and photojournalists in Australia has gone into bat for a few of the photographers that are affected.

A firm in the UK Intellectual Property Protection http://ipprotection.net/index.php has taken the case on for a number of UK based photographers on a no win, no fee basis and I believe that at least one US lawyer is acting on behalf of a photographer.

The MEAA issued a media release today to the Irish media, which can be seen on my blog at http://blog.blackshadow.com.au/2008/09/heineken-fails-to-respond-to-conc...

There is a great article up on this at http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Copyright-chaos-for-photographers-and-... - check it out!

Here's another piece of the puzzle - a video posted on youtube by the Boondoggle employee that clearly highlights that the photo content is from flickr.

Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8O9QaGjd1I