Publicity or permission issues ?

[Laura2592]

Yesterday I was sent a link from a friend to an article about my Airbnb by a travel writer.  As far as I know this person has not been a guest.  Its a flattering little write up on a blog that's pretty popular.  All the pictures were taken directly from my listing. 

I had no awareness that this might happen...no one reached out to ask us if we would be interested in having this story if if they can use our photos.  We had gotten several bookings in the past week since this appeared....also some very strange inquiries because the price he quoted is not the price for every night as we use a peak demand pricing tool. Some folks demanded the price in the article. 

My husband has a legal background and is upset that we were not informed this was happening.  I'm happy for the additional exposure but it does seem a bit strange not to give us a heads up. What are your thoughts? Anyone have anything like this happen?

[Rebecca181]

Have you asked the travel writer in question directly yet as to how this all occurred?

[Laura2592]

No. My husband had a somewhat aggressively worded email he wanted to send but I talked him out of it. I think he probably just stumbled on the listing  He links back to it and used a few phrases from it .

It ultimately doesn't matter how it happened. It's out there. Whether the writer was a guest or not he didn't ask for any permission. 

[Lisa723]

@Laura2592 I'm guessing they don't need your permission, at least if they have Airbnb's. "By creating, uploading, posting, sending, receiving, storing, or otherwise making available any Member Content on or through the Airbnb Platform, you grant to Airbnb a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual (or for the term of the protection), sub-licensable and transferable license to such Member Content to access, use, store, copy, modify, prepare derivative works of, distribute, publish, transmit, stream, broadcast, and otherwise exploit in any manner such Member Content to provide and/or promote the Airbnb Platform, in any media or platform."

[Laura2592]

@Lisa723  that is what i told my husband...like so many things on Airbnb there not a lot of normal protections.  He said that the images are copyright eligible because we had a professional photographer take many of them. And that at the very least we should have had some indication that this was about to hit the street even as a courtesy.  Just wondering if something similar has happened to anyone else.  

[Lisa723]

@Laura2592 sure as a matter of courtesy, of course they "should" have let you know. Pretty sure we give up copyright rights by posting on Airbnb, though.

In your shoes I'd be pleased, on balance.

[Laura2592]

@Lisa723 yes its very nice! It just came from out of nowhere as I didn't recognize the writers name at all. My spouse often has a very different perspective on things. I was ready to thank the guy and he was ready to lambast him. Hah. 

[Emilia42]

I don't really know anything about this but does he need permission? You're advertising your business on a public website for the world to access. I have been made aware of shorts write-ups reviewing/mentioning some aspects of my family's business without anyone ever contacting us beforehand. I even had to go out and pay for the magazine just like everyone else!

[Laura2592]

@Emilia42  according to my husband,  if its a review like on Yelp,  no, no permission is needed.  If its using images and writing a story,  they should ask or inform in varying degrees of "should ".  Im not an expert in any way. I was surprised and pleased,  if a little confused by some of the pricing messages before I saw the article.  My husband looks at it totally differently. 

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  It seems to me that using the pro photos you paid for without permission is a violation. And that part in the TOS which was quoted above refers to Airbnb using your listing info, not some 3rd party.

If it were me, I would definitely contact the writer of the article, not necessarily aggressively-worded, but firmly worded as to him asking permission before doing such a thing. 

There are so many people nowadays who appear to have no concept of privacy and assume that everyone would be happy to have their business promoted in any way whatsoever- all the "influencer" is concerned about is hits on their website or blog. They need to be disabused of this assumption.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Laura2592 

This one is very awkward for AirBnb.

if you pay one of their photographers to photograph your listing, AirBnb will not let you use those photos elsewhere.

You, employing a photographer to photograph your place will provide you with a license to use those photographs for the intention purchased. They would not be licensed for publication elsewhere (I.e. “an article”) without further payment to the photographer.

The person infringing these rights is the journalist publishing the photographs without license as well as the use of your Intellectual property without permission. Your husband would be better placed than many to make a realistic judgement. 

[Ann72]

@Laura2592  Both @Sarah977 and @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 are correct.  My business deals with the representation of intellectual property and the terms quoted above definitely do not give permission to any rando - only to Airbnb.  I'm more on your husband's side on this.

There is a middle ground.  You can approach the blogger and thank him for highlighting your place, but ask him to run a correction about prices and to credit the photographs (whether you took them or someone else took them).

Bloggers get away with this because they're not journalists and don't have to abide by any journalistic ethics.

[Yadira22]

@Laura2592 

Yes to the above. At the very least the blogger should highlight in their blog that prices are correct at time of publishing and may be subject to change (this is standard even for magazines etc). 

If you want to have these taken down you could consult the photographer (or owner of the images) and see if they handle this dispute as they probably have a better chance of "winning" such a dispute but the blogger should at least ask. I had someone do this at my apartment, and the fact they mentioned it in passing annoyed me a tad but honestly, not worth the headache. 

[Emilia42]

@Laura2592 I just received this e-mail from Airbnb. This would give people an incentive to create blog posts of various Airbnbs in hopes of attracting the reader to book the listing. 

[Lawrene0]

Interesting, @Emilia42 !

Yes, @Laura2592 , had it happen. My place appears on 10-best style blogger lists, complete with (my) photos and wrong prices and typos/misinformation ("wooden stove" instead of "wood stove", for instance, and, weirdly, saying there is a washer and dryer...). I've never been upset -- a bit like you, thinking it can't hurt -- but I see your husband's and @Ann72 's points. I should write and make them get it right.

Especially if they are getting rich on that 30% of the service fee!