I’ve always been suspicious of GoDaddy after someone wanted me to help them with their website and there was no way to do straight HTML. I convinced the friend to move their site to a real hosting company and have never used GoDaddy again. Their ads make me want to shower.
BUT! GoDaddy and I crossed paths today. More accurately, they pissed in my flower bed.
On Facebook I noticed Client_A post something about “Looking for a home with a pool? Call me first!” And it had a picture. One I took and, therefore, own the copyright for. But not one I took and licensed to Client_A. I found this odd because Client_A in the past had called and complained to me when she saw someone else using a picture I took of one of her listings. She was very aware of my licensing — I own the images and say what can be done with them — and very protective of both me and her own use. Great client.
I called Client_A and she said she uses something called MainStreetHub — now GoDaddy Social — to post to her Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook all at once. She pays them a fee ($300/quarter) and they manage it and provide content. Like a picture of a beautiful pool in a back yard.
I know who I took the picture for — Client_B. So I called and asked them if they use GoDaddy. Sure enough, they do. They create single-property websites and upload the pictures there for a slideshow and the like.
It seems that as part of GoDaddy’s terms-of-service, they think they get a royalty-free permission to use, re-use, create works, and re-license my work. So even though Client_B doesn’t own the picture and only owns a temporary license to use the picture, GoDaddy thinks they have the right to sell my picture to other people.
Now I need to find a copyright lawyer.
