Hey guys - I have a question of both legality and ethics for the peanut gallery.

I have noticed that some of my photo's, which I have made public in my online galleries as well as web sites like this one, are showing up in commercial advertising and commercial websites. No mention of me is made, nor did anyone ever contact me to ask for my permission to use them.

I am flattered that people like my photo's enough to want to use them, I am after all just an amateur photographer, but it makes me wonder just who else has "borrowed" my work for commerical means?

What do others here do to protect their images and their ownership rights thereof? I'm not fishing to make money off them mind you, but a credit here and then or at least a thank you might be nice once in a while...

 

What's a peanut gallery? But unless you've explicitly given a release of ownership to your photos that you've taken you have every right to confront these site owners that they have used your images to order them to remove your images at once or at the very least provide proper credit to you.

I've had complete websites ripped of that I originally designed, and that's just as much stealing as it is to borrow a photo that doesn't belong to them.

 

The images are your property, but fighting for your rights to it?

Probably not worth the time and money, but it might be fun to confront the culprits. Do you have any examples to share?

 

Well, my local MINI dealership just sent out their monthly newsletter, and it features a picture of my car I took while at the Nashville Super Speedway on a track day. I posted it at our MINICC website and it got lifted from there....

I am tight with the guys at MINI of Nashville, so I have no problem personally with their using it, just kind of surprised me to see it in their flyer without having asked me first. When I take my '02 Works car in for the recal work and the Works upgrade I might have to mention it and see if I get a tshirt or something out of it.

Earlier in the year I went to a website that had as their main graphic the picture I took of the parade leaving the dam site at this year's Dragon Rally. I am the last car in the line and got a fairly dramatic shot of the hundred or so MINI's all heading out down a twisty road. I don't remember the website at the moment though....

Doesn't bother me, just wondering what other people thought and had done with their own images.

 

Something I've started doing of late is filling out the "File Info" in Photoshop. That's where you can kind of embed your copyright information. When someone opens up your pic in PS, it should show your info along with the EXIF stuff.

Try it . . . download this pic and see how it works. Post the "caption" I put in.


This is not a cure all, but it,at the very least, establishes who the artist is.

 

"Life sucks when your images aren't credited."


I like that! Gonna take some work to do that to all my photo's, but worth it for the better ones I think.

 

Dang dude, I didn't think you'd respond tonight, considering your time zone!

Regardless . . . yup, that's the caption!
And you're right, it does take some work but I think it's a step.

 

It's a lot like file sharing.. or bootlegging software..


most people don't care...

sorry to say..

If you feel that your pictures are worth something, you should be compensated by the user.. Your dealer ship should give you something for the use of your images..
the web site should either pay you for it, give you a big credit for it, or take it off their site..

a

 

If an image is in the public domain, i.e. you posted it without any copyright information, there is not much you can do. For the most part, if someone profits from the use of the image without compensation, that is in effect stealing. It's a good arguement that you desrerve compensation. But you can include a copyright notice in your image using photoshop. Then, if someone appropriates the image, you can at least make an attempt to force payment.
If they knowingly use an image without permission, it is a violation of copyright, a Federal law, and a serious crime. Better to take them to small claims court and avoid a Federal Lawsuit, which requires a $10-15,000 retainer.

 

If someone's using your picture without your permission, they're stealing from you. Your images are copyrighted the moment you create them. The problem is that persuing it legally is difficult unless you've registed your pictures with the US Copyright Office. If and only if you've done that you can collect punative damages and legal fees as well as lost income. If you haven't registed with the Copyright Office, you can only collect lost income.

Some very good information on Copyright at:
http://www.copyright.gov/
http://www.editorialphotographers.com/copyright/

Mark

 

Here is what the November 2004 issue of Popular Photogaphy & Imaging had to say about this issue:

The entirety of this information came from the November 2004 Popular Photography & Imaging editorial by John Owens on Page 13 of the magazine. It is here for educational reasons.


COPYRIGHTS AND WRONGS

One of the many things I love about photography is that it's a relatively litigation free pastime (unlike, say, trading stocks on insider information or performing ameteur plastic surgery). Even so, unsuspecting photographers can get caught in the legal tangle. To show just how easy it is, I enlisted the help of attorney Victor S. Perlman, Genereal Counsel and Managing Director of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP). I asked him to dream up a couple scenaris in which we could find ourselves... and then show us how to get out of them or, better yet, prevent them altogher.

The Setting: You're on the web. You discover that one of your photos (perhaps that contest winner) is really popular. It's on lots of sites. But you never gave any of those web sites permission to use it.

What!? On each of the sites, an official-looking notice says: "This is an educational web site. Material can be used here without permission from the copyright owner under the Fair Use provision of the U.S. Copyright Act."

The Good News: In this case, the "Fair Use" claim is ridiculous. Yes, fair use is permitted for education, research, or criticism, but it's far more limited than just grabbing material and posting it on a web site. If what these sites claim were true, nobody would publish textbooks, or other educational material since it could be copied without limits or liability.

The Bad News: Enforcing your copyright might not be easy.

The Big Question: Did you register your copyright with the Copyright Office? If you did, you're golden. That is, if you registered the photobefore the infringement - or within three months after the first time it was published. Then, if you win, you can ask the court to make the other side pay your lawyer's feess. You also can ask for "statutory damages," which may not be too tough to prove. The judge could award you as much as $150,000 per photo (assuming the web sites have anything worth taking). If you didn't, kick yourself. Suing - or even geting a lawyer to take the case - will be tough. Yes, you own the copyright; the photo is copyrighted the instant you take it. Any you can demand that the web sites stop using your shot. But suing for copyright infringement? You have to register the photo before filing suit. And the obstacle you'll face then are tougher than if it had been registered earlier.

The Lesson: Register your copyrights! The $30-per-registration fee can cover numerous photos. Get all the details and forms at www.copyright.gov.

(Again, this partial article was copied form the November 2004 issue of Popular Photography & Imaging for educaitoanl purposes.)

WEBMASTER: If you determine this post is in violation of copyright laws could you please remove it.

Thanks,

jbing