Stolen Image -- Is there anything I can do?

richtersl

:splatSo here I am at a local coffee shop and see some photos by a local photographer for sale hanging on the wall. Curious sort that I am, I decide to take a look at them and discover one of mine there with HIS name on it! And, it's for sale! It's a low-res shot (155k) that I had posted to a photo forum well over a year ago. He cropped it, resized it to 8x10 and then masked the low-res by printing it on a textured surface.

I did some very specific things to the image with color and hue via PSE, which is how I was able to recognize that it was my image. I still have the original, plus the PSD file used to modify the color and hue.

I'm flattered that he liked the image well enough to steal it but I don't know if I have any legal recourse to go after this guy or not and can use some advice.

FatNakedGuy

richtersl wrote:

:splat
I'm flattered that he liked the image well enough to steal if but I don't know if I have any legal recourse to go after this guy or not and can use some advice.

A baseball bat to the kneecap sounds about right...

Wishing you luck on this!

bham

Before you take any action I would have a number of prints ready for sale to hopefully replace this creaps images with your own in that coffee shop. Because once you point of what has happened to them also, I think they may not want to do business with him and I am sure you would be happy to take his place.

My point about this is think through the whole scenario before acting. I probably would immediate take my camera to the shop and take pictures of everything.

I sure a few others will chime in with the specifics of the other actions to take place. I wanted to point out to you though that this could turn into an opportunity for you, and to be ready.

RogersDA

Heck, probably all of the pictures from him are lifted.

Print and frame yours and go to his "studio" and offer to sell it to him?

Email/call him to see if he can show you the original?

Angelo

I'm liking the baseball bat to the knees approach myself...

but in the real world: when you say you have the original can we assume you have a RAW file?

This is a perfect opportunity to illustrate the value and importance of RAW files.

Back in the day... film photographers could always prove ownership of an image with possession of a negative. Today's digital photographers can only "prove" ownership with possession of a RAW file.

If you indeed have a RAW file of the image, start with a simple letter stating your ownership and ability to prove it and ask that he cease and desist; cc the cafe owner.

richtersl

Thanks, everyone
...the kneecap approach sounds mighty nice right about now. :toni

:nah I have the original JPEG file -- sadly, I was not shooting RAW at that particular point in my life. I don't recall the original file size offhand but it's got to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-4 MEG. At any rate, it's big enough to produce a large, clear print, which a 155k cropped file cannot do.

I am tempted to contact the S.O.B. as a "customer" to ask him if he can do a poster sized print of that for me without the texturizing effect and then see what his reaction would be.

Sam

Linda,

You have quite a few options open to you depending on your inclination, and desire.

First I would take a photo in the coffee shop showing all the photos on the wall, and a close up of your photo, he modified.

You have his name so see if he has a web site. Maybe talk to the coffee shop people and see if they know him, and if maybe he has more photos in other retail locations. If so go check them out.

Once you have some intelligence on the guy it will help you make better choices as to how to proceed further.

While you own the copyright from the second you pressed the shutter button, registering the photo will provide additional legal remedies, including attorney fees.

If he has copied yours, how many others are actually his?

Oh, please post this guys name maybe someone here can dig up some info for you.

The very least I would do is inform the coffee shop owner, and demand from the so called local photographer that he immediately remove and destroy all copies of this photo. Any hesitation here, and I would take him to court.

It’s much more than just the money. I don’t believe you allow this person to continue to steal others work, and post it as his own.

Sam

W.W. Webster

richtersl wrote:

I am tempted to contact the S.O.B. as a "customer" ....

Let's get this straight - this shyster has deliberately violated your rights. Now is not the time to be cute. Unless you assert your rights, firmly and at the first opportunity, you run the risk a future court will interpret your reaction as acquiescence.

I would confront both him and the store owner, forthwith, and make it plain (preferably also supported by a written letter) that:

a. you own the copyright in the photo

b. he has deliberately infringed your copyright for financial advantage

c. you take gross offence

d. he must immediately remove and destroy all copies of this and any other photos he has illegally copied, and

e. you demand he pay financial compensation/damages to be determined.

I'm not qualified to offer legal advice, but I'm absolutely sure that to do anything less will seriously weaken your position.

Dee

Brazen
This is about the most brazen action I've ever heard of. Please take pictures as suggested, and post them here too! And link us to your original photo.

Querry to everyone... why would an original, out of the camera, JPG not be considered original.... why would it have to be a RAW image? All the EXIF data is in my JPG original?????

This photographer may have "lifted" other photographer's work too...

So sorry this happened to your photo. I always thought my low res web photos would be safe from this sort of thing, never thought that printing it on a textured paper would hide the "flaws."

richtersl

The Image
This is the image that was lifted:

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/North_America/United_States/photo261062.htm

What he did was crop it so that it would have a "landscape" appearance rather than a "portrait" one like the original does. The colors were rather flat in the original so I did some post processing on it to correct that.

As you can see, it's pretty easy to lift a photo from that site.

What he did was actually quite clever and I have to admit that it looks nice. I don't recall seeing any of his other displayed photos having that texture treatment done, though you can see that he did do some post processing on them.

He obviously lives somewhere near me. It's a pretty cheeky stunt to think I'd never find out.

I also wondered how many of the other photos he had there were lifted.

I'm going to do a little reconaissance work this weekend at that coffee shop. A cell phone camera should be able to catch some detail of that photo.

ivar

richtersl wrote:

I'm going to do a little reconaissance work this weekend at that coffee shop. A cell phone camera should be able to catch some detail of that photo.

Richters, Linda Richters, agent 006 and a half :lynnsite


Just take a regular camera, I'm sure people don't mind you taking photos of your own photo.

dogwood

bham wrote:

Before you take any action I would have a number of prints ready for sale to hopefully replace this creaps images with your own in that coffee shop. Because once you point of what has happened to them also, I think they may not want to do business with him and I am sure you would be happy to take his place.

Now that's how I have to start thinking! I'll let the others hash out the legal details. But this idea is great-- talk about making lemonade from a lemon!

bham

dogwood wrote:

Now that's how I have to start thinking! I'll let the others hash out the legal details. But this idea is great-- talk about making lemonade from a lemon!

That was exactly my point besides taking action against him, replace him and end up in a better position no matter what comes of the issue with the thief.

DifferentSeed

Theft is awful. You might want to speak to a lawyer in the field of copyright protection as well. Any paralegal worth their salt could provide basic information over the phone without incurring a charge. Besides the "photographer" (thief), the store or chain could be at fault for displaying stolen merchandise.

While reconnaissance (sp?) sounds fun, you don't know what relationship the thief has with the coffee shop. If you tell them why you're there they may just tip him off (maybe they're roommates, friends, lovers, or inlaws).

Perhaps just go to the shop with a friend, order a coffee or two, and take pictures of each other with the photos in the background (possibly with the daily paper as well to date them another way besides RAW data). The subject in question will be the photos he stole anyway, but the premise of friends taking each others pictures gets you around the whole need to talk to anyone working in the coffee shop about it, which may also be liable for displaying stolen merchandise in their store. Hopefully they themselves have a legal agreement that he's the owner of the works, blah blah... (which only helps your case! )

Anyway, I cannot imagine how frustrating, infuriating, annoying, enraging, etc this must be and agree that you need to consider your options.

A few online resources that are handy for learning more about this type of thing:

http://www.lawgirl.com/
http://www.copyright.gov/

lizstabbertphoto

Take a print of your origional to the coffe shop and have his stolen piece removed immediately. Both the shop and the sleezball forger need to understand that copyright infringement is a serious deal. Its a crime with a penalty of several thousand dollers per image stolen (anyone have the exact numbers? its big.)

Things like that make my blood boil. If I ever caught someone stealing my work they'd really be in for it. One gal I know actually bought a forged copy of her own painting off of ebay 1) to get it off the market and 2) to have solid proof against the seller. She used her real name and the seller never even noticed. Some people!!

gus

Please keep us up to date with the outcome. Really its not the coffee shops fault. You cant expect them to know whom owns what out of the 4 trillion photos in the world but you should expect a sympathetic ear & some action once you have proved your the true owner.

As for the person/s that stole your photo...well thats a whole different angle. I find it amazing that people will do that.