stamps.com and my rights

DavidTO

A friend of mine that I shot engagement photos for sent one of the shots into stamps.com to make stamps for her wedding invitations.

Apparently just by the fact that she ordered the stamps, my image gets entered into a contest where I could win prizes and have my image displayed in the Smithsonian.

That's all well and good, but I gave her the right to make stamps, not assign my rights to another 3rd party. I have no problem with my friend, but I do have a problem with stamps.com, and I'm raising a stink. What do you all think?

The contest rules also state this:

contest rules wrote:

By participating in the Contest, you hereby grant PhotoStamps all rights, including the right to edit, publish, use, adapt, modify, or dispose of your image without further consideration or payment to you, online, in print, by public display or in any other media for advertising and promotional purposes for this and similar promotions in all media (including and without limitation, the Internet) without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law.

dogwood

Sounds screwy to me too. I totally understand your point.

On a related note, I think photo contests would get far better entries if they didn't claim all the entered photos for their future use. Some people may be flattered by unpaid use of their photos. Me? I'd rather get paid a fair price for the use of my photos by others.

I suspect stamps.com and many other places will someday face "you tube" and napster style lawsuits. You think if I sent stamps.com a Mickey Mouse photo that they could claim it for their own use? Of course not, because Disney has the ability to sue. The rest of us? We have to choose our battles much more carefully due to financial constraints.

DavidTO

dogwood wrote:

I suspect stamps.com and many other places will someday face "you tube" and napster style lawsuits. You think if I sent stamps.com a Mickey Mouse photo that they could claim it for their own use? Of course not, because Disney has the ability to sue. The rest of us? We have to choose our battles much more carefully due to financial constraints.

They put all the images through a review process, they claim. And Mickey would never make it through that, not just because Disney can sue, but also because it's an obvious case of copyright infringement. Mine isn't. At least not to them.

Dee

Disney yes...if...
on stamps thru zazzle -- you pick one of the Disney designs offered by Disney for use on t-shirts, stamps, etc.

Now if you grab a screen grab from your favorite Disney movie and use that for a stamp then I think one might be in trouble.

However, I doubt that zazzle would approve that for a U.S. stamp, as they have to pass the review process before zazzle will send them off to be printed.

BeachBill

DavidTO wrote:

They put all the images through a review process, they claim.

It's a process required by the U.S. Postal Service as they have restrictions on what can be placed on U.S. Stamps.

I've had a couple of my automobile photographs rejected as stamps because they clearly show a logo which may be copyrighted or trademarked by a 3rd party, and that's a no no with the postal service.

Nikolai

David,
I would have some huge reservations about any service that would somehow acquire all the possible rights to my pictures, at least without my clear, explicit and willingly given consent. I guess they are probably trying to protect their own back, but I don't see why it should be come my (or, in this case, your) problem.

I don't know what you can do at this point (except asking Sid, of course:-).

StevenV

your friend uploaded a picture and, by doing so, agreed that they granted stamps.com rights over which they had no authority to grant.

and you're upset by stamps.com?

DavidTO

StevenV wrote:

your friend uploaded a picture and, by doing so, agreed that they granted stamps.com rights over which they had no authority to grant.

and you're upset by stamps.com?

Yeah, she had no idea she was entering a contest, signing away my rights.

She also had no idea that her image could be used to advertise the site.

Buying their product should not opt you in to either of those. Especially when it's not made really, really clear.

DavidTO

Look, it's not like I think my photo is all that friggin' valuable.

It's that I think that assuming the rights to stuff just because I order their product is wrong. That they're not clear about it up front.

Sam

David,<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
I took a quick look at their web site, and they do not have a carter blanch legal authority to enter everyone into any contests, and hold them responsible, and / or accountable for their one sided, (read restrictive) contract. You cannot automatically be forced into a contract.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
While I admit I didn’t spend a lot of time on the website, but I didn’t see any notification in the place order area. It looked like you need to click on a link at the very bottom to access this info. <o:p></o:p>
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In the terms and conditions section they state:<o:p></o:p>
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“You must have the legal right to copy and display each image that you upload, share or print.”<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
“You authorize Stamps.com to cooperate with copyright owners who claim that you have infringed or may infringe their intellectual property rights.”
<o:p></o:p>
Your friend had the right to print stamps from you, the copyright holder. They did not however have any right to enter into any contests. Nor does Stamps.com have the right to enter them into a contest.<o:p></o:p>
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I would ask them to follow their own policy, with regard to cooperating with copyright owners, and ensure the image in question is immediately removed from any use whatsoever other than the printing of the ordered stamps.
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Sam
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Ps: I wouldn’t ask Sid, he is in sooo much do do over the last copyright issue he wrote about.

DavidTO

Thanks, Sam.

Nice new avatar!

I'm working on them. I'm trying to do two things.

1) Get my image removed from the contest.

2) Educate them on how they need to be clear about what they're doing, and provide an opt-in that goes beyond pushing the order button.

They're a little slow on the uptake.

Nikolai

Sam,
Nice avatar...
Who took that picture?

Sam wrote:

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
Ps: I wouldn’t ask Sid, he is in sooo much do do over the last copyright issue he wrote about.

Oh, come on, I was pulling the leg