Yay: First published pic. Boo: Stolen from my site

124

Comments

  • IcebearIcebear Registered Users Posts: 4,015 Major grins
    edited January 18, 2008
    I think it's like $45 to register the DVD's contents.
    John :
    Natural selection is responsible for every living thing that exists.
    D3s, D500, D5300, and way more glass than the wife knows about.
  • cmasoncmason Registered Users Posts: 2,506 Major grins
    edited January 18, 2008
    Read through this thread, you will find links to the copyright office telling you exactly how to register. One post on here indicates it is possible to simply submit the thumbnails, and a DVD will hold alot of thumbnails.
  • ~Jan~~Jan~ Registered Users Posts: 966 Major grins
    edited January 20, 2008
  • VisualXpressionsVisualXpressions Registered Users Posts: 860 Major grins
    edited January 25, 2008
    I have been reading this thread from the beginning... very interesting... Is there any update to this saga? Inquiring minds want to know...mwink.gif

    Winston
  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited January 26, 2008
    cmason wrote:
    a DVD will hold alot of thumbnails.
    Lol. Yea, like 13,000+ thumbnails.
  • alorentzenalorentzen Registered Users Posts: 28 Big grins
    edited January 29, 2008
    Already been paid for services?
    f00sion wrote:
    ..this isn't something I have shot before or plan to do regularly, just tagged along with a friend who makes parts... he paid me in beer.

    I haven't read the whole thread, but I'm wondering if you already "sold" the photo... Did you give a copy to your friend - without any rights limitation? Did your friend send the author or magazine the photo? Does he think he owns the photo because, as you say, he "paid (you) in beer"? That might be their attorney's position if push comes to shove...
  • AngeloAngelo Super Moderators Posts: 8,937 moderator
    edited January 29, 2008
    alorentzen wrote:
    I haven't read the whole thread, but I'm wondering if you already "sold" the photo... Did you give a copy to your friend - without any rights limitation? Did your friend send the author or magazine the photo? Does he think he owns the photo because, as you say, he "paid (you) in beer"? That might be their attorney's position if push comes to shove...

    irrelevant.

    publishers know better and are ultimately responsible for securing permission from copyright holder.
  • djspinner2kdjspinner2k Registered Users Posts: 127 Major grins
    edited January 29, 2008
    Cool site
    this was a site i stumbled upon. I don't know if the amounts sound good to you guys. it's a stock photo price calculator.

    http://photographersindex.com/stockprice.htm
    EVGENY:D
    www.petrovphotography.com
    http://petrovphotography.smugmug.com

    Canon 30D
    Canon 24-70mm F2.8L
    Canon 70-200mm F2.8L
    Canon 430EX Flash
  • I SimoniusI Simonius Registered Users Posts: 1,034 Major grins
    edited January 29, 2008
    If that were me I would simply send them an invoice for the same amount I woud have cherged if they asked me for it in the first place

    Shots for a mag like that over here (UK) are provbably £25-£150 max. Most likely £25-50 range. So bump it up a little but if ou expect them to agree to pay without a fight at least make it reasonable

    The question really is do you just want paying for your pic or are you looking for someone to sue the hell outta???

    I would not approach this from the POV that they are thieves. [even if they are]. Not unless they refuse to pay- give them that option firstmwink.gif

    They might buy more pics from you even!
    Veni-Vidi-Snappii
    ...pics..
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited January 29, 2008
    Foosion,

    Back on 1-18-08 you indicted you had sent the original letter of demand to the incorrect address, but now had the correct address.

    So, inquiring minds want to know, if they sent payment via limo, or if by chance they were less polite? Perhaps they didn't responded at all. :D

    Sam
  • scottVscottV Registered Users Posts: 354 Major grins
    edited January 29, 2008
    sorry, had the flu last week and crazy busy at work.

    they actually hand delivered the check by way of private jet.

    haven't heard a peep yet, im sure they are working with the bank to get the funds lined up. hopefully it will arrive as one of those giant novelty checks. thumb.gif
  • paulbrockpaulbrock Registered Users Posts: 515 Major grins
    edited January 30, 2008
    Similar situation
    Last week, I recently caught a company using an image of mine without permission on a brochure; I wrote to them and explained the situation. After proving the image was mine, they accepted my suggested fee for the usage (including a surchage for doing it AFTER use), so now I count it as a sale! :D

    Hopefully things were kept civil enough that they may use my services in future; I didn't mention lawsuits or solicitors, merely stated my case in a calm, co-operative manner.
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited January 30, 2008
    paulbrock wrote:
    Last week, I recently caught a company using an image of mine without permission on a brochure; I wrote to them and explained the situation. After proving the image was mine, they accepted my suggested fee for the usage (including a surchage for doing it AFTER use), so now I count it as a sale! :D

    Hopefully things were kept civil enough that they may use my services in future; I didn't mention lawsuits or solicitors, merely stated my case in a calm, co-operative manner.

    This is best way to begin when faced with this type of situation. One can always fall back on plan B, if this doesn't produce the desired results.

    You have demonstrated common sense, logic, and have quickly achieved success without spending large sums of money or forming numerous comities.

    You are no longer eligible to be employed by the United States government. :D

    Sam
  • Mike LaneMike Lane Registered Users Posts: 7,106 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2008
    Sam wrote:
    This is best way to begin when faced with this type of situation. One can always fall back on plan B, if this doesn't produce the desired results.

    You have demonstrated common sense, logic, and have quickly achieved success without spending large sums of money or forming numerous comities.

    You are no longer eligible to be employed by the United States government. :D

    Sam
    Careful, lots of government employees and/or current and ex military in here. No need to go down that road.
    Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.

    http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2008
    Mike Lane wrote:
    Careful, lots of government employees and/or current and ex military in here. No need to go down that road.

    The military is different. As time goes by I meet fewer, and fewer who have served. Of the ten people who are running for president, only one has served in the military. (This is not an endorsement of any particular candidate, jut a statement of fact.)

    As to my statement implying the government, (not any one particular person) is less than competent, I will stand by this as fact.

    Sam
  • Mike LaneMike Lane Registered Users Posts: 7,106 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2008
    Sam wrote:
    The military is different. As time goes by I meet fewer, and fewer who have served. Of the ten people who are running for president, only one has served in the military. (This is not an endorsement of any particular candidate, jut a statement of fact.)

    As to my statement implying the government, (not any one particular person) is less than competent, I will stand by this as fact.

    Sam
    I got out after 8 years as a Capt. in the USAF, FYI. My wife is still in and we can't swing a cat without hitting a military person we know.

    Nice to meet you.
    Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.

    http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
  • LittleLewLittleLew Registered Users Posts: 368 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2008
    I'm surprised that the publication didn't catch this.
    In every publication I've ever done (>100 professional pubs) I have always had to sign a para that said I owned the rights to use the figures and/or pic.

    I would guess that the author lied but that doesn't excuse the company.
    If they say they 'own' the picture now, they are part of the theft.
    New pictures at LewLortonphoto.com
  • mbellotmbellot Registered Users Posts: 465 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2008
    Mike Lane wrote:
    we can't swing a cat without hitting a military person we know.

    Great use for a cat, but doesn't it annoy the officers? rolleyes1.gif
  • xrisxris Registered Users Posts: 546 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2008
    One Swingin' Cat!
    mbellot wrote:
    Great use for a cat, but doesn't it annoy the officers? rolleyes1.gif
    Probably annoys the cat, though! I wonder who's photo's he stole?
    X www.thepicturetaker.ca
  • mteichermteicher Registered Users Posts: 72 Big grins
    edited February 13, 2008
    Commercial License
    I recently had the same issue occur except it was on a show flyer, although my prices for a commercial commercial use license are quite a bit more than that. I have been bit multiple times regarding magazine covers.

    My solution to the issue is that I picked up the phone and called me lawyer providing him with the details and the original photo and the flyer. it was used in, including information of the person who placed it into the flyer.
    "a nice cease and desist letter" is going out to the violator. I have burned way too many times prior to this one. I had one magazine publisher continue to use my name in his magazine and pictures on the covers and I never got one penny from him.
    Shudderz wrote:
    you offer this image on your site as a commercial license download high resolution file for $400.

    any chance they purchased the download? it would give them the rights to use it in their magazine. Have you checked your sales just to make sure before you contact them. If they did purchase the download, they wouldn't need to contact you any further before printing the photo in their magazine....the license (as I read it) really doesn't even state that they must give you credit for it.

    If not, as I see it, you're only out the $400.

    the commercial license reads:
    License For Commercial Use
    What you can do: Photographer grants you a perpetual, non-exclusive, non-transferable, worldwide license to use this image for permitted commercial purposes, defined as:

    advertising, promotion, brochures, packaging
    as part of a commercial website for promotional purposes (maximum 800x600pixels) use
    prints, posters, flyers, tearsheets for promotional purposes (not for resale)
    prints, posters, or other commercial display of image
    magazines, books, newspapers, other printed publications
    video, broadcast, theatrical

    What you may not do: Buyer may not resell, relicense, redistribute without express written permission from photographer. Use as a derivative work, and reselling or redistributing such derivative work is prohibited. Images may not be used in a pornographic, obscene, illegal, immoral, libelous or defamatory manner. Images may not be incorporated into trademarks, logos, or service marks. Image may not be made available for download.

    Photographer retains all rights, license, copyright, title and ownership of the image(s).

    There is no warranty, express or implied, with the purchase of this digital image file. Neither photographer nor SmugMug will be liable for any claims, or incidental, consequential or other damages arising out of this license or buyer's use of the image(s).
    Mark Teicher
    Principle Photographer/Co-Founder
    Body Bumpers, LLC
    PH: 717 918 1262
    Fax: 831 480 5873
    url: www.body-bumpers.com
    email: mteicher@body-bumpers.com
  • jcdilljcdill Registered Users Posts: 225 Major grins
    edited February 25, 2008
    Recent court ruling
    f00sion wrote:
    So this is bittersweet, my friend informed me that in the current issue of r/c car action they published a photo that I took. Unfortunately they never contacted me about using it and they even cropped off my watermark.

    You may be interested in this recent court case, where a stock photographer won almost $20k for someone who used his photo without paying.
    JC Dill - Equine Photographer, San Francisco & San Jose http://portfolio.jcdill.com
    "Chance favors the prepared mind." ~ Ansel Adams
    "Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." ~ Terry Pratchett
  • noparallelnoparallel Registered Users Posts: 1 Beginner grinner
    edited February 25, 2008
    Easy
    kygarden wrote:
    Just curious - how did they get a copy large enough to publish? Do you have the right-click protection enabled? If so, do you allow extra large previews of your photos or even the original size and maybe they took a screenshot to snag your photo?

    Just curious. If you've got right-click protection turned on and not so large previews, then that worries me a little :)
    There is no real way to protect pictures posted on the net. That's why you should only post low-resolution pictures.
  • I SimoniusI Simonius Registered Users Posts: 1,034 Major grins
    edited February 25, 2008
    noparallel wrote:
    There is no real way to protect pictures posted on the net. That's why you should only post low-resolution pictures.
    althopugh the nicked pic in question didn't look that big.. did it ( in te link about the lawsuit)
    Veni-Vidi-Snappii
    ...pics..
  • mercphotomercphoto Registered Users Posts: 4,550 Major grins
    edited February 26, 2008
    Tommyboy wrote:
    right-click protection is not enabled on my gallery and the largest size is XL.
    I don't remember seeing anyone respond to this so I will. I have to ask why you let someone get an XL image and you don't disable right click protection? You might run into the problem of the violator saying that you did not attempt to "lock your doors", so to speak. You do get some amount of automatic copyright protection but you still need to exert some amount of effort into protecting your rights because, otherwise, you will be stripped of those rights. In short, it IS possible to have you copyright nullified.

    Copyright law is not quite as simple as some on here would lend you to believe. Yes, technically the image is copyrighted by you as soon as you press the shutter button but in reality that is not enough to protect yourself. There is a reason why there is a formal filing process with the government.
    Bill Jurasz - Mercury Photography - Cedar Park, TX
    A former sports shooter
    Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
    My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
  • darkdragondarkdragon Registered Users Posts: 1,051 Major grins
    edited February 26, 2008
    mercphoto wrote:
    I don't remember seeing anyone respond to this so I will. I have to ask why you let someone get an XL image and you don't disable right click protection? You might run into the problem of the violator saying that you did not attempt to "lock your doors", so to speak. You do get some amount of automatic copyright protection but you still need to exert some amount of effort into protecting your rights because, otherwise, you will be stripped of those rights. In short, it IS possible to have you copyright nullified.


    So by this line of thought, if someone didn't lock thier car doors and I went in an took all thier CDs - I could argue that they didn't care enough to lock the door so I shouldn't be punished? headscratch.gif
    ~ Lisa
  • mercphotomercphoto Registered Users Posts: 4,550 Major grins
    edited February 26, 2008
    darkdragon wrote:
    So by this line of thought, if someone didn't lock thier car doors and I went in an took all thier CDs - I could argue that they didn't care enough to lock the door so I shouldn't be punished? headscratch.gif
    You are trying to find some correlation between common sense and the law, and that doesn't always work. :) Also, what pertains to everyday life does not always pertain to Intellectual Property law. The items inside your car and the IP of a business is not an apples-apples comparison.

    I work for a hi-tech company. We have electronic access to the building. Yet we still keep everything inside the building locked up. Computers go into a locked screen mode, file cabinets are locked, personal offices are locked, confidential information cannot be kept on tops of desks, etc. In a very real sense things are locked up behind multiple locks. You would think that locking the front door would be enough, but its not. There are reasons we go through the trouble of locking stuff behind locked doors and most of them are legal reasons. You have to show a willingness to protect something against theft. Further, if one person steals something you must go after them, otherwise your risk losing your rights altogether. (this is to keep a company from discriminating who they will prosecution and who they let have a pass -- all violators are supposed to be treated equal).

    In short, you lock your car not only to make it harder to steal the CD's, but also to prove that you had the intention to keep the CD's from being appropriated by someone else in the first place.
    Bill Jurasz - Mercury Photography - Cedar Park, TX
    A former sports shooter
    Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
    My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
  • OsirisPhotoOsirisPhoto Registered Users Posts: 367 Major grins
    edited February 26, 2008
    mercphoto wrote:
    You are trying to find some correlation between common sense and the law, and that doesn't always work. :) Also, what pertains to everyday life does not always pertain to Intellectual Property law. The items inside your car and the IP of a business is not an apples-apples comparison.

    I work for a hi-tech company. We have electronic access to the building. Yet we still keep everything inside the building locked up. Computers go into a locked screen mode, file cabinets are locked, personal offices are locked, confidential information cannot be kept on tops of desks, etc. In a very real sense things are locked up behind multiple locks. You would think that locking the front door would be enough, but its not. There are reasons we go through the trouble of locking stuff behind locked doors and most of them are legal reasons. You have to show a willingness to protect something against theft. Further, if one person steals something you must go after them, otherwise your risk losing your rights altogether. (this is to keep a company from discriminating who they will prosecution and who they let have a pass -- all violators are supposed to be treated equal).

    In short, you lock your car not only to make it harder to steal the CD's, but also to prove that you had the intention to keep the CD's from being appropriated by someone else in the first place.
    But theft of those items / data is still theft.
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited February 26, 2008
  • mercphotomercphoto Registered Users Posts: 4,550 Major grins
    edited February 26, 2008
    Hyperbaric wrote:
    But theft of those items / data is still theft.
    Like it or not, you still have to show a willingness to protect your rights in order to keep your rights. That is why you right-click protect your images. That is why you watermark them. That is why you register them with the Copyright office. And that is why you go after all people who infringe upon them, not just the big guys, and also why you will loose your protections if you don't.
    Bill Jurasz - Mercury Photography - Cedar Park, TX
    A former sports shooter
    Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
    My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
  • davidweaverdavidweaver Registered Users Posts: 681 Major grins
    edited February 26, 2008
    mercphoto wrote:
    Like it or not, you still have to show a willingness to protect your rights in order to keep your rights. That is why you right-click protect your images. That is why you watermark them. That is why you register them with the Copyright office. And that is why you go after all people who infringe upon them, not just the big guys, and also why you will loose your protections if you don't.

    Phooey.

    That arguement follows along the line of there should have been more guards in that European museum too when it got robbed.

    Separate the person/people/emotions/buisiness from the problem.

    You have been infringed. You want to be compensated.

    1. Get a lawyer. Pay for an hour of advice/service.
    2. Act upon that advice. If it's a phone call, or a written letter or a demand letter or a suit then do that.
    4. Understand what a retainer is and how to negotiate with an attorney.
    3. Get a better lawyer or retain the one you used in #1 after understanding the result from #2.

    You hire lawyers so you don't have to deal with all the crap that lawyers deal with. Remember, clients hire you because you are a professional. You need to do the same. You're legal fees are business expenses. Your compensation from any reward is income.

    Base the legal fees upon getting something back. You minimize your risk and your reward.

    Pay for an attorney all upfront and YMMV but your upside might be more.

    Good Luck.
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