Well I do not know where you are located and what the nature of the copyright laws in your country, but in the US its a very different situation. You do not need to show you are in the photography business. It is your image. If you are not in the business, there are a lot of ways to arrive at the actual value of the image from places like photo quote. If the image was registered with the copyright office the legal picture changes a great deal. At that point punitive damages can be applied up to I think its $100,000 per image.
Now for the legal expense, it can be there but in the US there is the practice of lawyers working on a contingency basis. No money for the lawyer unless they collect, but they get a percentage of the settlement if they do.
The bigger companies know this and collecting early in the game is usually no big problem. A letter notifying the company that you hold the copyright and a bill, and a deadline for payment or a cease and desist requirement and the problem is usually solved in hours. Its perfectly viable to add an unauthorized use surcharge, and about 10 times the normal rate was one time considered the norm here. Not always chump change, and a well placed and worded letter usually solves the issue before a lawyer need be involved.
Now are you going to get anything from the average website? Probably not. Using it for a school project, someone's personal home page, or a start up company with no cash is not likely to have you going out to dinner. Yet many times you can get paid for your work product. In Texas we do have to watch for Hogswallop, but we have a large number of wild pigs that can pack a big wallop if you ever walk up on one of them. They are far more dangerous than any rattlesnake. But to dismiss all copyright because you can't collect on all cases is very shortsighted in my opinion.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: A request for advice regarding use of pictures
From: Herschel Mair <herschel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, November 07, 2011 7:15 am
To: List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students
<photoforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Password Alert! This message may contain a request for your password. NEVER SEND OR RESPOND TO E-MAIL REQUESTS FOR YOUR PASSWORD. For questions about this alert, please contact the ITS HelpDesk at 585-475-4357 (v), 585-475-2810 (tty), or helpdesk@xxxxxxx.All this legal stuff is a load of.... Hogswallop!
Are you prepared to hire a legal team and go through the processes of litigation if they use the pics for something else?
You must show that you are in the business of selling images and show what you would have charged for such usage by presenting evidence of past transactions.... And that's about all you'll get
Most likely scenario is that the courts will ask the defendant to stop using the images and to take them down. You might get your legal fees paid for you.
Bottom line? If you care about usage, KEEP YOUR PICS OFF UNSECURED WEBSITES. Use passwords.
We all have egos and like the idea of millions of people admiring our images but there's a conflict of interest... You want people to admire them but you're afraid someone else may make money out of them. Heaven forbid!!!
It's like a young girl going out in a tiny mini skirt and then complaining that all men are perverts because they're looking at her legs.
Y O U W I L L N E V E R G E T R I C H O U T OF A N I M A G E S O M E O N E S T O L E O F F T H E I N T E R N E T.
So let it go... at least these people had the courtesy to ask first! That means they are somewhat ethical. I'd trust them.
Putting a C on the images is not going to make any difference to an image thief who won't ask and you'll never know. It won't be 3M, Gucci or CocaCola using it on a billboard in Times Square.
Herschel
On 11/6/11 8:30 AM, Pablo Coronel wrote:I have most of my pics in flickr with a (C) sign so that they are not used.
I have never made money of them, and do not intend to either but I got the following request:
Hope you are well! I loved your photos of Holland was wondering if we would be able to use your pics on our interactive map wetu.com/Home/Map. To see an example of the pop-up box where we would use the pics, just type (for example) Galapagos in the search bar on the right and click the listing that appears. Unfortunately we are a start-up so we don't yet have a budget to pay for images, but of course I can credit you.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks and warm regards,
Lexi
I was planning to answer saying that they can use my photos only for that purpose as long as my name is credited and no prints; postcards are made.
Does that sound sensible?
thanks
