rhyder
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 I had no idea my pix used on yearbook | |
Craig Gillette wrote:
Think of it as a "teachable moment." The yearbook has an advisor, the advisor has an administrator. The yearbook also has a publisher. All of those people are supposed to be professsionals, some hold advanced degres and certificates.
Let's start with the publishers. They should be providing guidance to the staff and advisor about what is and isn't acceptable practice when it comes to getting material for the yearbook. I wouldn't hesitate to send them a letter. They should be wary of unauthorized use of copyrighted material and even if most schools are unsophisticated or most "parent" sources aren't savvy, that's no excuse for them not to use due diligence. Few, if any, photographers would give a pass to various retailers, processors, printers, etc., when they copy "professional" material without authorization. I doubt you will get a real satisfying answer but if you then spread around the name of the slack publisher (to professional photographic asociations, etc.), it might be a part of a trail that does eventually create a pattern of abuses.
Teachers and administrators are aware of copyright laws, if not, they should be. Schools have gotten into trouble from use of copyrighted videos, for copying music, for making clasroom sets or materials not approved for that kind of distribution or use. Texts and other supplementary materials are almost always marked as to their copyright status and if copying is authorized.
It's not always completely cut and dried. "Educational" use is one of the factors in determining "fair use." But I'd agree that use in a yearbook is probably not going to pass the fair use tests.
The problem you and the staff have is that they got the images from a third party, one who is not necessarily likely to have been aware of the issues. If the staff (and advisor) wasn't checking and asking for some kind of clearance when accepting submittals, they may have some blame in this. But while that might be "best practices" in a real publishing concern, it's probably not anything like the madhouse that goes into putting together many yearbooks.
And the images were passed to the coach without any kind of guidance as to the kinds of usages. While there is a rather well known source for "business advice" who suggests (IMO wrongly) that one need not give written guidance nor use contracts when passing on images, due to the potential for causing confusion and creating a legal mess because of what was written, much, if not all of this could have been avoided if you had acutally advised the coach as to what would or would not be acceptable uses.
So yes, there are some things you can do. Contact the school. I doubt they want to be in a position where the yearbook staff is not familiar with copyright issues. But take it to them as an opportunity to learn something and don't treat as a huge world ending event.
I'd take this molehill to the Supreme Court!!! You're right, these people should be taught a lesson. If we used waterboarding in these cases...there would be a lot less infringement. 
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