Ok I never thought this would happen to me and I am shocked that it has. I use to roll in a Scion club called Alpha Squad, I took many photos for this club once paid and for an event but the rest were just to get photos. I no longer am apart of them because of simple club drama and the photos I took were to be used just for myspace and that it. Well they used a photo for a add for an event that I took of a buddy, wound up on there flyer no biggie let it slide. Now this http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v259/johnnyco2k2/misc/Scion/IMG_9808.jpg
all of the white box are my photo except for 2, I look threw the add and I am never recognized. They cut my frame with my logo off. They don't even call me the mag or him, so now I stand in the middle of the ground. He was a friend at one point but soon as I dropped the club the friendship eneded. So I know I have some searching to do but what would you do?
Thanks guys and gals
PS this is for LA Auto Guild Mag.....
Edited by AmpedPhoto on Jul 20, 2008 at 01:08 PM GMT
Have you registered these images with the Copyright Office (www.copyright.gov) ?? If not you still have some protection, but not the same, as having images registered.
I was in a similar situation with a UK magazine a few months ago. They published 8 of my shots alongside an article. The writer had copied them from my website and submitted them in order to get his article published.
I called up the magazine ready for a fight but they were great. They said they took copyright issues very seriously and after a few e-mails back & forth, I got paid. Not only that, I now contribute regularly to the magazine.
First off, you should contact the magazine. They are a commercial outfit and by publishing your shots, they have infringed your copyright. You have more leverage with them than your former friend.
I knew about the copyright, my real question is that since this magazine is free (i think) but also take subscriptions and have tons of sponsors will this still make a case?
I think my first action needs to contact the owner of the Magazine and let him know what the issue with it. I have a pretty good feeling that they will say sorry nothing we can do...and to hire an attorney is possible but I rather not and if I do what should I be charged along with what should I be asking the attorney?
I guess there are a couple of possibilities here. It could be that they asked the guy (your former friend) about ownership of the shots and he said that the shots were his. Or it could be that they don't ask the question as they don't want to hear the answer.
Either way, they do not have a reliable system in place for establishing image copyright and whether the mag is free or not has no bearing on that.
You have 90 days after publishing your images to register the copyright. Without a valid copyright registration, you have little recourse in any attempt to recover monetary damages.
Ok guys I talked with an attorney and he recommend that I send a Cease and Desist letter with a bill to the Publisher. So now my question is, will I kick myself in the face if I print out the page in my first post and labeled the photos that fall under the copyright issue?
AmpedPhoto wrote:
Ok guys I talked with an attorney and he recommend that I send a Cease and Desist letter with a bill to the Publisher. So now my question is, will I kick myself in the face if I print out the page in my first post and labeled the photos that fall under the copyright issue?
The attorney is right, send a letter asking them to stop, with an invoice for whatever you would charge for an editorial usage. BUT, don't hold your breath to get paid. Most of these little free pubs don't pay for pictures anyway, they probably don't even know how to properly deal with a photographer, they just have no money in the first place. It simply wouldn't be worth more action than a letter -- no blood from a stone, you know. It's just for the principle of putting a value on the picture, so if it gets picked up again, by like Toyota, you have that going for you.
Well do you want to get paid by the publication or do you want them to stop using your pictures or do you want to sue them for a copyright infringement.
Chances are they will not use your pictures again so the cease and desist letter (which carries a bigger threat when written by your lawyer than by you) is not really useful, I don't know if you are ready and willing to invest the time and $$,$$$ to sue someone in federal court. The most practical thing is to bill them for the usage in the magazine. Who cares if the they "don't have money in the first place" if you get a judgement you can do other things to satisfy it as long as they remaiin in business.
As far as "putting a value on a picture" each case is different so if Toyota comes a calling you can charge whatever you feel is right for their usage.
What does this mean "will I kick myself in the face if I print out the page in my first post and labeled the photos that fall under the copyright issue?'
send an invoice and register the pictures. This "We publish and then we'll see what happens" practice is growing also because of the internet search engines.
send the invoice, certified with all the info on how to make the payment, wait and then ask your Lawyer to re-send the invoice for you.
Register the images first; that will entitle you to threaten actual or statutory damages. Actual damages in this case are likely to be a pittance, but statutory damages have teeth; you want access to the latter.
Next, call the publication, and ask if they somehow made a mistake in publishing the photos without your permission. Make your invoice offer over the phone (not on paper). If you can't arrive at an amicable resolution this way, send a cease-and-desist; having that letter come from an attorney gives it some oomph. I would write it for you, but I am not licensed to practice yet.
If that doesn't work, you need to balance the potential cash recovered against the time and energy spent in filing an action in federal court. While the thing stings in principle, I seriously doubt it would be worth it to litigate. My firm bills first year attorney time at over $400 per hour, and it'll take a while to write the complaint. You might find an attorney who'll do it for a lot less, but my experience with fly-by-night full-service outfits is that you really do get what you pay for. There are notable exceptions, but I have worked with people who have really gotten screwed by lazy, incompetent lawyers.
Bottom line? I would register the images, ask nicely for compensation (verbally), threaten suit via a cease and desist letter if rejected, and drop the matter as a lesson learned if neither alternative works.
I submit this advice to you not as licensed counsel, but merely as someone who knows more than the average person about intellectual property issues.
let's get this 90 day issue clear. you can register an image at any time. there is no deadline. BUT if you register past the 90 day mark, you lose your ability to claim up to 3x the value of the image if someone willfully removes your copyright (in this case your logo?) from the image and then publishes it outside of the licensing agreement.
using the images is one thing. one bad thing.
using the images after willfully and knowingly removing the copyright is a much bigger, badder thing
when you were paid did you specify in writing that the released images are for use only on myspace? that would offer you even more support if you decided to take the case to court.
ksmahgrts wrote:
some great advice, some wrong advice
let's get this 90 day issue clear. you can register an image at any time. there is no deadline. BUT if you register past the 90 day mark, you lose your ability to claim up to 3x the value of the image if someone willfully removes your copyright (in this case your logo?) from the image and then publishes it outside of the licensing agreement.
using the images is one thing. one bad thing.
using the images after willfully and knowingly removing the copyright is a much bigger, badder thing
when you were paid did you specify in writing that the released images are for use only on myspace? that would offer you even more support if you decided to take the case to court.
don't send a cease and desist. send an invoice....Show more →
Were the pictures they used the ones they paid you for? If so, they may think they are entitle to use them.
