Copyright theft - what next?

[dinny66]

Need some advice please.
A sequence of my images off my website have been copied and placed in a gallery of a local football club (they were the opposition that day).
I appreciate that clubs at County 1 don't get too much coverage, so any pics are probably great for them. The trouble is, they haven't bothered to ask for permission (which I would have given anyway) or as a courtesy put a link to my site under the gallery.
So I emailed them and asked them to either put a link in and a comment like 'kindly used by kind permission of Mike Dinsdale Photography' , which another club did without problem before. Didn't get a response, so did it again, directly to the person who put the pics up this time (who is also the club secretary). Still no response, but when I checked the site they have put the images into a 'walled garden' viewable by family, players and officials only' but have still left them up.
So the question is, what's my next move? I'm not really very happy about it, they could have at least just acknolwedge my emails for one. But the images are still there. I could send them an invoice for £13500, which is £500 a picture, and point out they are in breach of copyright etc, but that could have a horrible outcome. I could email them again and say I'm still not happy, could they just not put a statement etc?
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks
Mike

[Bob_A]

Are you certain they've even read your email? If not, maybe phone them instead.

[dinny66]

Are you certain they've even read your email? If not, maybe phone them instead.


Can't be 100% sure, but the photos have moved from being in the public galleries to the private 'walled garden' gallery since I emailed them.

Mike

[strmrdr]

contact someone up the food chain with a call or email?
Maybe the league officials instead of the club?

[dinny66]

yes, i think that's the next step, go to the chairman.
I'm not asking for the world am I?

[LW Dail]

No, not asking for the world!

Maybe catch them at a match and talk to someone up the chain. Or find out if a player is a 'creative' type and explain what's happened. Get someone on the inside working in your behalf!

The bigger issue is to clarify your role at the matches. If you're shooting and sharing, you need to let the opponents know you'd be willing for them to use your shots for credit or a link.

Sounds like a lot of fun, though, and how neat to shoot something you enjoy!

[sfaust]

I agree, go up the chain for resolution. You'll need to explain copyright along the way, but will probably get satisfaction.

If that doesn't work, contact their hosting provider under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act) to get their attention. Its easy to do, and the results work.

[amfoto1]

Before contacting their host, cite the relevant info to them regarding the DMCA, in writing, in a letter and not in an email. Send it registered, too. A telephone conversation is better than an email, yes... But it's impossible to document if that becomes necessary. If they fail to respond, then it's time to up the ante and think about sending an invoice, contacting the host, etc.

Just about anyone can set up a website these days at very little cost. They vast majority of them don't have a clue about copyright law and a lot of them have an Internet mentality that everything they see online is free for the taking. So
I always assume people are just ignorant and in need of education, until I know for certain they are malicious and more aggressive action might be necessary.

Your best protections are watermarking, embedded EXIF/metatag copyright info and careful followups.