Companies using your photos without permission?

My girlfriend recently shot some photos at an event, she posted them to her personal website, and the company that owns the business that the event was hosted at took them from her site without her permission. They cropped out her watermark, and then printed them in a magazine with out giving her any credit for the pictures.

She wants to know if she contacts them that she has the right to demand some sort of compensation or perhaps a note in a following issue giving her proper credit. Has anyone dealt with something like this before? Any suggestions on how to respond to this?

We both practice photography as a hobby, and in a way she's flattered that her images were liked so much, but she's very upset that they were stolen, and used without giving her any sort of credit at all.

Thats bad news. I'm sure someone will be along to advise on the legal situation, but payment for the images and full credit would not seem unreasonable, however if they have gone to the trouble to remove ownership information from the images it makes you wonder what they were thinking in doing this in the first place.

Certainly not a case of ignorance on their behave if they've deliberately removed her watermark. Find out what the circulation of the magazine is, the size of image used in it and bill them accordingly.

casp3r wrote in post #13052964
Certainly not a case of ignorance on their behave if they've deliberately removed her watermark. Find out what the circulation of the magazine is, the size of image used in it and bill them accordingly.

^this. I would also suggest to register the photos with the U.S. Copyright Office and get an attorney if they don't pay. That was certainly not a smart move on their behalf and could cost them quite a bit.

casp3r wrote in post #13052964
Certainly not a case of ignorance on their behave if they've deliberately removed her watermark. Find out what the circulation of the magazine is, the size of image used in it and bill them accordingly.

Double the amount of the bill on the first invoice seeing as they deliberately worked around the watermark which shows intent and an awareness of their actions.

Some people may disagree with the notion but if they took the images from her site, cropped the watermark out, and didn't bother to contact her before using the images, that's a bit more devious then scanning a proof or using an un-watermarked photo...

Any attorney will tell you not to send the company an invoice, doing so can limit your remedies, and they are very likely to just ignore a unapproved invoice anyway. That may also end up making it a collection issue and not a copyright issue. Instead, register the images (less than $50), then have an attorney send them a letter noting the copyright infringement and demanding your payment (I'd shoot for 3x normal rates) plus whatever their fee is. A letter from an attorney gets much more attention, and when their lawyers find out they removed the watermark making it a willful infringement and putting them in a very bad spot, they are very likely to tell accounting to pay it.

I would get a lawyer asap and register the copyright on the photo ASAP! You may need to pay $1000+ for an expedited copyright, but damages you can win at court can be very high based on statutory damages (up to $150,000).

I believe there is a 30 day window on first infringed publishing and registration date..
you could have that registration finished tonight at the us copyright office..
do it!
cheers
Darrin

Only an attorney can give your GF effective advice here. Yes-this is a potential situation for a federal copyright infringement lawsuit with potential damages in six figures. What an effective lawyer will tell you is that there are also huge costs involved infilling copyright infringement suits and collecting judgements can be just as hard. They should also advise advise you on some other options that are less expensive-negociation, DMCA takedown, invoicing, etc. Since mistakes can be made in registering copyrighted images, follow your lawyers advice.

-Scott

I'm interested in how this goes.