Copyright Infringment?

Completely unrelated to the topic at hand (well mostly), I think your picture is pretty awesome. Good shot!

Kurt

Thank you very much!

m33p33 wrote in post #5522222
Showed him what? I have no intent for retribution, only to make them stop using my photo for free. The event they are promoting is 8 months away anyone who saw the original banner will have long forgotten it by then.

You can't lay into to every person who throws you a dirty look in life. I politely asked him to take the photo down or compensate me and he did.

The image is still up and it didn't sound like he was in a hurry to do anything. I make my living shooting images and see it as if someone broke into my studio and stole something. If you do not try to recoup anything from the thief they will simply do it to someone else.

The few times that I caught someone using my images I had an Intellectual Property Attorney contact them. The Attorney negotiated a settlement and took a percentage. It cost me nothing up front and the offender learned a lesson. I didn't get into a long drawn out court procedure but I'm confident that I would have won damages of some sort.

It appears that this person has used your images for about a year and it helped him with his branding of his business. I see value in that and he seems to have gotten away with it.

tcphoto1 wrote in post #5530674
The image is still up ...

...It appears that this person has used your images for about a year....

He took the image down the evening that I contacted him. (If you still see it up you need to empty your temp folder)

The image was up for about a day. The banner would most likely have been used to be posted in internet swing dance forums, which hasn't happened yet. (as a dancer who travels I bookmark and read them regularly)

I do agree with your "break in and steal analogy". However, in this case I see it as he walked into a department store, filled his pockets but never made it past the register.

The swing dance scene is different in this way. It's small. I actually already knew of this gentleman and met him once through an acquaintance. (we all ate dinner together at a Chinese restaurant in Minneapolis during a swing dance event).

If it got out that I sued a non profit organization promoting swing dancing in Denver over the issue that they used my photo on their website for a day or two I would look like a complete tool.

Other venues would probably not even let me in with a camera. And then what?

Well at least "I showed them."

You asked for advice and you got it.

Thanks for the advice.
If it would have gone on over a stretch of time Your posts would have given me the confidence to follow through.

Just a thought. If the web designer was to take a photograph of your image and then use it...would it still be copyright infringement?
Technically it is a picture taken by him, and unless you have model release signed...its not your property is it. Just scratchin my head over it.

krazziecliff wrote in post #5546756
Just a thought. If the web designer was to take a photograph of your image and then use it...would it still be copyright infringement?
Technically it is a picture taken by him, and unless you have model release signed...its not your property is it. Just scratchin my head over it.

Yes, it would still be an infringement. The photograph he would take would be a reproduction of the original, just as the image on a magazine page is a reproduction of the original as well. Also protected are derivative works, where someone takes a part of an image and uses it to create a new work.

krazziecliff wrote in post #5546756
....unless you have model release signed...its not your property is it. Just scratchin my head over it.

I know the language used in copyright acts is pretty boring, but sometimes its worthwhile reading one or two.

I've yet to find one that mentions model releases.

It's covered under the various laws/acts which cover the rights of privacy.

sfaust wrote in post #5550379
It's covered under the various laws/acts which cover the rights of privacy.

http://www.loc.gov …reasures/images​/hb023.jpg

Walczak Photo wrote in post #5527244
registered copyright or not.

you'll be lucky to get a $500 settlement. That's the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Actually, Isn't this why there's copyright laws and registered copyrights? If It's registered isn't there a certain minimum per offence plus the ability to sue for additional amounts?

Phillip,
Curious, how did you find that your image was being used on that web site?

Tom

Village_Idiot wrote in post #5553450
Actually, Isn't this why there's copyright laws and registered copyrights? If It's registered isn't there a certain minimum per offence plus the ability to sue for additional amounts?

Partly correct. There really isn't any minimum that I am aware of, but if you aren't registered all you can hope for are your actual damages. Usually thats pretty dismal and not worth paying an attorney to recover. If the images are registered then your attorney's costs, punitive, and statutory damages all come into play.

One of the dancers in the photo is an event promoter here in Orange county. He cross promotes with other dance communities. Before he started planning for his next big event he wanted to check the event calendars for other areas to avoid conflicting dates. That's when he came across the banner. He called up curious about the event. They said they just put the banner up that day.

I have sold permission to photos of him in the past but never this one. He knows I didn't get release from the other dancer so he wanted to know If I had given permission for use on it.