How to get photo's pulled from websites.

To make this as short of a story as possible, here are the facts.
I attended a small "Pro-Wrestling" event with my two kids. I brought along my 1D to take a few pics of the wrestlers for the boys. During an intermission the ring announcer approached me and wanted to hire me to take some photo's for the company. The ring announcer stated they would pay $50.00 to $75.00 for some photo's each time (every 5 - 6 weeks) they were in town. Furthermore he said we would not have to pay admission but we would be guests and be reimbursed $175.00 I paid in admission to attend the events.
Well in the meantime this company has been using my photo's on their website. Also They have been selling some of my photo's at their events without my permission.
I know I only had an oral agreement and nothing in writing other than email's stating I would be reimbursed after they had "fixed" their Paypal account.
My question is can I get my photo's pulled off their website and the wrestlers myspace and facebook sites? And if so, how would be the quickest way?
Either way I have learned a valuable lesson about getting everything put in writing in the future.
Thanks in advance.

http://en.wikipedia.or​g …_Millennium_Cop​yright_Act

Thorrulz wrote in post #10272792
To make this as short of a story as possible, here are the facts.
I attended a small "Pro-Wrestling" event with my two kids. I brought along my 1D to take a few pics of the wrestlers for the boys. During an intermission the ring announcer approached me and wanted to hire me to take some photo's for the company. The ring announcer stated they would pay $50.00 to $75.00 for some photo's each time (every 5 - 6 weeks) they were in town. Furthermore he said we would not have to pay admission but we would be guests and be reimbursed $175.00 I paid in admission to attend the events.
Well in the meantime this company has been using my photo's on their website. Also They have been selling some of my photo's at their events without my permission.
I know I only had an oral agreement and nothing in writing other than email's stating I would be reimbursed after they had "fixed" their Paypal account.
My question is can I get my photo's pulled off their website and the wrestlers myspace and facebook sites? And if so, how would be the quickest way?
Either way I have learned a valuable lesson about getting everything put in writing in the future.
Thanks in advance.

you made a verbal contract and it seems like you got what you wanted, free admission and a few bucks.
did you expect them to not use the pictures you gave them?

^^^It sounds like maybe he hasn't been paid yet, since he mentioned at the end that they told him he would be reimbursed after they "fixed" their Paypal account.

No I haven't been paid, nor have I heard from them since the last email approximately three weeks ago.
Here's the link to their main site with some of my pics on the roster page as well. MWAPROWRESTLING
I would be happy just to recover the cost of admission and/or have the photo's taken down since they think they have gotten away with something.

I can't believe anyone could be swindled by professional wrestling promoters.

I'd just call it a day and hope for the best. These probably aren't the kind of people you want as enemies. Just a guess.

Sounds their business tactics is about as fake as their sleeper holds.
Sorry to hear.

Take a tip from Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Chuck Berry. He always got paid in cash up front before he stepped on stage. Promoters hustle, thats what they do, its who they are. You can send a demand letter, threaten legal action, but what you spend is more than they owe so its likely you are out some profit, but luckily you arent out of pocket.

If they don't pay me for the pics is one thing, but I don't like the idea of them using my photo's for advertising and sales since I didn't sign an agreement either.

What was the understanding was between you and the promoter, as far as how they would use the photos? Did you understand they would be selling them and/or using them for marketing, if they paid as agreed? Also, at this point, have they outright refused to pay? Or how much time has elapsed since they said they needed to "fix" their PayPal account (in other words, has it been so long that you can reasonably conclude they won't be paying)?

Answers to those questions aside, unfortunately, as far as legal options, there's probably no quick solution here. You can sue, or threaten to sue, for breach of contract. Your best bet is to hire an attorney to send them a letter. But that doesn't always work (especially if for some reason they think they're in the right) and the costs of doing this could ultimately end up just costing you more money in legal fees, so beware. If it would be cost-prohibitive, as a practical matter, I'd say you just have to write this off as a lesson learned; the lesson being, not that you need to get things in writing (that doesn't seem like a huge deal here since oral contracts are as binding as written contracts; it would be a bigger deal if the problem was a misunderstanding between you and them about what you agreed to). Rather, I think the lesson is that in business you need to know who you're dealing with and whether they're honorable and can be trusted.

Register the images with the government and send them a legal notice. But it might be to much time between them having the images and you registering. I dont think they can get away with selling the images since you were never paid and that wasnt part of the deal.

Oh, and I wouldnt give them your home address if possible.

You can email a DMCA Take Down Notice to the host of the website and by law they have to remove the photos if they are proven to be yours. There is no need to notify the promoters.

How do I go about finding the host of the website posting my pics? Sorry if it's obvious, but I've never gone through something like this before.

I have sent the ring announcer this but I don't know if it will do any good.
To: Troy xxxxx,

You are using works, in this case meaning images and or photo’s that I own the copyright of. The name of the works involved were changed which I also did not approve.
1. "Brian & Vash.jpg".
2. “Storm in Action.png”
3. “Jeff & Fan.png”
4. “Brians Boot.png”
5. “Troy Suit.png”
6. “tommy_roster_final​.jpg”
7. “anhell_roster_fina​l.jpg”
8. “brian_blade_roster​”
9. Also an image of the wrestler Vash in “yankton_poster (2).jpg

The images appear on a site or sites you are or were affiliated with as well as your own myspace account at
http://www.myspace.com​/199523832
http://www.mwaprowrest​ling.com/Index.html,
http://www.mwaprowrest​ling.com/
http://www.mwaprowrest​ling.com/Roster2.html
I have reserved all rights to this work, which was first published on http://tristatewrestli​ng.smugmug.com/ beginning in the month of February 2010 thru May 2010.

Your copying and or use of my work, which appear at the link above, is unauthorized. You neither asked for nor received written permission to use the images, nor to make/alter or distribute copies of them in the manner you have, such as sales at your events. Furthermore, by changing the names of the original aforementioned files you may by law have taken credit for my work and caused confusion as to whom the original author of the work is. Therefore, I believe you have willfully infringed my rights under 17 USC §101, et seq. and could be liable for statutory damages as high as $100,000. Further, such copyright infringement is a direct violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and International Copyright Law.

I demand that you immediately cease the use and distribution of the work and all copies of it, that you remove any further works you do not have written authorization from the original author of the images and that you desist from this or any other infringement of my rights in the future.

If I have not received proof of compliance from you within 72 hours, I shall consider taking the full legal remedies available to rectify this situation including contacting my lawyer and/or your site's administrators.

Sincerely,

R X. Sxxxxxxxx