Copyright?

[Pedge]

This is what the photo thief posted on the other board:

ScoobieDoo
Re: Thought I would share
« Reply #10 on: May 18th, 2004, 09:12am »

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justleesa,
According to our attorney - photo's (unless clearly copyrighted) are 'free game' on the internet - so, we are not totally to blame.

Recently the same thing happened to use with our Aqua Buddy part. Another message board member contacted our vendor and 'stole' our design for themselves as well. Being they were not patented - we had no legal recourse. Was this ethical? Probably not.

I don't recall this message board 'exposing' that vendor of denouncing their actions either. That was just a big of an error - whether intentional or not.

This was a honest error that we hadn't even considered at the time. We had no intent to harm, disgrace, steal or otherwise inflict disrespect to that individual.

We have already rectified the situation and removed the pic from the cards. Honestly, the thought never occurred to us quite truthfully.

If that person's initial contact had been a little more less aggressive - it wouldn't have received such a defensive reply. Did this person have that right to be sure? Sure. However, when some asks me "What are you gonna do about it" - especially after our attorney informed us concerning internet laws, etc. - that put us on a defensive mode.

If that initial contact has said "Would you please refrain from using my picture or would you be interested in purchasing the right to use it, etc. ?" - we would have taken a differant directive.

The following is an email exchange between me and this photo thief:

-----Original Message-----
From: Pedge
Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2004 8:36 PM
To: *****@*****
Subject: Stealing


"If that person's initial contact had been a little more less aggressive - it wouldn't have received such a defensive reply. Did this person have that right to be sure? Sure. However, when some asks me "What are you gonna do about it" - especially after our attorney informed us concerning internet laws, etc. - that put us on a defensive mode.

If that initial contact has said "Would you please refrain from using my picture or would you be interested in purchasing the right to use it, etc. ?" - we would have taken a differant directive."

I'd say what you did was wrong, no matter how you try to explain it. And if someone stole something of yours, you might get a little aggressive-although I don't see that Lisa was at all aggressive in her note to you. You sound like a real jerk.----

- Original Message -----
From: *********
To:
Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2004 8:10 PM
Subject: RE: Stealing


Peggy,

Blow me.



From: Pedge
Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2004
To: *****@*****
Subject: Stealing


Yup, you're a jerk alright. Not to mention rude and dishonest. I hope your business does real well....

 

[TheAvatar]

Screw him. He's an idiot. He's still sticking to the claim of his "lawyer" (*cough*BS*cough*) He knows he is wrong or he is a complete ignoramous who is now willfully remaining ignorant. This is quite possible considering his idiotic patent analogy... or was that an "I was wronged so that justifies my wrong" moral equivelency argument.

 

[ShakaZulu]

Open Source man, everything belongs to everyone..........lawyers hate that concept, how will they survive. 500 000 000 Chinese can't be wrong..............

 

[Ted S]

I'm not an attorney but my undergraduate college education was pretty much all in pre-law, mainly as it related to the high tech fields. When you make something in perpetuity like a photo it is copyrighted by you automatically. No attorney is ever going to tell their client that just because they found it; it's legal to take it. That's no different than saying "finding" a logo that says Disney in a magazine means you can use it yourself. Your photos are yours to license or not license as you see fit unless you expressly give up your rights and put them into the public domain. You do not need to do a single thing to be afforded basic copyright protection beyond saving the photo yourself. The only downside of going after someone is however the cost of hiring an attorney unless you can find one to work on contingency.

 

[ShoalDiverSA]

According to our attorney - photo's (unless clearly copyrighted) are 'free game' on the internet - so, we are not totally to blame.

Um... so a copyright notice emblazoned across the bottom of the photo does not constitute "clearly copyrighted"?

And... the removal of this notice does not constitute copyright infringement?

Hmm...

And to think that this whole mess could probably been avoided with a polite request to use the photo in the first place, or even a contrite apology when caught out.

The sincere display of the quality of his character in the email to Pedge really makes the thought of him getting his comeuppance tasty. (Well done, Pedge).

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[gehadoski]

All of this is a matter of ethics and maners, I don't know if it is legal or not, I am not that good in law.
I have an idea, it may seem silly but I think that it is good. What about putting your name on bottom of any picture you use on the internet. If it is good and people are taking it to use it on there personal stuff, this will advertising to you and your photos and you gain advantage from people who are doing this, and if nobody takes it, you lose nothing. How about that. Remember it just an idea.

 

[justleesa]

All of this is a matter of ethics and maners, I don't know if it is legal or not, I am not that good in law.
I have an idea, it may seem silly but I think that it is good. What about putting your name on bottom of any picture you use on the internet. If it is good and people are taking it to use it on there personal stuff, this will advertising to you and your photos and you gain advantage from people who are doing this, and if nobody takes it, you lose nothing. How about that. Remember it just an idea.

Yes, that is basically what copyright is, my name on my pictures. Just doesn't help me much when the user erases it.

 

[DesertEagle]

If I may make a suggestion: make sure you have image editing software that allows you to put a watermark on the image. Viewers will still be able to see your work but to a potential thief it would be useless.

 

[mocando]

A couple of quick notes many of which has already been said.
1. Any image is automatically copyrighted as soon as it is made unless of course you are performing "work for hire". If you don't know what this is, check with an attourney.
2. No matter how insane it sounds, the "theif" could persue civil action against you if you make any claims about him/her. For instance, "this guy is a thief" "that girl is a jerk" "so-and-so stole from me". Even if it is all true, unless you are ready to persue legal action, write it off. Tell your friends, but don't publish the information. What Leesa did by blacking out his name was correct.
3. By cleary posting copyright information, using watermarks and stating that you will prosecute violators is probably the best you can do. The only other thing you can do is use technology to stop illegal downloading. You could make all of your images buttons that to you to a page that cleary states your copyright and contact information. Placing images in Flash movies can help as well. BTW editing software can just as easily "clone" over any watermark if you know what you are doing. If someone is going to steal, there is very little you can do to stop them.
4. As for the publisher who prints whatever is submitted without checking each image for copyright info, it a publisher's resposibility to check each and evey image. That is part of the job. The only way he could get around it, and I'm not sure if it would hold up in court, would be to get a signed release from the submitter stating that they hold the copyright info.

I hope this helps

 

[mk57nato]

Ok then how about this.... That person is handing out business cards.... i.e. giving out all their contact info.... so how illegal would it be to start another thread saying hey i found a business and this business's info is this....... you did not bad mouth them, and they were handing out the info anyway..... so where would be the legal recourse in that.
Also, you might think about bashing this guy in resellerratings.com and all the sites like that.... in stealing your work you have had dealings with his business... and you did not like it... thats what the bbb and resellerratings are for... i would like to see him try to get back at you for that.... plus you would hurt his business.
Dont feel bad about wanting to hurt this guy. He was dishonest, rude, and a thief. Why would you care about his feelings anymore. He obviously dosent care about yours, or anyone else he tramples in his life. So i see it almost as a civic duty to destroy this guy, that way he is unable to harm anyone else. If he want to play skirt the law, fine ruin him and his business..... and maybe... just maybe he might think about what he did, and maybe never do it again... but i doubt it..
And i would bet my life that if the shoe was on the other foot....... he would be coming after you with everything he had trying to wipe you out.

edit... oh and btw.... resellerratings and bbb rating posting is free, so you damage him and dont cost yourself anything but time.... and the more you post the more you hurt him..... I say teach him a lesson the hard way, cost him money... cause thats all he cares about