Image theft... what do you think?

[Charlie99]

I was browsing around today doing searches and I noticed a small dive operator I sort of know had lifted a bunch of pictures from my blog, as in roughly half or more of the photos on his website, without any request for permission whatsoever.


I'm thinking of how I should handle this. ...

Calmly and directly. He may just not have a clue. He may have contracted out his website work and mentioned your name to somebody, who thought that the dive op had cleared the usage with you.

You'll never know until you call him up, or if reasonably convenient, drop in and ask.

Figure out ahead of time what you want out this. If you are just kind of taken aback by his failure to ask, and aren't really into this for the money, then the best solution would be to have the website add credits and kudos to you for the photos. And maybe an ad for you as a photography instructor.

edit: following the links on your member info, I see that you also run a dive charter op. Puts a whole new light on stuff --- one dive op taking photos from another one for his website.

 

[ams511]

While I'm sure that's true with the Mona Lisa or (maybe) a Monet, I bet that if you owned a Jackson Pollack or a Thomas Kincaide original, you would own the physical painting but not the rights to do as you wished with the image. You probably could not sell prints of it, for instance.

Actually my friend is a photographer and said the decendents of Monet are very active in protecting their copyrights. When you purchase art you are buying the work not the reproduction rights unless stated in the contract.

Also when you post stuff on the net you should copyright it, so it is not mistaken as being in the public domain.

 

[vondo]

If you sell an image to a magazine, they own all the rights and can print posters or anything else they want to.

Why would this not be the same with a painting? Unless there is some contract with the artist...

You can sell the image to the user or sell the rights to use the image for a particular purpose or group of purposes.

Buying an image and all rights from a decent photographers costs tens of thousands of dollars.

It's all in the CONTRACT between the two parties.

 

[justleesa]

If you really believe it is wrong...what on earth would stop you from blowing the whistle?

Because I was burned before and couldn't come up with the right words. I was glad to have someone with the right words to help me....nothing wrong with that.

 

[daniel f aleman]

Y'all are whistling in the wind - the internet is its own law. Good luck collecting penalties due to "copyright infringement" from that 15 year-old user in China... nobody owns ANYTHING on the internet...

 

[Diver Dennis]

You can sell the image to the user or sell the rights to use the image for a particular purpose or group of purposes.

Buying an image and all rights from a decent photographers costs tens of thousands of dollars.

It's all in the CONTRACT between the two parties.

Sorry, I meant selling the copyright. So You are saying that buying an original painting for a huge sum, you don't have the copyright?

 

[alcina]

That's how I understand things, Dennis. Unless you specifically buy the rights, all you are buying is that physical thing.

 

[vondo]

Sorry, I meant selling the copyright. So You are saying that buying an original painting for a huge sum, you don't have the copyright?

Quite possibly not. See the above comments about Monet's family.

 

[bladephotog]

Sorry, I meant selling the copyright. So You are saying that buying an original painting for a huge sum, you don't have the copyright?

If I buy I rare recording of an Elvis song I don't own the copyright, just the recording.

I once took in a digital file to have printed. When I went back to pick up the print, the girl behind the counter asked me to sign a copy of my print. I asked why and she said because she liked the image so much she made a print for herself and would like it signed. I then had a nice discussion with her and her store manager about copyright laws and theft. She seemed to think that since I was paying to have a print made they could just print off as many copies as they wanted. They now know better.

 

[Cacia]

Because I was burned before and couldn't come up with the right words. I was glad to have someone with the right words to help me....nothing wrong with that.

No, nothing wrong with it. I was just suggesting that artists such as yourself should get comfortable with the task since it is bound to come up again and again..that's all. No offense intended.