Legal Question

[disneyfav4ever]

I was hoping someone here might know the answer to this. If I posted a photo, with a watermark, and someone took that photo, removed the watermark, and put it on their own site, is there anything I can do? TIA.

 

[MICKEY88]

I was hoping someone here might know the answer to this. If I posted a photo, with a watermark, and someone took that photo, removed the watermark, and put it on their own site, is there anything I can do? TIA.

did the watermark contain copyright symbol, or was it just your name..??

first thing to do is contact the person and tell them that as the copyright holder of the image you are asking them to cease and desist using your photo,or you will take legal action for copyright infringement,

if they don't comply contact the host of the website..

 

[disneyfav4ever]

did the watermark contain copyright symbol, or was it just your name..??

first thing to do is contact the person and tell them that as the copyright holder of the image you are asking them to cease and desist using your photo,or you will take legal action for copyright infringement,

if they don't comply contact the host of the website..

It was my name. I'll try and contact them.

 

[maccagerl]

It doesn't matter whether it had the © symbol or not, doesn't even matter if it was watermarked. Once you take the photo, you own the copyright.
You should decide what it is you want and then contact the infringer and ask that :
1) They remove your photo OR
2) They credit the photo with your name and provide a link to your website OR
3) They pay you for the use of your photo

You cannot sue in federal court ( where copyright infringements are heard) unless you have registered your photo with the Copyright office either previous to the infringement, or within 3 months of the publication of the photo.

Hope this helps!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

It doesn't matter whether it had the © symbol or not, doesn't even matter if it was watermarked. Once you take the photo, you own the copyright.
You should decide what it is you want and then contact the infringer and ask that :
1) They remove your photo OR
2) They credit the photo with your name and provide a link to your website OR
3) They pay you for the use of your photo

You cannot sue in federal court ( where copyright infringements are heard) unless you have registered your photo with the Copyright office either previous to the infringement, or within 3 months of the publication of the photo.

Hope this helps!

Oh, I'm not looking to sue anyone, I just don't like my photos being taken without my permission. I sent an e-mail, and asked for the photo to be removed.

 

[MICKEY88]

It doesn't matter whether it had the © symbol or not, doesn't even matter if it was watermarked. Once you take the photo, you own the copyright.
You should decide what it is you want and then contact the infringer and ask that :
1) They remove your photo OR
2) They credit the photo with your name and provide a link to your website OR
3) They pay you for the use of your photo

You cannot sue in federal court ( where copyright infringements are heard) unless you have registered your photo with the Copyright office either previous to the infringement, or within 3 months of the publication of the photo.

Hope this helps!

whether or not the copyright symbol or the word copyright is on a photo does indeed make a difference... removing these from a photo is a crime of it's own..
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 makes it a criminal offense to remove watermarks meant to protect copyright. Many people don't realize that under US copyright law, it is specifically illegal to remove a watermark from a photo. Not only is the act of removal prohibited, the courts assume that the very attempt indicates a willful intent to violate somebody's copyright. And that's something the courts come down really hard on.

you can actually register the photo anytime, even after the infringement, however..

There are three benefits to registering a copyright. First, registration creates a public record of a copyright. Second, registration of a copyright is required in order to file a lawsuit for copyright infringement. Third, if a copyright is registered before there is an infringement or within three months after the first publication of a work, the owner of the copyright can claim certain alternate damages plus attorneyís fees. These alternate damages are called statutory damages and they can be awarded in a sum of up to $100,000 for willful infringements. The registration process itself, does not alter the fact that the owner of a copyright is always entitled to his or her actual damages plus any profits earned by the infringner. However, the suggestion that statutory damages and attorneyís fees are available can act as a catalyst for the quick settlement of a copyright infringement claim.

 

[markopolo]

Something like this happened when someone 'stole' an animated gif I made and used it as an avatar. After checking, I found a lot of mention of the term 'Fair Use', which means if someone happens to 'find' an image on the internet, and they want to use it for personal, educational, or noncommercial purposes, there's not too much you can do, besides just asking them to remove it. How are they using the image? Claiming it as their own? Are they making any money by having it there?

 

[fhirleighinn]

The best way to avoid this is to not post photos on the web. Very rarely do I ever post a pic, and If I do, it is usually not one that I mind "Losing".
I am regularly on photo.net and it is an ongoing problem there.
But do whatever you can to make it difficult for someone to take your photos, disable right click on your websites, put in watermarks, use java so the address of your photos are not in the HTML etc...

 

[maccagerl]

Something like this happened when someone 'stole' an animated gif I made and used it as an avatar. After checking, I found a lot of mention of the term 'Fair Use', which means if someone happens to 'find' an image on the internet, and they want to use it for personal, educational, or noncommercial purposes, there's not too much you can do, besides just asking them to remove it. How are they using the image? Claiming it as their own? Are they making any money by having it there?

Absolutely NOT true! "Finding" an image on the internet does not give a person the right to use it without permission. And copyright infringement has nothing to do with whether or not the infringer is making money off it or claiming it as their own. It has everything to do with whether or not the copyright holder has granted permission to use the material.
Granted, unless you have registered the image with the copyright office, you don't have any legal clout, but the infringer likely doesn't know that, so you can threaten legal action if the infringer doesn't a) remove the material b) pay for the use of the material or c) credit you as the photographer.
It is up to you as the copyright holder whether or not the infringement is worth pursuing or not.
Many photogs actually make their photos available to the public through the Creative Commons license on their Flickr ( or other) sites.
It's up to each photographer how important it is to them to defend their copyright.

 

[drcandon]

Also ...just to make matters worse it depends on the country that the person who stole your photograph lives in - a few countries/nations have reciprocal agreements with the US on copyright, but THEIR version of whatever intellectual rights law comes first...

Also - I am not sure what kind of watermark you used or how you inserted it into the image, but by mistake I stuffed a watermark/copyright into an image I wanted to post and sell...well stupid me - I stuffed it into the original not a copy..many many frustrating hours later in Photoshop, I finally got it "masked"...my point is that anyone who has taken this much time to remove a watermark completely will not be dissuaded easily and probably knows the copyright laws..

If this "person" is selling your photo as his/her own then I do feel bad for you, but trying to prove it will be hard..You do have the original with all the EXIF data and that will help..but there are hacking programs that will allow you to change all data - even embedded ones..and chances are if this "person" has removed the watermark, then he/she has also edited that data as well...