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General un-licenced use of images online – Opinions
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Hi photographers,
I just wanted to open a discussion on what peoples opinions or beliefs were or what the facts are regarding copyright of photos online.
I apologize if this has been discussed previously, it’s just something I’ve been getting frustrated with lately.
I see Facebook pages in this country posting photos to their own page rather than share the photo from the photographer’s page more & more often. This is obviously to attract the attention the photo gets to their page & not the photographers. Often the photographers aren’t asked for their permission but because the photo is watermarked the page feels it’s fair game.In one of my own cases I gave permission to a Irish website to use an image on their website and then it appears on their Facebook page, cropped wide for their website, not watermarked & now stripped of any meta/copyright info. I educated them on their mistake but they gave me what seemed like a generic ‘Sorry, this is something we are looking into’ in regards to abusing copyright & permissions.
Another example is licensing a photo to a website and stating I must be credited on the website & not only was I not credited but one of my photos pops up on a Facebook page. Not the Facebook page of the website I licensed it too but they handed it over to another business’s page (cropped it & un-watermarked and now stripped of meta/copyright info).
Are these blatant un-licensed uses just acceptable nowadays or is there anything that can actually be done (aside from never give anyone any images that don’t have big logo). How do other photographers deal with infringements like this, do they allow it or do they get the same old ‘we didn’t realise’ reply and leave it at an apology. Many businesses/websites act like they don’t really understand copyright when clearly they just never bother to acknowledge it. There’s a lot of talk of the UK’s new ‘lost’ copyright issues at the moment & I’d like to hear anyone’s opinions on how they treat un-licenced use. I’ve found that educating businesses hasn’t really worked in the past as they clearly re-offended another photographer later down the road.
I’m afraid you are fighting a lost cause here when it comes to the general public. It happens to me every week as well when I post stuff on FB – my pics being used as peoples profile pics etc and re-posted all over the place without a single share or acknowledgement from my page. However every single thing I put online has my watermark on it and it’s not small and subtle either so at least most of the time if people are interested in knowing who took the pic then it’s easy find my details!!
Most people have no understanding or concept of copyright, it’s only a picture after all!! If you put anything at all online then make sure you have a big watermark on it. People will still use it on their fb pages etc but at least your name will be all over it.
Businesses are a different story however as they should be aware of copyright and its up to them to educate themselves on copyright law. Any unauthorised use should be invoiced along with a screenshot of the offending usage it’s as simple as that really.
ConDoh wrote:
Another example is licensing a photo to a website and stating I must be credited on the website & not only was I not credited but one of my photos pops up on a Facebook page. Not the Facebook page of the website I licensed it too but they handed it over to another business’s page (cropped it & un-watermarked and now stripped of meta/copyright info).
Did you license this photo for free? Free means NO perceived value so it’s not surprising that it popped up somewhere else however if you did charge then a license fee then invoice the other business as well. It’s not your problem where they got it from. It’s your pic and they need to pay for it.
Can’t offer any help but this is interesting. Not so much an online story but a copyright one for sure.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/23/richard-prince-artwork-copyright-breach” onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false;
Hi Conor,
My understanding is that if you take a photograph you own the copyright unless you have made other arrangements.
This means that, in general, it can not be used without your permission.
Of course like most things in life it’s not quite as simple as that and attempting to give a definite answer would be extremely difficult.A couple of years back I asked similar questions when I started posting images online and a respected colleague opined that if you don’t want your images used without your permission don’t post them online.
That would be quite a drastic solution but there is no doubting it’s merit.
I didn’t quite go that far but I do post as low a res file as possible and watermark each image.Having your “friends” using/sharing your images without asking can be annoying but at least there is probably an innocence about it that while it may not be acceptable is generally done without malice.
Having images used without permission for commercial purposes is another matter. Using anything owned by someone else for gain without making proper arrangements is surely legally and morally wrong.
As with all rights, it is a personal choice as to how much we value those rights and to what extent we are willing to go to exercise them.I would like to point out that I have no legal expertise and these are just person opinions.
All the best,
John.
My personal opinion is that sharing is the nature of facebook. Commercial websites etc are a different matter alltogether.
If someone downloads one of your images and strips the watermark off and uploads it as their own, then you can contact facebook and report them (from what I have read anyhow)
If a commercial entity uses your image without consent/permission/payment then I would suggest grabbing a screen shot, and sending a copy of the screenshot along with an invoice.
My contention is, if its good enough for them to put on their website then its good enough for them to pay for it. Someone gets paid to design the website, someone gets paid to host the website, someone gets paid to maintain the site, and someone gets paid to answer your e mails if you contact them, therefore why should they get your image(s) for free.
Sometimes there is a judgement call to be made on allowing an image to be used. Will I benefit more by allowing the image to be used than not used? Can I use the fact to promote myself? Can I make money from it? Having images on a website wont pay for a new camera/lens/flash/memory card/etc. when the time comes to replacing them, it also won’t pay the rent.Sorry for rant and going off toic a bit
Tony
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