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Image theft?
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I found out last night that an Irish car mod magazine used a whole bunch of my images for an article without my knowledge, permission or crediting me. I know how they got them. The main guy in the images asked me if he could use them for a totally seperate non-car related website which I agreed to (they are BMX photographs, the car magazine likes to run some non-car related articles sthe odd time for something different).
This is a breach of copyright of my images and I’ve contacted the magazine and told them I’m not happy that it happened or the way that it happened. I’ve asked for payment for the use of my images so I won’t have to take any further action, by which I mean legal action. I have contributed to the car magazine about 2 years ago for a similar type article when I was asked and had no objections for them to use my work as I was specifically asked and agreed, but this instance is different. I haven’t seen the article personally so I don’t know how many images were used, but it is around 6-12 images I imagine.I emailed them today saying: (names omitted from emails of course)
“I’m writing to you as I recently saw that some of my images were used in
your magazine unknown to me. They were of (name omitted) indoor ramp set up.
(name omitted) did ask me for the pictures to be used on a BMX website which I agreed
to. I did not give permission for my images to be used in your magazine, I
was not asked if they could be used in the magazine and as far as I can see
I didn’t get credited either. This is a serious breach of copyright on your
behalf regarding my images.
Hopefully we can come to some sort of agreement regarding some sort of
payment for my images being used without my knowledge without having to take
it any further.Regards,
Peter Conway.”
to which they replied:
“Hi Peter,
I have passed on your query regarding these photos. Could you please pass us
on your number so we can contact you.In regards to copyright of the images though, these images were passed onto
us with permission so, unfortunately as we were not notified of
photographer or any issues of payment, it would probably be best taking it
up with himself.Regards
(name omitted)”I know this has been brought up before and its easy to say that I should make them pay. Does anybody have any idea’s or experience as to where I stand on this.
They have tried to pass the buck back to the person who gave them the images. Ultimately is it not up to the magazine to ensure that they have the my permission. I haven’t actually seen the publication as yet but as far as I have been told there are a good number of images used so it could be several pages.Any help would be appreciated as I’m quite angry about this and the magazine haven’t been very co-operative. I’m yet to contact the guy who gave the images to the magazine so that will be another twist in the story.
Pete.
I think that is sheer arrogance on the magazines part. It is their responsibility to ensure they have permission to use the images.
Cut to the chase. Tell them that they need to communicate with you on the issue or you will contact your solicitor. Don’t let yourself get bullied.
Steve,
The solicitor is my next step for sure. I just want to know a little bit about where I stand on this first before I go rushing in or replying to the magazine again and saying something I shouldn’t. I don’t plan on being bullied by them.
Thanks for the advice.
Pete.
I agree with Steve. In this instance the culprit is effectively pleading ignorance as a defence and as everyone knows, ignorance of the facts in a court of law is no defence at all. I wouldn’t waste any time getting tough with them. Once again, it illustrates the importance of contracts which specify the usage rights and limitations of an image. I would imagine if you had a good contract with the person who originally had these images, you could go after them for restitution as well.
Incidentally, there is an interesting article on copyright infringement over at EPUK – How I made ?27k from two evenings tracking down copyright infringements. It relates more to internet related image theft, but is worth a read. Indeed, the EPUK site itself is worth a browse through for more info on copyright protection.
Pete,
I strongly agree with all the above advice. If you dont take a stand then it will happen again and again. The law is on your side and it looks B&W to me. For the sake of some small expense I’d seek legal advice straight away. They will, no doubt, pussyfoot around the issue and looking at their reply they are good at doing so.To All:
We, as a group, need to get firm on these kind of breeches as it seem to be happening far too often and while its Pete’s problem today its ours tomorrow. They only need to get away with this a few times and they’re home and dry.The Copyright Association of Ireland has links page with links to the Irish Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 and the EU Copyright Directive amongst others. It also has a useful FAQ section along with some useful educational articles.
I have to agree with earlier posts, this is total ignorance.
What some people do not realise is that although some of us are hobbiests
there are those who earn a living from this work. Theft of their images is simply that – a theft.An example really needs to be made here to ensure that people stop doing this.
I have no doubt even that images placed on honest websites such as this have been
copied or downloaded by others. Perhaps we should all automatically watermark all our shots
that we place for critique.I might be the only one who thinks this but it sounds like it could be a genuine miscommunication in that you gave permission to one person to use your pictures for one purpose and that person who is involved with both magazines subsequently passed them on to the 2nd magazine who used them.
I think requesting their standard publication fee (and a credit in their next issue) for the ones they used sounds like a reasonable remedy to me. It sounds like the sort of magazine that uses submissions gratis – I could be wrong and they could be a well oiled publication with the budget and resources to match but going by the information you have provided I wouldn’t be confrontational about it at least until you hear from the person who you gave permission to use the pictures to.
I’ve been asking questions here and there and its actually happened to someone else with the same magazine. They seem to be passing the buck and were referred to by the guy who gave them the magazine as a”rag mag”. They also changed my B&W images to Black & Green (????) and made them look terrible. Granted there could have been a genuine miscommunication but I feel that they didn’t/don’t care if permission was sought in the first place. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter how they obtained the images (they might have downloaded them from this forum for all perhaps?) they used my work without my knowledge, permission or giving me credit which is a breach of copyright. I’m getting leal advice latr in the week so I’ll see how that goes.
Thanks for all the feedback guys. This site never fails to impress me.
Pete.
I would bet I could name the mag. And if I am right you wouldnt be the first person…
What an absolute disgrace. Legal action must be your next step. Shooting’s too good for them
I suggest you make a claim with the small claims court. It will cost you very little and you can do it online. Its likely they will pay up immediatley to avoid bad publicity. Even a small claim might frighten off their advertisers, which is their bread and butter. No need for legal eagles to get involved. Check it out
http://www.courts.ie/Courts.ie/Library3.nsf/0/1A803769D35D029B8025721A005F4733?OpenDocumentThanks Eddie. From what I hear issues such as copyright have to go to the district court unfortunately. All I can say is I’ve been in contact with the magazine the last few days and its been a bit to and fro (mainly fro with them waffling and threatening in round about ways that I’d never work in this town again sort of thing – now that is funny!). I was aksed to name a price though so I have to look into what I’ll ask for before I comit to anything. I don’t want to say to much about the whole thing until its resolved though.
Pete.
Drive them before you and listen to the lamentations of their women, is my advice. Or a solicitor’s letter, whichever is more practical. From what you’ve said both here and on boards.ie, they’re not going to come clean and just settle, so why not get a solicitor’s letter (maybe 40 euros?) and use it to light a fire under them.
pete4130 wrote:
Thanks Eddie. From what I hear issues such as copyright have to go to the district court unfortunately. All I can say is I’ve been in contact with the magazine the last few days and its been a bit to and fro (mainly fro with them waffling and threatening in round about ways that I’d never work in this town again sort of thing – now that is funny!). I was aksed to name a price though so I have to look into what I’ll ask for before I comit to anything. I don’t want to say to much about the whole thing until its resolved though.
Pete.
I’ve had the same dealings with the same publication and I got nowhere, I eventually lost interest and got snowed under with college work and had to drop it. I’d love to make an example of them, they are pure pirates and show no regard for one’s work. If I could of bringing it through the small claims I would, but AFAIK copyright is a matter for the district court.
I’m hoping to contact a solicitor soon regards this, I just can’t let it go. I invoiced them for the pictures they stole from the website of the company I work for, which we signed an exclusive deal with another magazine that they had all the exclusives to my work. I invoiced them for the amount of images + a & 300% charge of using images without permission.
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