Photography and Copyrights

[Kameroo]

I take my camera everywhere when I'm around boats, and have thousands of pictures, a few of which turned out to be pretty good. Many show up in boat listings when the owners go to sell. Let me start by saying nobody here is guilty, this is just a good place for advice. I have a website, and watermark all my pictures in the lower corner.

What's with people these days who freely take other's work and pass it off, maybe not as their own, but without proper credits? Last summer, we were at a birthday party and a friend opened a framed picture of herself that a girlfriend wrapped. I said, "Hey, I took that," and she said, "Oh yeah, I think I grabbed it off Facebook."

This morning, another boat site with some 700+ members had one of my website pictures as their profile picture on Facebook, with the same picture posted again with comments. They didn't even crop out the "© xyz.com", as if that stops anybody. Same thing, I got on there and said, "Hey, I remember taking that picture from..." I got a similar reply, "Yeah, wasn't sure where it came from." With a weblink right on the picture.

What's with people these days. I'm not out for monetary damages, as much as some common decency and regard for other people's work. Like I said, nobody here was involved. Thanks for allowing me to vent.

 

[DarkJester]

Let me add to your venting by saying I totally agree with you. Getting credit, and the credit where credit is due thing.
I get it.
BUT, and there is always a butt, isn't there? I think we are dealing in an age where once you put it up on the inter-webs it becomes fair game.
I'm not saying it's right, it just happens.
It's a digital society where everyone has a camera/typewriter/blowhorn attached to their hand. It's like an appendage. Social media has created more amateur writers, photographers, poets, musicians, daredevils, and professional idiots than anything else, ever. And, to be honest, I participate, to a degree. I have a Facebook account, I have an Instagram account, I'm on Twitter. I'm not very active, but for some reason I cannot explain I am interested in some of the amateur writers, photographers, videographers, musicians, etc. that are posting to those social media. Sometimes I share what they have posted, and I try to give credit.
biggest question is how do you fix the problem? you don't want to limit what you share, or charge for it, then it would never get out there in the world. That's why you take pictures of stuff after all, right? You want to share your eye, as it were, but at the same time you would like to get credit for your work. The best thing you can do is what you have already done. Embed information in the image. Website info, your Name, or something. Then if you want to get some money for the shot offer a Higher resolution image without the Watermark for a price. It sounds a little like a drug dealer "C'mon man, the first one is free", but I have seen it work. Killboy is a good example, if you need one, also E-Publishing is a good example.
Let me say again, you SHOULD get credit for your work, people shouldn't steal it and give it away. You are absolutely correct. I think we all are going to have to come up with a way to say, "hey, That's my work, I don't mind you using it, but how about some credit?" without it being a major pain. Minor is okay. With all of the social media that is out there, and our desire to show people our work, it's going to be a tuff row to hoe, I'm afraid.

Well I rambled..So there it is....

 

[northern]

Based on what one photographer told me may years ago. If you take an image for the purpose of making money the owner of the image needs to sign a release. IE if you take a picture of my boat and make a profit from the image you need to have my permission to sell the image. If you do not I can sue you for a portion of the profit. On some web sites there is a note that says "All submitted images become the property of the web site owner".

 

[RodnRhonda]

The only way to protect yourself is to have signed written permission from the subjects in the image and to get a legal copyright on each and every image. I believe that runs about $35 per image and most will not go through all that trouble because you can see it gets very expensive.

 

[MonacoMike]

I disagree with almost everything posted in this thread except for the original post.

...BUT, and there is always a butt, isn't there? I think we are dealing in an age where once you put it up on the inter-webs it becomes fair game.
I'm not saying it's right, it just happens.

A photo is still the property of the owner whether posted online or not. Common violations do not make law and usage rights go away.

Based on what one photographer told me may years ago. If you take an image for the purpose of making money the owner of the image needs to sign a release. IE if you take a picture of my boat and make a profit from the image you need to have my permission to sell the image. If you do not I can sue you for a portion of the profit.

This is all wrong from my understanding. If I take a photo of you and your boat in a public space you have no say or ownership at all. That is how paparazzi take photos of the celebrities, get paid big bucks, and the celebs cannot stop it. You likely were told if you "take an image" that someone else owns you may be sued, not if your boat was in a photo.

The only way to protect yourself is to have signed written permission from the subjects in the image and to get a legal copyright on each and every image. I believe that runs about $35 per image and most will not go through all that trouble because you can see it gets very expensive.

You have an automatic copyright the moment you create the copy at no cost but to get maximum from copyright offenders you must register.

"Register your copyrights to your photos.* When a photo is not registered with the U.S. Copyright Office prior to the infringement (or within three months of the first publication of the photo), a copyright owner may recover only “actual damages” for the infringement (pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 504 (b)), instead of statutory damages."

Sadly for the OP, there was no significant money made in the use of his copyright material therefore it would be difficult to do anything other than ask for a cease and desist of it's use or the same with the option of continued use with the rules you set, like attribution. Now if Sea Ray used it in an ad, that would be a different story...

Hope this clears this up a little.

I am not a copyright attorney but have stayed at a Holiday Inn once...

MM

 

[fwebster]

Now, that would have been funnier had you said "I stayed on the 10th floor in the Marriott in Nashville once"

 

[JJ Chones]

Monaco Mike has it right (that rhymes!)
I have/work as a professional photographer and have over 20 national covers to my name. Front page of NY Times sports section, parade magazine, blah blah blah. I also have my copyrights registered with the library of congress and have been involved with copyright infringement lawsuits.
Here's the bottom line, if you don't want your pictures used without your permission, then don't post them on social media or websites or anywhere else they can be copied or used. End of comment.

 

[DarkJester]

"A photo is still the property of the owner whether posted online or not. Common violations do not make law and usage rights go away."

Just to be clear: I never intended my remark to imply that property changed hands.
Only that if you put something online that people would use it, copy it, and re-post it.
I wasn't discussing how the law was worded, or what the law even was.
I thought we were talking about common courtesy, not lawsuits.
End of comment.

 

[Gofirstclass]

I guess I am on the opposite side of this fence. If I take a pic that I think is pretty decent and post it somewhere I feel as though I'm putting it there for people to see. If someone sees it and thinks it's good and wants to use it, I take that as a compliment to my skills(?) with a camera and have no problem with that person using it.

I've grabbed photos off Google Images from time to time and don't feel like I'm stealing something from someone. I'm not making money with the pics, just having fun with them. Heck, I've probably posted some on here.

 

[Kameroo]

I was away for a week, so sorry for the late reply. Agreed that the © symbol doesn't mean much legally without registering an image, however, it does indicate that it has an owner who can be found. For a given image, who would know whether or not it was actually registered without pushing the subject.

As for stealing from Google images, just be careful not to republish them. There are ways of doing a reverse look-up of one of your pictures on the internet to see if anybody is using them, or even a copy or similar-looking picture. A friend found out the hard way and was served a notice to either pay a quick $1,500 or face further litigation and court costs. Those usually come with a cease and desist order. Many take them as a warning, remove the picture, and trash the letter. My friend paid because he feared the costs of somebody dragging him into court in a far-flung destination.