If you find that a company has used your image in advertising, without your permission, what is the logical steps to take? To enforce such, did the image need to be copyrighted first?
If you find that a company has used your image in advertising, without your permission, what is the logical steps to take? To enforce such, did the image need to be copyrighted first?
Not giving legal advice, and I don't know what country you live in, but very generally you hold a copyright in the image upon making it, unless it was done as "work for hire", i.e., roughly speaking you were formally employed by the entity you made the image for. Registering a copyright would help prove up the claim, but it is not absolutely necessary. Logical steps would be contacting the entity and making a formal notice of the copyright infringement and a demand for payment for the work (at your usual rate) with a deadline for payment. If no response, then (1) small-claims court; or if a significant amount (2) hiring a lawyer to bring a civil action. Good luck.
"Registering a copyright would help prove up the claim, but it is not absolutely necessary"
in the US, essentially, it is. No lawyer (ASMP etc included) will touch your case unless the images are registered.
take a good hunt through these:
http://www.editorialphoto.com/copyright/
You'd be amazed how small the demand is for pictures of trees... - Fred Astaire to Audrey Hepburn
www.photo-muse.blogspot.com blog
Yes, but you can still threaten the bejeezus out of them and usually collect a nice 2-3x windfall. So consider yourself LUCKY!
First step is to collect and document the infringement - how about posting it online!?
More details would help. Each case is different. In the US, there is a grace period of 90 days after first publication where you can still register your image and get the same benefits as if you registered it prior to publication. The second step is to check whether you still qualify, and if so, register the image. If your image is registered, you are eligible to recover court cost and punitive damages (up to 150K in severe cases), so this gives you a much bigger stick to threaten them. If your image was not registered, all you can recover are more or less the licensing fees. What you do next depends on whether your image is registered or not.
"as if you registered it prior to publication" -> I meant "as if you registered it prior to infringement".
Contact a trademark/copyright attorney to get good legal advice. Unless someone here is such an attorney all you will get is speculation.
steve simmons
Seriously, you want big companies to steal your images!
Donald, sorry, I forgot to mention I reside in USA. Since I do not sell my work for "advertising", I have no real rate structure. Is there some industry type pay scale for such? I doubt the dollar amount is significant enough to hire an attny immediately. More then anything, I am aggravated.
QT, that is great information, as this is a very recent infringement, surely within the 90 day limit. I will immediately file the copyright.
BTW, I know you are not offering legal advise, but rather steering me in the right direction. But I am curious, what exactly are the penalties for stealing an image and using it for advertising? I assume it must be somehow tied to the benefit the image helped the infringer? I can't beleive the penalties are carte blanche. In my case, the image is just a pretty landscape used in the background, somewhat fitting the theme of the advertisement, but is not specfiic.
Steve, I agree, but I try to avoid getting too deep with attny's if there isn't enough to be gained. I am still fuzzy on this.....
TYIA
Steve is right. Check with the lawyer before making an appointment. Many will not charge for a first meeting.
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