Breach of Copywrite

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RichardSanderson

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Name
Richard
Edit My Images
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Hello all,

Wanting some help regarding the above please!

Last year I took a CD of photos to the club secretary at my golf club from a PGA competition held at the course.

I wrote on the CD 'please contact me on (personal details etc) if you wish to use these photos'.

Today, I visited the club house to find that a glossy Brochure had been printed which was full of my photos including the front cover.

There is no mention of my name, however under one of my photos it says 'Photography by DRW photographics and Leeds Gold Club members'. Please bare in mind I have nothing to do with DRW Photographics.

In addition to this, an advert in the brochure for Austrian Apartments uses 2 of my photos who I have no connection to what so ever!

Are they in the wrong (both the golf club and the Apartments company)??


Any help would be great.


Rich
 
Yes they are.
Normally I would recommend simply providing them with an invoice for use, plus extras for unauthorised use etc etc.

However, were you allowed to take the pics? IE Are there any restrictions on the grounds etc......including for commercial use.
 
id say theyre well in the wrong and you could issue them with an invoice.

edit - marcel has a good point actually about restrictions. also were you employed by them at the time?
 
Subject to their being no restrictions on you taking the pictures in the first place - and wouldn't they have mentioned that when you gave them the CD? - then invoice them say £50 per picture + 100% for unauthorised use. This is a breach of your copyright. Even if there were restrictions on the taking of photographs - that does not give them the right to use yours without permission.
 
Plus with it being the PGA, it's likely there will be restrictions on the taking of photos for commercial use.
 
Just sent the following to the secretary who designed the brochure.


Paul,

I have just read a copy of the Leeds Golf Club brochure. 8 photographs of 21 in total (including the front cover) were taken by me. Two were also used in an advertisement for Austrian Apartments, who tell me the advert was designed by Leeds Golf Club. These photographs are no use to me what so ever if they are not at least credited to me.

My name and contact details were written in bold letters on the CD I handed to you, however I have been credited for none. DRW Photographics have been fully credited under one of my photographs on the 1st page.

You must understand that Leeds Golf Club and Austrian Apartments are benefiting from the unauthorised use of my photos, and DRW have been credited, paid or have received benefits for the use of their photos, yet I have received nothing despite my work being the focal point of the brochure.

A professional photographer has advised me to invoice Leeds Golf Club for a reasonable fee (£75 per photo + 100% for unauthorised use) which totals £1200. All of which could have been avoided by simply crediting me for my work.

I look forward to your immediate response.

Regards,
 
That's quite a well worded letter there...
 
I'd change it tbh....Two ticks, I'll write an amended version for you
 
There is the other option that you could settle for 5 years free golf, that way they will not have to sheel out hard cash and you're more likey to get it.
 
I can do better than that:
Give me my money you thieving ****** or I'll burn down your ***** Club-House you ****s and then come round your house and burn yours, your families and you families' freinds houses to the **** ground!

Not much grey-area there methinks!

:D
 
Dear Sir/Madam,

Re : Unauthorised use of copyrighted material

I notice that in your Leeds Golf Club brochure (latest edition) there are a total of 8 photographs used, to which I hold full copyright.

I offered the club secretary a copy of these photographs on CD, with clear instructions that express permission is required for their use.
No authorisation has been requested, nor given for any of my photographs to be used in your brochure.

Furthermore, at least one of the photographs used in your brochure has been incorrectly credited to another photographer to which I have no affiliation, and another two photographs have been used for an advertisement for an external company (Austrian Apartments).

Therefore, I enclose an invoice for the use of my copyrighted material, payable immediately.

Thank you for your attention.

Sign off appropriately (I forget which way round it is)
Click to expand...
Look here for correct rates, create an invoice and voila

http://www.londonfreelance.org/fees...ntry=UK&section=Photography&subsect=Magazines

I think it comes under cat c/d (small/specialist mags?)[/QUOTE]

Or AWP's advice.....Depends which you want tbh.
 
I think mine's better...when in doubt, go mediaeval...
 
i'd have not mentioned being credited, Polite as it is, they have used your images without permission, therefore they owe you money.
 
Get a cutter and make extra holes in all the greens. At least an extra 5 would be good, the mix concrete with the sand in the bunkers.

This is one where they will probably try and worm their way out, you may end up not being a member so at least take it one step at a time.
 
matty said:
i'd have not mentioned being credited, Polite as it is, they have used your images without permission, therefore they owe you money.
Click to expand...

Agreed, it also sounds that they that are free to use your images in the future as long as they credit you, then you would lose out again.
 
Hmmm as a golfer, whilst within your rights to send them an invoice, I know how a lot of Golf Club secretaries act (like they are Masters of their own tiny universe) and will probably make things quite awkward for yuo should you wish to remain a member there.

Yes, it is bloody petty, but a lot of them are stuck up t####. End of.

I would suggest in this situation.....

You take Marcel's Letter. (sorry but the wording is better IMHO)
Instead of an invoice, suggest a way of paying for your membership.... e.g. I pay about £650 a year at my club so they may want to waive fees..... for a couple of years .... i scratch your back etc etc......

And I am sure they have a website, which will undoubtedly have crap pics, so may want to suggest they get you to do some pics to update their website (obviously they think your work is good enough) and either trade off for membership or £....

Not that it really matters but are you an established pro tog and they know you are a togger, or are you an enthusiastic am? doesn't really matter in the eyes of the law, but to someone unfamiliar with photography and copyright etc, you might stand more chance of a reasoned sensible debate if you were a pro instead of "a member who took a few pics" and left a copy with the Club Secretary.....
 
Arkady said:
I can do better than that:
Give me my money you thieving ****** or I'll burn down your ***** Club-House you ****s and then come round your house and burn yours, your families and you families' freinds houses to the **** ground!

Not much grey-area there methinks!

:D
Click to expand...

Haha very diplomatic :naughty:

Assuming you were allowed to take the images don't let this lie. You are owed something.
Not too sure if the suggestions of sabotaging the course are serious but please don't take that route!
 
A long time ago when i was at college, during a series of inter-uni pranks, some agricultural college students with whom we were having a difference of opinion with wrote "C-UNITS" (or similar) in some hideously industrial weedkiller across the ornamental lawns on campus.

After some abortive attempts at re-seeding, it eventually had to be completely dug-up, the top-soil removed down to three feet and re-turfed...

...just a thought...
 
Arkady said:
I can do better than that:
Give me my money you thieving ****** or I'll burn down your ***** Club-House you ****s and then come round your house and burn yours, your families and you families' freinds houses to the **** ground!

Not much grey-area there methinks!

:D
Click to expand...

:lol: bloody coffee and digestives all over my laptop screen ya beggar ;)
 
Arkady said:
A long time ago when i was at college, during a series of inter-uni pranks, some agricultural college students with whom we were having a difference of opinion with wrote "C-UNITS" (or similar) in some hideously industrial weedkiller across the ornamental lawns on campus.

After some abortive attempts at re-seeding, it eventually had to be completely dug-up, the top-soil removed down to three feet and re-turfed...

...just a thought...
Click to expand...

Soluble lawn fertiliser is sometimes more effective.. (at least since it's now difficult to get hold of sodium chlorate legally).

The grass will stand proud with the chosen pattern for years.. plus it may even have an impact on any turf relaid to cover it up. If they try and wash it out they only end up watering it in deeper.

I may or may not be familiar with this technique.. :nono:
 
hahah...

if you want a real laugh, try going into a garden-centre wearing a fake Bin-Laden beard and ask for 15 tonnes of ammonium-nitrate... :D
 
Sorry - but in this situation there is no substitute for £££££££££ - if you want to spend the £££££££££ on membership that is up to you - but a separate issue.
 
awp said:
Sorry - but in this situation there is no substitute for £££££££££ - if you want to spend the £££££££££ on membership that is up to you - but a separate issue.
Click to expand...

:thumbs: he speaks the truth...
 
I'm going to borrow Marcel's letter and reword it slightly, although it's usable in it's current form.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to you with regards to your use of eight photographs in your 2010 brochure, to which I own copyright.

When the photographs were taken I offered the club secretary a copy on CD, with clear instructions that express permission is required for their use. No authorisation has been requested, nor given for any of my photographs to be used in your brochure. This constitutes a breach of Copyright under sections 17 (copying) and 18 (issues of copies to the public) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Furthermore, at least one of the photographs used in your brochure has been falsely attributed to another photographer to which I have no affiliation.

Another two photographs have been provided for use in an advertisement for an external company (Austrian Apartments) which constitutes secondary infringement under section 23 of the aforementioned Act.

Therefore, I enclose an invoice for the use of my copyrighted material, payable immediately.

Yours Faithfully,



Richard Sanderson
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The golf club (as mentioned in the letter above) have committed both copyright infringement and secondary infringement under sections 17, 18 and 24 which cover copyring, issuing of copies to the public and providing the means for making infringing copies respectively.

Austrian Apartments, or whoever did their design, has committed copyright infringement under section 17 (copying). I would bill both to be quite honest and wouldn't settle for a golf membership.

Ah copyright, how you are so abused.
 
Marcel said:
Thats a much better version :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Thanks! I've edited it again slightly to use the terminology from the act (false attribution instead of incorrectly credited). Although, it seems like Richard has already sent the first letter he wrote (possibly as an e-mail?)

Do let us know how it progresses! If your letter and invoice get no where, you will be well within your rights to go to court over the issue, the judge will then decide on the value of the claim.
 
Hi all,

Unfortunately I had already sent the email, but thank you all for the advice.

I called the golf club this afternoon and the issue has been passed to the president. The secretary tried to argue that because i had handed him a CD with photos on it, they were rightfully theirs to print.

I'm quite sure this isn't the case, but please tell me if I'm wrong.

I can see this becoming quite an issue, so might be coming back for more help in the near future - so information on which sections of the law have been broken may be invaluable.

Thanks again,

Richard
 
RichardSanderson said:
I called the golf club this afternoon and the issue has been passed to the president. The secretary tried to argue that because i had handed him a CD with photos on it, they were rightfully theirs to print.

I'm quite sure this isn't the case, but please tell me if I'm wrong.

Richard
Click to expand...

You're not wrong here, they had no right to print the photos.
 
RichardSanderson said:
I wrote on the CD 'please contact me on (personal details etc) if you wish to use these photos'.
Click to expand...

That looks pretty clear to me - but even without that they should have contacted you for permission before using anything.
 
Next time you are in the secretary's office, comment on his keyring and ask if you can have a look at it. Once he has handed his keys over tell him that you are keeping his car and you'd like to move in to his house as it is now yours. When he looks at you funny just say "well when you handed me the keys I just assumed you were giving me full ownership of everything".
 
They had no right to use your photos!!

stand stong and dont say "i'll have x eyars free membership!" take the money and runnnn !! :)
 
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