copyright infringement by Evening Standard

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Samuel771A

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Sam
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Several years ago, I sold a photo to the London Evening Standard arranging they could use it one time.

They have now published it again and they did not contact me to ask permission, or credit my name on the photo nor make any attempt to pay me. I would never have noticed this but a friend mentioned they had seen the picture.
I called the new Press Complaints commission, IPSO and they say they are not interested in this issue. I researched the matter and it seems this situation is widespread. They have offered to pay now, but who would be allowed to go into a shop and successfully steal something 100 times and only, when they get caught on the 101st time be forced to pay for the item.

This copyright infringement is even worse than theft, as no robber would be in a position to say what he intends to pay for the item after he has been caught stealing, and the papers are allowed to do this. Also it is even worse than stealing because the papers are not even stealing something that is for sale as no photograph is for sale unless permission is obtained first and no permission was granted in this case.

Any advice on how to deal with this situation?
 
Firstly, they never stole your image as you still have it. As they have agreed to pay you just send them an invoice for the usage.

Might be an idea to ask how many times they have used it.
 
What situation? They've offered to pay, what else do you want/expect to get out of it?
 
Thanks for your replies, but for two reasons I don't agree that it's ok they have offered to pay me.

Firstly, it was a miracle that a friend noticed the photo. i.e. the chances were I would never have noticed it had been published.

Secondly, as the papers are doing this the whole time, they are denying thousands of professional photographers the income they are legally entitled to in a world where it is becoming increasingly difficult to make a good living as a photographer. If your boss or customers 'intentionally' did not pay you for your work, and you only found out about it through sheer chance, would that be ok with you?
 
Sorry to say that's the world were living in,,as you say your lucky to have spotted it and got payed,i think its part of a pro job theses days and always has been to keep an eye on your work that's out their.
Or maybe an agent who can do it for you ?

:)
 
Samuel771A said:
I don't agree that it's ok they have offered to pay me.
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That's all you are entitled to. The loss of any income you would have received if they had licenced it properly. You can't impose a fine on top of that.


Steve.
 
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First, it's not theft. They haven't deprived you of your property. Beware defaming a large corporation.

Secondly, who wrote the contract? If the answer is you, take the money and walk away. Their legal department will say term x is not defined and could mean a, b or c and they're covered by c. Even if you win, you won't get punitive damages.
 
Take the money - but if its an image they are likely to be using again maybe talk to them about a higher fee for a general licence

Incidentally i think you'll find that " I was going to pay for that but forgot" is a very common excuse for theft from shops (yeah right mate - thats why you had it tucked in the back of your trousers then is it ? )
 
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until someone invents destroy image after x amount of uses software then unauthorised image usage is here to stay. and with the change in orphan laws made a year or two ago its only getting worse. what options do you have. a bloody great watermark through the middle of the image, dont put them online, or like millions of others grin and bear it and hope that these instances only happen on rare occasions.
if your lucky some places will own up and cough up, other places will still two fingers up at you.
i had it happen by a well known online photography store who used without permission one of my images ( and hundreds of others ) on there flickr page to promote there buisness and competitions.
before i contacted them ( i had previously entered one of there photo comps ) i scanned all there terms and conditions to ensure i hadnt given anything up when entering the comp and it clearly stated images would not be used for any other purpose other than the competition and would not be used on social media including fb, twitter, flickr etc ) and only for the purpose of the competition entered.
took a screen shot of the terms and conditions page then emaild them asking for accreditation and with an invoice for using my image without permission.
they got back to me 48 hours later saying they had every right to use it as it stated so in there terms and conditions.
i checked there toc page and they had only gone and altered it to state images WOULD be used elsewhere.
so i sent them the dated screenshot of there toc's and threatened them with legal action. the reply i got was essentially we are not prepared to discuss the matter further please do not contact us again.
chased them up several times but all ignored.
i really should have taken it further as this was blatant misuse of image then a clear attempt to cover up.
 
you'll probably find that in the tiny print t said they had the right to revise the T&C at any time - not worth getting worked up about tbh, and certainly not worth an expensive court case that you'd probably lose
 
hence one of the reasons why i didnt bother taking it further, the time and effort ( and taking time off work ) over one image just didnt justify the end result i may or may not have got. ( nothing in there small print though at the time.) but a very familiar website selling camera gear that runs a monthly comp and the name of them is very similar to what a car does in the middle of a formula 1 race to refuel
 
Samuel771A said:
Thanks for your replies, but for two reasons I don't agree that it's ok they have offered to pay me.

Firstly, it was a miracle that a friend noticed the photo. i.e. the chances were I would never have noticed it had been published.

Secondly, as the papers are doing this the whole time, they are denying thousands of professional photographers the income they are legally entitled to in a world where it is becoming increasingly difficult to make a good living as a photographer. If your boss or customers 'intentionally' did not pay you for your work, and you only found out about it through sheer chance, would that be ok with you?
Click to expand...


I think you need to seperate your outrage head from your business head.. i agree with your outrage but it has no place in business which is what you need to concentrate on ...
 
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