Legal Question

[Brian the Lion]

Hi all,

I'm studying internet law at the moment, and I'm wondering if anyone could help me answer a question from my housemate. I'm asking here since it relates to both photography and internet forums.

Basically, the guy was wondering if the following is illegal:

If someone were to post a picture of themself on an forum website, is it illegal for someone else to copy and paste that picture into a post on the same forum along with a quote from the person in the image, bearing in mind that both posts were on a part of the forum viewable by any member of the general public?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian

 

[Madpup]

Thats what the quote button is for

 

[petemc]

Thats what the quote button is for

+1

 

[pxl8]

It would depend on the exact terms and conditions that the user had agreed to when they signed up.

 

[2blue4u]

What a strange first post

and what an odd question. Or do you mean that the "quote from the person in the image" was something they said in real life and not something typed up on the forum.

Either way. I think someone is being extremely naive. The copy/paste of the image is no different to me quoting what you have just posted - like this

Hi all,

I'm studying internet law at the moment, and I'm wondering if anyone could help me answer a question from my housemate. I'm asking here since it relates to both photography and internet forums.

Basically, the guy was wondering if the following is illegal:

If someone were to post a picture of themself on an forum website, is it illegal for someone else to copy and paste that picture into a post on the same forum along with a quote from the person in the image, bearing in mind that both posts were on a part of the forum viewable by any member of the general public?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian

 

[Hacker]

An unusual questions but certainly one to get the grey matter ticking over on a Sunday morning. If someone posts an image on here they do so having agreed to the site T&C's (see below) which will probably be the same for most forums. With regards to this site I think the important word is 'agents' and how that could be interpreted - are the members of the forum classed as agents?

By posting on talkphotography.co.uk, you grant Talk Photography and/or its agents irrevokable permission to store, reproduce, backup or re-present in public, in any location or via any media, and/or modify (for editorial purposes only) that content.

You also have to take into account moral rights which are less well known than copyrights but equally important. The main difference is that moral rights remain with the author regardless of what happens to the copyrights. Moral rights include, (1) the right not to have your work subject to derogatory treatment, (2) the right to be identified as the author of your work, (3) the right of privacy for photographs commissioned for private purposes. Section (2) is the key element here as by originally posting the image the photographer is being identified and is further identified (by user name) in typical quote boxes.

If you want to get really nitpicky I suppose a lawyer with nothing better to do might be able to argue the case but knowing a reasonable amount about IP rights I doubt very much it would get very far.