Photograph Copyright Infringement

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rabuk

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Name
Rick
Edit My Images
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I have an image that has been used by a major UK national tabloid newspaper. The image is on their online content, but I don't know whether it was used in their printed edition. They have printed my name under the image with the copyright symbol, but they have not contacted me for permission to use the image.
I'd rather not involve lawyers and I have no idea how much national newspapers pay for photos, but I feel they should probably pay me something for it.
Any advice would be much appreciated!
 
how did they get your image ? (by which i mean if you sent it into one of their competitions or whatever , you've probably given consent to use in the teeny print.... if they just ripped it off your twitter/flickr you have an argument for payment)
 
Here's the procedure to follow:

https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p05_copyright_infringement (EDIT - OR NOT!) :D

When thins happened to me once I just sent them an invoice for £500 per image used. The images then magically disappeared from the site and an apology was quickly posted. I left it at that as it was just a private website. I probably wouldn't have left it at that had they been used commercially, however.
 
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there's some b*****ks on that site mixed up with good advice - you don't need to register copyright to be able to enforce it, so you can ignore 3 iii and iv and point 8 entirely (you just need to prove the work is yours, and in this case that's a given because they've credited you and thus admitted it in print)

Also it may not be a great idea to jump straight to the confrontational style proposed in point 4 as a simple conversation may be all it takes to secure payment
 
The image is related to front page news from last week. I am fairly certain that they copied the image from the BBC website. I had given consent for the BBC to use the image.
 
rabuk said:
The image is related to front page news from last week. I am fairly certain that they copied the image from the BBC website. I had given consent for the BBC to use the image.
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was there anything in the fine print of the BBC permission about them sharing the image with other media ?

Assuming not , take a screen shot of the offending page (ctrl , alt print screen to copy to clip board then paste to insert it into a word file or similar) , then contact the publication concerned to discuss payment.
 
WingTsun said:
Here's the procedure to follow:

https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p05_copyright_infringement

When thins happened to me once I just sent them an invoice for £500 per image used. The images then magically disappeared from the site and an apology was quickly posted. I left it at that as it was just a private website. I probably wouldn't have left it at that had they been used commercially, however.
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Ignore that website, as Moose said, they mix some good advice with some out and out lies to sell their non-existent 'service'.
I'd go as far as to say, wipe your memory of ever having seen it, it's run by con artists :bat:
 
Phil V said:
Ignore that website, as Moose said, they mix some good advice with some out and out lies to sell their non-existent 'service'.
I'd go as far as to say, wipe your memory of ever having seen it, it's run by con artists :bat:
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Really? I've not heard that before. Someone pointed me there some years ago when I was looking at copyright laws. You live and learn! I didn't even realise it was a company as I've only surfed to that one page.
 
WingTsun said:
I didn't even realise it was a company as I've only surfed to that one page.
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The .co.uk address should be a very big hint.

The site has been discussed a few times, people get taken in by it's "guidance" that only serves to guide you to the service they provide and that you don't need.
 
Alastair said:
The .co.uk address should be a very big hint.

The site has been discussed a few times, people get taken in by it's "guidance" that only serves to guide you to the service they provide and that you don't need.
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OK, duly noted. To be fair, private sites can have .co.uk domains and non-charities can have .org.uk domains. I know, I have one.
 
WingTsun said:
OK, duly noted. To be fair, private sites can have .co.uk domains and non-charities can have .org.uk domains. I know, I have one.
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Exactly, it's a private site. Which appears to be giving official information, Copyright service sounds like the US version, which is official and part of the government.
 
WingTsun said:
OK, duly noted. To be fair, private sites can have .co.uk domains and non-charities can have .org.uk domains. I know, I have one.
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Not many UK government sites don't use .go.uk - it's not so long ago that there was an advertising campaign on the tv pointing this out to help people avoid getting scammed. It may not have been as effective as they'd hoped...
 
basically their raison d etre is to sell the idea that you need to register your copyright before you can enforce it and then to charge for registration 'certificates' - this is b*****ks , it couldn't be more b*****ks if it was wrapped in a leather sac and hung behind the hind legs of a bull ... copyright was the photographers the moment they pressed the button (assuming they didn't sign it away somehow).
 
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big soft moose said:
was there anything in the fine print of the BBC permission about them sharing the image with other media ?

Assuming not , take a screen shot of the offending page (ctrl , alt print screen to copy to clip board then paste to insert it into a word file or similar) , then contact the publication concerned to discuss payment.
Click to expand...

The BBC do not have exclusive rights to the image nor do they have permission to share the image with other media. Actually, I have just noticed that another news organisation is using the image, this time without crediting me.
I have copied the offending pages.
Does anyone have a ballpark figure as to how much I should ask for as payment?
 
Doesn't matter, just leave it, unless you haven't ever had one bit of illegal software. Never imported anything without paying tax/duty on it.

If you have been a good boy then charge what you charge if they have asked you for it. By the fact you submitted to the BBC for nowt? Then maybe just a nominal fee.
 
andyscott said:
Doesn't matter, just leave it, unless you haven't ever had one bit of illegal software. Never imported anything without paying tax/duty on it.

If you have been a good boy then charge what you charge if they have asked you for it. By the fact you submitted to the BBC for nowt? Then maybe just a nominal fee.
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Whilst I'm happy for the BBC to use the image for nothing, I am not happy for the image to be used by the tabloid newspaper in question for free, and without asking my permission.
 
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Alastair said:
Not many UK government sites don't use .go.uk - it's not so long ago that there was an advertising campaign on the tv pointing this out to help people avoid getting scammed. It may not have been as effective as they'd hoped...
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Alastair, I didn't think it was a government site, nor did I say or imply in any way that it was a government site. I thought it was simply a site with some relevant info concerning what to do if your copyright was infringed. I also edited my original post so maybe we can leave that there.
 
Rick,

I'd strongly suggest that you get some decent legal advice before doing anything about this - apart from taking the screenshots, that is. You don't have to pay for legal advice.

Go to Own-it

www.own-it.org.uk

Once you are registered you can browse their site for information, and email them for further advice. If necessary you can have a 1-2-1 conversation for a relatively small fee (I think I paid £30) but you may need to be in London for that.
 
What is the photo of? Why did the BBC want it? Why did you let them have it free? How did they become aware that the photograph existed?:thinking:
 
andyscott said:
Doesn't matter, just leave it, unless you haven't ever had one bit of illegal software. Never imported anything without paying tax/duty on it.
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What does that have to do the price of gluten free bread?

I once crossed the road against a red light - think I should go ask the restaurant next door if I can do a day's work there for free.
 
rabuk said:
The image is related to front page news from last week. I am fairly certain that they copied the image from the BBC website. I had given consent for the BBC to use the image.
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If you sent it to the BBC then their terms allow them to sub licence the image - and get paid for it - but not to pay you! NEVER EVER give a picture away for nothing.

If you sent it to the BBC then you have no come back for subsequent uses. Read the BBC terms for submitting pictures.
 
rabuk said:
Whilst I'm happy for the BBC to use the image for nothing, I am not happy for the image to be used by the tabloid newspaper in question for free, and without asking my permission.
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Then you need to read the BBCs terms carefully. I suspect you've given them the rights to make money from your picture any way they can - while you get zilch!
 
snap-happy said:
If you sent it to the BBC then their terms allow them to sub licence the image - and get paid for it - but not to pay you! NEVER EVER give a picture away for nothing.

If you sent it to the BBC then you have no come back for subsequent uses. Read the BBC terms for submitting pictures.
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You'll need to supply a link to this otherwise it's scaremongering !
 
I had a suspicion this was b*****ks and a quick google shows my assessment was correct

what they actually say is

In contributing to BBC News you agree to grant us a royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to publish and otherwise use the material in any way that we want, and in any media worldwide. This may include the transmission of the material by our overseas partners; these are all reputable foreign news broadcasters who are prohibited from altering the material in any way or making it available to other UK broadcasters or to the print media. (See the Terms and Conditions for the full terms of our rights.)

It's important to note, however, that you still own the copyright to everything you contribute to BBC News and that if your image and/or video is accepted, we will endeavour to publish your name alongside it on the BBC News website. Please note that due to operational reasons this accreditation will probably not be possible with video. The BBC cannot guarantee that all pictures and/or video will be used and we reserve the right to edit your comments.

At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws.
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from here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/2780295.stm
 
As there was a charity mentioned in the article who may have benefitted from the publicity, I have decided in the spirit of goodwill to not pursue this possible copyright infringement.
Anyway, I believe the head of the media organisation in question may be a bit strapped for cash at the moment what with the wedding and honeymoon and everything.
 
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That was a sudden change of heart. Was it something to do with the BBC terms under which you gave them the image?
 
Byker28i said:
That was a sudden change of heart. Was it something to do with the BBC terms under which you gave them the image?
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No. I am almost certain that I have a case, but to be honest, the whole idea of dealing with lawyers scares me.
 
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Well, nothing wrong with taking an friendly approach that it's your image and asking whats their going rate for usage, providing in giving it to the bbc they havent the right to sell it on.
Worse case they say no and you still have nothing.
 
You don't need to deal with lawyers, just email them and ask where the got the image from.
 
What i don't quite understand is why if it had taken every clear night for ten years to get you gave it away to the BBC in the first place - if i had something that exclusive and newsworthy i'd have been selling it to the highest bidder.

that aside its almost certainly not worth dealing with lawyers etc anyway , but as a few people have said just email them ask them where they got the image, tell them its yours and you expect payment ... if they tell you to p*** off you are no worse off and they might well pay
 
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big soft moose said:
What i don't quite understand is why if it had taken every clear night for ten years to get you gave it away to the BBC in the first place - if i had something that exclusive and newsworthy i'd have been selling it to the highest bidder.
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I was being a bit tongue-in-cheek there, but I was intending to catch something interesting. I never realised it would hit the headlines in the way it did. The only reason it hit the headlines with the tabloids was because of the way it was linked with another major news story of the day.
 
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Copywrite infringement issues has come up so many times on TP so worth checking on back messages. Some golden rules to follow

Do not send anything but the smallest image size initially so it can't be expanded to a usuable size
Put a heavy watermark right across to centre
Putting your name/company and copywrite stamp can easily be removed
Read every contract carefully, especially small print
Ascertain payment first before release
Do not allow third party use before agreeing price and who
If you don't what your photo used then keep it off the internet or else it could well be "lifted"by anyone
 
Byker28i said:
That was a sudden change of heart. Was it something to do with the BBC terms under which you gave them the image?
Click to expand...


I doubt News International is one of their international partners. They probably mean Eurovision.
 
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