Copyright and the internet

[jjhiddle]

Hi all,

I am a keen amateur photographer based in Australia. I am a member of a number of automotive enthusiast clubs and regularly take photos of outings free of charge for posting to their websites, etc. Currently I load these to photobucket for ease of access.

Recently some of my photos have turned up at AAPimage - here

While my forum name has been credited for the image, I am concerned that a third party is now potentially profiting from my images. What are my rights in reagrds to these images now given that I have voluntarily posted them to public access forums?

Cheers

James Hiddlestone

[Woody]

Mate,
You need to email or call this mob immediately. Tell them that they have used your copyright images without your permission. Demand payment or removal.

Their contact details are on their website.

For future reference, you should post your images in a smaller resolution and watermark your name and or your copyright status.

Cheers,

John W

Good luck

[FrankLamont]

Demand payment and removal.

[bhursey]

They have no right to just pull the images. Email them demand them be removed.

[Jim Bryant]

Yup..........copyright violations.........send an invoice for $750-$1500.00 for each photo used.

[Browncoat]

This raises other questions, in my mind at least...

1. How is he to prove that he is the owner of these pictures?
2. Can you demand copyright violations if there is no (C) on the photos or website from which they were taken from?

[Christian Michael]

I was under the impression that unless the ORIGINAL photo had the © symbol, photographers name & year watermarked on the photo, there is no proof the image belongs to anyone.

ALTHOUGH I do feel your concern as this has happened to me. Someone copied photos from my website and added them to their myspace page, then they had the nerve to contact me through myspace and ask to be friends! I sent them an email as if it was from my legal department amd the images were removed. I also sent myspace an email and had the person contacted.

HOWEVER my original images WERE copyrighted with a watermark and I did still have the original images. I do believe that the images must be registered in your name to pursue a legal battle if things were to get this far out of hand.

[FrankLamont]

It irritates me to no end, what misconceptions there are about copyright.

A picture needs no (C) symbol or anything to have a copyright on it. From creation, the creator receives copyright ownership (excepting particular stated cases).

A picture does not need to have a US registered copyright to be taken to court; at least here in Australia that isn't the case.

Since it's an Australian website, you shouldn't have any international problems.

They've clearly already recognised you. Send them an email; you've nothing to fear, absolutely.

[Christian Michael]

Originally Posted by FriedChicken

It irritates me to know end, what misconceptions there are about copyright.

A picture does not need to have a US registered copyright to be taken to court; at least here in Australia that isn't the case.

Wow and they say the English wake up in bad moods! Someone not had their coffee? lol

This is a world wide forum and the gentleman asked a question that will be answer by people all over the world where different rules apply for everyone. Its not worth getting upset about when someone replies with an answer you don’t agree with. If its not relevant to you because its from another country, area or state, no big deal. Ignore it and move on.

[FrankLamont]

Thanks for pointing out that I had made a spelling mistake, even if by accident.

Just a few tips: I said, "it irritates me to no end". I didn't jump around, make a huge fuss... it was a general statement - you're looking more angry than I am at the moment.

More precisely, that comment was directed to next comment, which was concerning the fact that a picture does not need the (C) listed beside it to be copyrighted. That's universal. You skipped that, and made a poor assumption.

Actually, the OP is from Australia. So yes, it rather is relevant to me, and what you said is rather ironic, since you aren't from Australia and offered advice which wasn't pertaining to the OP's question.

It's not that I 'don't agree' - I know it, which is why I mentioned it.