A thief is a thief even if you are a big company

[Jim Bryant]

A thief is a thief even if you are a big company. Here's something to read.
A Photo Editor - Daniel Morel And AFP Go To Court Today and especially here:http://nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2010/09/morel.html and here: http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2010/04/...then-sues-him/

[BuddhaPi]

very interesting, will be following this one! As I am currently entangled with Getty.

My prediction:

This will probably never go to court. The company will end up settling for a few thousand and we'll never hear about it again.

[Jim Bryant]

I hope he gets more than a few thousand bucks out of the deal.

[Jim Bryant]

Originally Posted by BuddhaPi

very interesting, will be following this one! As I am currently entangled with Getty.

When Getty purchased Gamma Liaison, I stopped producing stock photography on the side.

[sk66]

What I don't get is all of the sentiment of basically " he put it out where it could be stolen...what did he expect? He should know better..."

That's like saying I shouldn't park my car on the street in front of my house.....

[CheaperKings]

Just a quick question; I've had TONS of graphics/videos used/stolen/borrowed/claimed, it's pissed me off to no end but, there's nothing I can do about it when it's posted online - therefore, I post VERY little online - my ? is; WHY post anything worth stealing online?

[Raoul Isidro]

The big honchos would probably be willing to spend 10,000 times more in legal costs to defend themselves rather than settle out of court for a mere pittance to a tiny small player.

[sk66]

Originally Posted by CheaperKings

Just a quick question; I've had TONS of graphics/videos used/stolen/borrowed/claimed, it's pissed me off to no end but, there's nothing I can do about it when it's posted online - therefore, I post VERY little online - my ? is; WHY post anything worth stealing online?

Good question...
But is it right that you can't put it up for fear of it being stolen? You SHOULD be able to do something.....EVERYTHING can be stolen...No mater what cautions yo take....Does that make it ok to be stolen?

IMO I don't care i someone copies an image to use as their desktop background...I consider it "advertising" (I need to watermark more). They aren't going to pay me even $5 for a screensaver, nor would I...But someone who "steals" to make money and can/should afford the normal expense...that's just wrong.

[gturner]

This is a lot like finding a wallet on the street.
You have 2 options, find out who the owner is and return it, or spend the cash, use the cards and deposit back on the street.

It seems AFP & Co prefer option 2.

Here are the T&C's for a photographer who has battled and won against AP. You may know Chris from his AIR JAWS films on Discovery. He also and a short fight with Virgin for using a shark image in advert.
Strangely all the news reports seem to have vanished from the web. It was in 2006.

Apex Predators - Terms and Conditions for Apex Images