After a lengthy negotiation, I sold some photos to be used in a scholarly book published by the University of California Press. The license was very specific that no electronic rights are granted and no web use is allowed. My negotiations were with the author, but the fee was paid by the publisher. The amount was not large.
Today I received an email from the author telling me that "eight of the splendid photographs" from his book appear in an online gallery from NewScientist magazine (published in the UK, I think). I followed the link he provided and found one of my photos among the eight. My name is credited for the photo. .
I've had local copyright infringement issues before and have dealt with them, but without remuneration.
I don't make my living from photography, just an occasional sale. I'm not sure what, if anything, I should do about this.
Buck, I'm no legal guru, but if it were me I would first take a screen shot of the site for two reasons: one as proof, and the other to use it in your own promotion and portfolio. Might as well tout that NewScientist magazine has feature one of your images. Then I would simply and kindly prepare an invoice for web usage fees and email that doc ASAP to one or more contacts (you may have to hunt on the site for that). Microsoft Word has Invoice templates that are easy to fill out. As far as usage fee, that can be any amount you desire, but I think $100 is a great starting ballpark figure for non-exclusive rights. In the friendly but firm email, state that you have a screenshot of the image on the site for archival and legal purposes and give them the standard 30 days net terms. Don't even word it as if there isn't a payment due, these folks need a wakeup call. You can even inform them that they can extend their usage licensing past the one single time they are using it now and that you'd be happy to give them a quote for an annual usage license. Stress what a savings that would be, unlimited website usage for a year. If for some crazy reason they say yes, great, you get several hundred more coming your way.
That's how I would handle it if it were me. BUT if there are others who have been through this, please pipe in. Let's help Buck set the record straight!
We've always had good luck with the power of the pen, writing a very professional letter explaining the misuse and including a list of fees we expect to receive if the usage continues. The essential part of the strategy is that we write to the highest authority in the organization, in your case the publisher of the online mag. Leave it to the publisher to investigate who in the organization misbehaved so badly, and let the blame roll downhill. An inquiry from the top in any organization always gets quick action.
Be prepared for your images simply to disappear rather than to receive the compensation you request, though. In our experience the check comes through less than half the time, especially in electronic media.
Interestingly, from another thread in this forum, I realized that besides my photo, three other photos of the eight in the NewScientist article are by NPNers. I wonder what kind of agreement they have?
Some of the NPNers listed there also had their pictures shown on the NewScientist. It was the author, or the publisher, promoting his book. My fellow NPNers seemed not to mind. Being the non-confrontational type, I decided to do nothing.
I did more recently have a picture I posted here on NPN show up in the website pixdaus. I contacted the website owner who removed the picture. I've had similar situations in the past with similar results. I do appreciate the advice given me by Paul and Hank. I think Hank is right when he says "Be prepared for your images simply to disappear rather than to receive the compensation you request."
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5 repliesToday I received an email from the author telling me that "eight of the splendid photographs" from his book appear in an online gallery from NewScientist magazine (published in the UK, I think). I followed the link he provided and found one of my photos among the eight. My name is credited for the photo. .
I've had local copyright infringement issues before and have dealt with them, but without remuneration.
I don't make my living from photography, just an occasional sale. I'm not sure what, if anything, I should do about this.
Advice?
That's how I would handle it if it were me. BUT if there are others who have been through this, please pipe in. Let's help Buck set the record straight!
Be prepared for your images simply to disappear rather than to receive the compensation you request, though. In our experience the check comes through less than half the time, especially in electronic media.
So far, I've taken no action.
After I posted this, I saw this thread: http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/bbs.cgi?a=vm&mr=64858&CGISESSID=8bebf47b1853e0ff5c7f3abdee9e7497&u=13832
Some of the NPNers listed there also had their pictures shown on the NewScientist. It was the author, or the publisher, promoting his book. My fellow NPNers seemed not to mind. Being the non-confrontational type, I decided to do nothing.
I did more recently have a picture I posted here on NPN show up in the website pixdaus. I contacted the website owner who removed the picture. I've had similar situations in the past with similar results. I do appreciate the advice given me by Paul and Hank. I think Hank is right when he says "Be prepared for your images simply to disappear rather than to receive the compensation you request."