It's happened to me again. The same image that a newspaper/journalism school stole from me a little over 3 years ago is now being illegally used by a resort in Missouri. I happened upon this quite by accident and again - I'm just shocked, though I know I shouldn't be. It is an image of a cave in Missouri that won an EP on this forum.
I'm having a little trouble figuring out how much I should demand they pay me - the usage prices I'm seeing on 4 different stock photo sites vary wildly. Guess I'll average and throw in some extra for the time and trouble they are causing me. It still amazes me that people seem to think if it's on the internet, it's FREE for them to use however they wish, copyright marks and/or notices be dam*ed!
I hope the resort has used your image in many expensive brochures and other things they don't want to have to do again - so you can demand and GET a very good compensation. I'd suggest not averaging - go with the highest price and then add some.
Good luck!
Sandy
Posted by Richard Ditch on August 19, 2013 at 1:49 PM
I'd also suggest hiring a lawyer with experience in this field who will protect your interests. There's a person who has been named here in previous discussions that is worth contacting.
Posted by Mia McPherson on August 20, 2013 at 6:21 AM
Angela, after finding 4 of my images being used on a commercial web site by a company local to me I called an IP Attorney in town and he agreed to work on my case on a percentage basis.
The infringing company settled before it went to court but not without trying to trick me by having one of their employees email to ask me how much I would charge per image for display on a commercial web site. I knew who the employee was because I had researched the company prior to contacting my attorney. My attorney advised me to tell them the same amount that he had demanded in the suit per image.
I think it took about three months from the time I called my IP Attorney until the infringing company handed over the check.
I kept an eye on the web site to make sure they didn't use any more of my images and a few weeks later I saw that they had replaced the images they stole from me with images from another local photographer. I contacted the photographer and gave him the contact info to my IP Attorney. You would think the company would have learned their lesson the first time right?
What made this even more ironic is that on the infringing company's own web site they claimed to be "Copyright experts".
Posted by Peter Cross on August 20, 2013 at 1:40 PM
Incredible, Mia. It certainly gives one pause to think about the ethics of this company in their real line of work.
Posted by Mia McPherson on August 20, 2013 at 9:10 PM
Indeed Peter. I still keep an eye on that site, if they ever infringe on me again I will ask the attorney to go after 4 times what they settled for per image and makes sure it goes to court in front of a judge.
Posted by Kent Staubus on August 24, 2013 at 12:28 AM
Fortunately for me, none of my images seem to be worth stealing.
Discussion
6 repliesI'm having a little trouble figuring out how much I should demand they pay me - the usage prices I'm seeing on 4 different stock photo sites vary wildly. Guess I'll average and throw in some extra for the time and trouble they are causing me. It still amazes me that people seem to think if it's on the internet, it's FREE for them to use however they wish, copyright marks and/or notices be dam*ed!
Good luck!
Sandy
The infringing company settled before it went to court but not without trying to trick me by having one of their employees email to ask me how much I would charge per image for display on a commercial web site. I knew who the employee was because I had researched the company prior to contacting my attorney. My attorney advised me to tell them the same amount that he had demanded in the suit per image.
I think it took about three months from the time I called my IP Attorney until the infringing company handed over the check.
I kept an eye on the web site to make sure they didn't use any more of my images and a few weeks later I saw that they had replaced the images they stole from me with images from another local photographer. I contacted the photographer and gave him the contact info to my IP Attorney. You would think the company would have learned their lesson the first time right?
What made this even more ironic is that on the infringing company's own web site they claimed to be "Copyright experts".
Kent in SD