[Aroid-l] flowersforme123- another photo stealer

From: Steve at ExoticRainforest.com (ExoticRainforest) on 2008.01.07 at 11:36:04(16927) I find it very interesting we are having this same discussion again in just a few months. In June of 2007 we covered this pretty well. You can find that entire discussion on the Aroid l achieves. http://www.hort.net/lists/aroid-l/search.cgi As many of you know, I am a retired commercial photographer. I have successfully sued a variety of corporations and others in Federal Court for copyright theft and won every time. Most of the time, as soon as the person who used the photo without permission hires an attorney, they just offer to pay a settlement out of court. The U.S. Copyright law is very, very clear and any lawyer who can read will advise an offending client to settle. The punishment can be severe. The very moment anyone clicks a shutter on a camera, they have created a legal copyright. Only if you wish to file a lawsuit and request attorney's fees do you have a need to "perfect" that copyright, but you own one the second you take the photo. Perfection of the copyright requires you place a notice with the photo where and when used, file a form with the Library of Congress, and pay a small fee. And all that gives you in addition to your normal protection and money damages is the right to sue for attorney's fees in addition to damages. You can sue for damages even if you do not perfect the copyright! Most lawyers will recommend you put the copyright ownership notice on or with the photo but you can still sue and win without it. I've done it. This is what I posted in June of 2007, "All photos anyone creates are the copyrighted property of the creator at the moment it is taken. There are steps you must take under Federal Copyright Law to protect your copyright in a court of law but you legally own it the moment you take it! By not protecting your copyright all you loose is the right to sue for attorney's fees in addition to damages. That's all! You do not loose the right to sue! I'm a retired professional photographer and use without permission is a big no-no in the pro photographer community! I know of one lawsuit that ended in a court ordering a payment of over $100,000.00 for using one image without permission! I'm relatively certain most people that use this board are descent folks. But I know some do sell plants on eBay. Please understand, if you wish to use one of my photos I'll almost certainly give you permission provided you give me credit when and where you use it. If someone else owns the photo on my site I'll give you a contact and you need to ask their permission before just using it! There can be legal costs!! This is absolutely no threat! But you should know that I have sued folks for using my photos and have settled (out of court) for fees of as much as $5,000 for unauthorized use. Other photographers have received much more! I once had to go to court and the user was forced to withdraw his advertisement, pay damages, pay all legal costs, destroy all his original ads, and pay me a large fee. He didn't even use my actual photograph. He hired another photographer to duplicate my photograph! He was out the cash to duplicate my image plus all the costs. It got very costly for that company! A simply "may I" along with the payment of a fair fee would have saved them a lot of cash! So if you are considering using someone else's photo, any photo, get permission! And give them credit if you get the permission to use it! It may seem like a trivial thing to many people, but photographs are created works. Legally, it is just like stealing a computer program or other body of created work. And there is a major body of Federal law written to protect unauthorized use. Be kind. Ask first!" Steve Lucas +More www.ExoticRainforest.com ----- Original Message ----- From: ALLAN TETZLAFF To: Discussion of aroids Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 10:26 PM Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] flowersforme123- another photo stealer This seems pretty odd to me. I don't see that we need a copyright issue.... what happened to basic manners? .... someone writes an article, takes a picture, writes a song.... does it take a rocket scientist to know that when you want to use something that does not belong to you, it is simply proper to ask? And sorry, but I don't buy that 'can't find' bit. If you can find the image, you're on the page of whoever it (hopefully) belongs to. There are photos on lots of sites that I have taken, and I was asked for those photos and permission to use them. When people say they don't understand why it's a big deal.... sorry, but I know people who are not intellectual wizards that still have manners. Susan B wrote: I don't know about all cases, but in my case I have a notice on each and every page of my website: All photos copyrighted, please ask permission before using. Most photos, even those on google images, can be traced to a web site. And most web sites have contact information on them. Or, and this requires a bit more work, go to http://www.whois.net/ type in the website addresss, and see if the contact registrant information is available. Tere Baber wrote: I have been guilty of this as until recently I was informed that picts have implied copyrights. I truly didn't know it was against the rules. Some picts say copyright but most don't so I think the majority of the time they are honest mistakes. Of course using an incorrect pict isn't very bright. How does one contact a pict owner when there is no name to contact? ----- Original Message ----- From: Susan B To: Aroid L Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 8:13 PM Subject: [Aroid-l] flowersforme123- another photo stealer The seller flowersforme123 has used photos stolen from my website on quite a few of her auctions. 200133350054, 200133347754, 200133348402, 200133349756, 200133513649, 200133351248, 200133351560, 200133355503, 200133355900, 200133356435, 200133505052, 200133505219, 200133508875, 200133509578, 200133513268, 200133513649, When I contacted her initially (I thought she used only two photos in two auctions) she denied it, and then said she gets 99% of her images from Google Images! D'OH! Then I get this- (in part) . it was a mistke... your the first oerson who has ever emailed me like this so i dont want to ever offend you... can i ask you a question.. why do folks get so mad at folks using their photos... The funniest thing is, the photos she stole are NOT of the plants she is trying to sell. So, whattya going to do? I can't see the problem getting any better- only worse! Susan ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L at www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l ------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. 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