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Is It Ethical To Sue Over Copyright Infringement?

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I have been using an online service called  Pixsy to identify and secure payment for the unauthorized use of my work for a while now – with some significant success.

In most cases, Pixsy’s team of licensing experts and global network of law firms are effective in recovering monetary compensation for unauthorized use of a photographer’s work without the need to actually sue or go to court.

A strongly worded letter from a lawyer and the expertise to follow it up are usually all that is required.

However, in some cases the infringing party refuses to pay – or simply ignores Pixsy’s efforts to negotiate a settlement.

The next step is a lawsuit – but this brings up an interesting issue: is it ethical to sue over copyright infringement?[Read More…]

Photographer sues model Gigi Hadid over unpermitted instagram post

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Famous model Gigi Hadid is being sued for copyright infringement. Last week, Photographer Peter Cepeda filed a lawsuit against her because she posted his photo of her on Instagram without his permission.  She allegedly ripped the photo from a news outlet, removed the credit byline, and posted the photo to her profile. By doing this, she violated the copyright law, so Cepeda and his agency INF decided to file a lawsuit.

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Your photos may not be protected if copyright application is still in progress

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Italy-based photojournalist Matilde Gattoni recently got the result of her lawsuit against clothing retailer Tibi. Now that the judge has made the decision, it may be of interest for all photographers.

While copyright registration of Gattoni’s photo in the US was still in progress, Tibi changed her photo and posted it on their Instagram page. After she sued for copyright infringement and violation of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the court dismissed the charges of copyright infringement.

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Federal judge refuses to dismiss the case against Richard Prince

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I assume most of us will have a hard time forgetting Richard Prince making a fortune from selling other people’s Instagram screenshots. Photographer Donald Graham decided to file a lawsuit when Prince ripped off his image without permission. Despite Prince’s attempts to get the court throw out the lawsuit – the case goes on.

Last week, a federal judge in New York officially refused to dismiss the charges against Prince. According to the New York Times, this case could set an example of how the fair-use rules relate to Instagram, and it was about time.

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Photographer sues Trump Organization for copyright infringement

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Julie Dermansky, a New Orleans-based photojournalist, is suing Trump Organization for using her photo without permission. They used the photo on their website, as well as on the president’s Instagram page, where it gained almost 28,000 likes. Apparently, they didn’t either request the photographer’s permission or gave her credits. So, she is seeking $150,000 damages and a court trial, claiming that Trump Org. illegally profited off her work.

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Plant retailer awarded $900K by federal jury in copyright case over stolen photos

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An Oregon based plant retailer has been awarded $900,000 in actual damages by federal jury over a copyright claim. Or they’ve been awarded $300,000 in statutory damages. It’s recipient’s choice. They can have one, but not both. I would imagine they’ll probably go for the $900K. The case revolves around the unauthorised use of 24 images created by Under a Foot Plant Co. president, Frances White.

Under a Foot Plant Co., owns a product line of plants called “Stepables“. These are a range of plants that can be walked upon. A series of images were created to promote these products. In 2014 they sued Maryland based Exterior Design over taking and using these images to promote their own line, “Treadwell Plants” on the web, posters and in brochures.

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Tyra Banks uses unauthorized work on Instagram, deletes it after a rain of comments

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Has anyone used your photo without permission or credit? What would you do if it was a worldwide famous supermodel, posting your photo to millions of her followers without crediting you? This is exactly what happened to photographer Don Mupasi. Tyra Banks posted one of his photos to almost 5 million of her followers without crediting him as the photographer. And it seems he’s not the only one whose photo she used.

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I Just Made $2500 From A Single Copyright Infringement – And You Can Too

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There’s nothing better than receiving an email with a $2500 paycheck attached to it out of the blue.

That was my cut of a settlement that Pixsy was able to secure on my behalf from a single unauthorized use of one of my photos.

If you’ve ever had one of your photos published without a license (and who hasn’t), I am going to try to explain why and how you can get paid (in cash not credit) for the unauthorized use of your creative work.

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Getty responds to $1 Billion lawsuit: If you put your photos in public domain, don’t come whining to us

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OK, those are not the exact words of Getty, but this is what their response feels like. As you may recall we reported this 1 Billion dollars lawsuit back in July. If you want the background, Getty sent an infringement notice to one Carol M. Highsmith. Here is the funny thing. Carol M. Highsmith was the photographer who took the photo in the first place.

In response, Carol sued Getty for 1 billion dollars for “gross misuse” of 18,755 of her photographs, she claims that Getty “falsely and fraudulently holding themselves out as the exclusive copyright owner” (The amount comes from $25K per image in statutory damages times three).

Now it’s Getty’s time to respond (and they did file a response on September 6th) and here is what they are saying:

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Taylor Swift Wants To Hold Tech Companies Responsible for Piracy

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The use of copyrighted material without permission (aka piracy) gets a lot of attention in the music industry, but those of us who earn income from visual arts are just as often (if not more so) screwed over by rampant online piracy.

Interestingly, Taylor Swift and other huge creative content producers suffer from many of the exact same issues as independent photographers, filmmakers and visual artists (on an entirely different scale of course).

Now, with the current review of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) ongoing in the US – artists like Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Paul McCartney and some of the world’s other top creative content procurers think that it’s time to hold tech companies responsible for rampant piracy.

Amen – digital copyright control is long past due – click to continue reading…

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