Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
A controversial court ruling in July 2018 that said it was ok to just take photos from the web and reuse them has been overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
The previous ruling said that Violent Hues Productions use of photographer Russel Brammer’s image fell under “Fair Use” and that it was “transformative”, denying his infringement claim. But this decision has now been reversed.
According to a recent report, as many as 2.5 billion online photos get stolen every day. A new strategic partnership between Flickr and Pixsy aims to reduce this number. Or at least, to help you protect your work and take legal action. The two companies are about to make it easier for photographers to track their images, and if necessary, to take legal action in an effort to preserve the integrity and value of their work.
The agreement required to cover Ariana Grande’s Sweetener tour has made photographers mad. The agreement requires them to transfer their copyright of the concert images to Grande’s tour company. And if photographers wish to use their own photos, they need to ask for written permission from the performer in advance. Because of this and several other terms, The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), along with 15 other press groups, is protesting against the agreement.
The Vessel, in New York City’s latest luxury neighbourhood, is Hudson Yards’ fancy tourist trap. But it’s also a rights grab when it comes to photography. Initially, spotted by Gothamist, two particular clauses in the Hudson Yard Terms & Conditions were extremely overbearing. Terms and conditions to which you agree as soon as you enter the place.
Those clauses have since been combined into a new “My social media posts” clause. The new clause is a little shorter and combines the two previous clauses together with a little more clarification. But it still looks like pretty rights grabby to me.
In early 2017, Kodak introduced its on-demand photography service Kodakit. While it may have sounded like a good idea, it turns out that the service is not on photographers’ side at all. All participating photographers are asked to give up all copyrights to the photos they take. The photo assignment agency also requires them to give up the moral rights and assume all legal risks of their assignments. And as if that weren’t enough: there’s also the possibility that photographers might not get paid if clients don’t like the photos.
You know what Google news results look like when the page doesn’t load properly? If EU Copyright Directive Article 11 and 13 pass, all Google news results could look like this: with blank image thumbnails and without short snippets of text.
After Bruno Mars, Gigi Hadid and Rod Stewart, Jennifer Lopez is also being sued for allegedly using someone else’s photo without permission. After the pop star posted a photo of herself to Instagram, photographer Michael Stewart filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement, which could earn him up to $150,000 if he wins.
Back in June 2017, a photo of Donald Trump crashing a wedding at his golf course resort went viral. Jonathan Otto took the photo, shared it with a wedding guest, and it quickly got all over the internet – and ended up in the media. After Otto found it out, he filed a lawsuit. And recently, the court ruled that media using a snapshot from someone’s social network doesn’t constitute a fair use.
If the real world worked like the online-photography world of stolen photos posted to websites and ads:
<insert crying>
Why is everyone so mad? I never said it was MY car. And I didn’t know it was wrong. I mean, I saw a car that I really wished my car looked like, and it was unlocked and the keys happened to be inside and so I just used it to run errands and go to work and drive around town. And when people said, “Hey, I love that car!” I said “Thank you,” because I love it, too.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
Find my work on My website or follow me on Facebook or My page
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