Copyright question please.

Dawn B

Dawn B

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Well Dawn of course!
Edit My Images
Yes
I follow the link from my "mint" counter to a google page and thumbnail containing one of my photographs. It goes to a website offering dogs and cats for sale (popular one) Advertising a stud dog, it shows my photograph with my copyright blurred out and THEIRS across the top of the image and next to it says the image is a "gallery" image!!

Am I correct in assuming they have breached my copyright and are responsible for copyright infringement?

Thanks folks.
 
Cheers both, appreciated and you have confirmed my thoughts. My neice will help me out again Im sure, she specialises in copyright infringement.
 
Yep, if you're sure that's the case sending them a biiiiiiiiig bill! It's one thing to crop out the copyright bit, but another to blur it out and stamp theirs on top!

Make sure you get a screen grab as well, in case they try to deny it!
 
Cheers both, and I did do the screen print. :)
 
You should get a 3rd-party using something like the Developer Tools in the Opera web-browser, or Wget, to provide evidence of the file used, including the date/time it was last modified, which is when it was uploaded. If you need help, just holler.
 
Take screen grabs and invoice them with your payment terms. Don't take any excuses, they haven't a leg to stand on.
 
love to see a screeny too!
 
Ill give you all the info as soon as I confirm who is responsible. Problem is it "may" be that the advertiser has put up the photo, although it does say "photo gallery" next to the image. Their exclusions are a little difficult for me to understand, maybe you guys and girls can have a beak and tell me what you think. It says:

You acknowledge that all information, text, graphics, logos, photographs, images, moving images, sound, illustrations and other materials ("the Content"), whether posted publicly or transmitted privately, are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. We do not control or endorse the Content and cannot guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such Content and you acknowledge that by using the Services you may be exposed to Content that is offensive and/or indecent. *********.co.uk will not be liable in any way for any Content or for any loss or damage of any kind resulting from the use of any Content transmitted via the Services and you agree to bear all risks associated with the use of any Content, including any reliance on the accuracy or completeness of such Content.
Click to expand...
 
Dawn B said:
Ill give you all the info as soon as I confirm who is responsible. Problem is it "may" be that the advertiser has put up the photo, although it does say "photo gallery" next to the image. Their exclusions are a little difficult for me to understand, maybe you guys and girls can have a beak and tell me what you think. It says:

"You acknowledge that all information, text, graphics, logos, photographs, images, moving images, sound, illustrations and other materials ("the Content"), whether posted publicly or transmitted privately, are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. We do not control or endorse the Content and cannot guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such Content and you acknowledge that by using the Services you may be exposed to Content that is offensive and/or indecent. *********.co.uk will not be liable in any way for any Content or for any loss or damage of any kind resulting from the use of any Content transmitted via the Services and you agree to bear all risks associated with the use of any Content, including any reliance on the accuracy or completeness of such Content."
Click to expand...

You have raised a good point with this last post. Your picture could have been posted by a third party without the website's knowledge of the situation. It happens a lot. I think that the website is still legally responsible, hence the disclaimer, but they may not be morally guilty even if technically they are the publisher.

However, websites are expected to monitor their content closely and remove material that does not conform to the law, but how do they know? I could post a picture on here lifted from anywhere, and claim it as mine. Who would know? Why would anyone even question it? Should I expect to receive a PM the minute I post anything, asking me to verify ownership? Or have the image removed until I could prove it?

It's just not practical, and hardly anybody reads the website's T&Cs. It often happens innocently, out of ignorance (which is no defense) but who should ultimately be held accountable is a moot point. The internet has put a new angle on copyright infringement. But whoever scrubbed out your copyright mark must have known what they were doing and need sorting out.
 
There's a good quote that sometimes applies to this sort of thing.

"Don't mistake for malice what is readily explained by stupidity."

No idea who said it though, and that could be considered a copyright infringement in itself :D
 
Wow, there's no excuse for that. Are they actually passing your work off as their own?
 
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