Copyright & Legal
Last week we wrote about the new Getty Images initiative
Post-Usage-Billing Service (PUBS). On Thursday Craig Peters, Senior Vice President of Business Development for Getty spoke at the Luminance event in New York and shared some additional insights. He spoke of the dilemma the photo industry faces in protecting copyright and how Getty’s new initiative can solve at least part of the problem.
PicScout has announced the launch of the ImageIRC Post-Usage-Billing Service designed to assure photographers and content licensors that their work will be properly acknowledged on social media platforms which embrace the ImageIRC Post Usage Billing solution.
When you discover that a large educational publisher has made extensive use one of your images beyond the rights they licensed is it wise to try to collect for the unauthorized use? In a recent discussion on the Stockphoto@yahoogroups.com forum it was pointed out that publishers often “blacklist” suppliers who try to collect for unauthorized use. Thus, it was argued that it may be better to accept a loss on one sale in hopes that in the years ahead you’ll make it up through additional sales to that same publisher.
In March 2011 we published
a brief story about how Noam Galai’s picture of his screaming face had been used extensively all over the world without his permission. The image has gained a reputation as the “Stolen Scream.” But, was it really stolen or did the photographer effectively allow the uses.
Education Companies have recently settled copyright and trademark claims against several textbook distributors. However, these same companies have no remorse about knowingly, intentionally and systematically infringing the copyrights of image creators who have supplied images for use in many of the books they publish.
No one likes to see their images used without compensation, particularly if the use is on a site that generates revenue for the user.
PicScout, a company that searches the web for images found in the collections of professional image distributor, says that 85% of the images they find on commercial sites are unauthorized uses (either never licensed, or used beyond the license). This article deals with what you should do to locate images that have been infringed and to receive compensation.
For some time professional image suppliers and many educational publishers have been at odds over unlicensed use of images. Image creators and suppliers claim they have not been properly compensated for the use of some images while publishers either try to hide the unauthorized uses or argue that what they have done is not copyright infringement. Now publishers and image creators are on the same side against alleged infringer
Boundless Learning.
Google has made a change in its search algorithm that may discourage web site creators from using unlicensed photos. Such use could result in their entire site appearing lower in search rankings and thus seldom, if ever, seen as a result of a Google search.
On its
Google Drive cloud storage service Google has added a feature that will allow its customers to use
Thinkstock photos for FREE. They are currently asking their customers to suggest photos that they would like to see included in this gallery of free photos.
In November 2010 the UK government called for an independent review of the Intellectual Property laws and practices. Among the recommendations in a report submitted by Professor Ian Hargreaves and a panel of experts in May 2011 was the creation of a
Digital Copyright Exchange. Next, was
another study that offers some workable solutions to the problems addressed in the first report. Sarah Saunders has examined this latest effort.
On Wednesday in Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York a jury found after a seven-day trial that educational publisher John Wiley & Sons was liable for willful copyright infringement of two photos taken by Louis Psihoyos.
In late March In the case of Tom Bean vs. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona Judge Frederick J. Martone
GRANTED partial summary judgment to the plaintiff on the issue of defendant's liability for copyright infringement of 26 images used in seven titles.
In November 2010 the UK government called for an independent review of
the Intellectual Property laws and practices and assigned Professor Ian
Hargreaves and a panel of experts to prepare a report. The report,
submitted in May 2011, made 10 recommendations designed to ensure that
the UK has an IP framework “best suited to supporting innovation and
promoting economic growth in the digital age.” I'd like to recommend a different approach.
U.S. Judge Denny Chin has issued an opinion denying Google's motion to
dismiss lawsuits by the American Society of Media Photographers and the
Authors Guild. The motion to dismiss had been based primarily on
Google's assertion that trade associations did not have
standing to bring a copyright infringement suit on behalf of members. In
his ruling, the Judge asserted that "given the sweeping and
undiscriminating nature of Google's unauthorized copying, it would be
unjust to require that each affected association member litigate his
claim individually."
The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), along with the
Professional Photographers of America (PPA), has submitted comments to
the U.S. Copyright Office in response to proposed new registration fees. In formulating the Copyright Office comments, ASMP surveyed its members
about copyright registration and received nearly 900 responses.
A three-judge panel of the Washington State Court of Appeal has substantially
affirmed a trial court judgment against Corbis Corporation for Fraud,
Breach of Contract, Breach of the Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing,
Misappropriation of Trade Secrets and Unjust Enrichment over the ownership of Infoflows' Fedmark technology. The original jury awarded $36 million in damages. Following trial the judge reduced the damages to $12.74 million.
The U.S. Copyright Office is proposing to increase the registration fee for filing an online application from $35 to $65, and the fee for using a paper application from $65 to $100. They are requesting a fee increase because in 2011 fee receipts only covered 59.5% of the cost of providing the service. The rest comes out of the taxpayers pockets.
In the case of Jon Feingersh Photography, Inc. vs. Pearson Education, Inc. Judge Anita B. Brody in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has denied a request from Pearson that it not be required to release the print quantities and publication dates of the various textbooks in which 50 of Feingersh’s images were used.
A little over a month ago
we wrote about the new Internet craze call Pinterest which claims to have over 10 million users. In our story we linked to a blog post by Sean Locke where he explored the copyright infringement issues. For additional information on this hot topic read posts by
Kirsten Kowalski and
Allen Murabayashi.
An international alliance of publishers including seven member companies
of the Association of American Publishers, with support from AAP and
other international trade associations, has identified and taken legal
action against operators of one of the largest pirate web-based
businesses in the world.
Imagestate Media Ltd and Imagestate Media Partners Ltd has ceased
trading through its website and as of February 1, 2012 has entered
Administration. The assets of the above companies have been acquired by a
new investor. The ongoing business of Imagestate will be managed by
Impact Photos. Heritage Images will operate separately.
In the U.S. it is possible to copyright a specific visual representation of a concept, not the concept itself. In what may be a precedent setting decision in the Patents County Court in London His honour Judge Birss QC has decided that a concept, or visual technique can also be copyrighted.
There’s a lot of buzz on the Internet about a new “social media” site Pinterest.com. It is designed to let people organize and share pictures they find on the web. “
People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.” Users can browse pinboards created by others, discover new things and get inspiration from people who share their interests -- all without paying a penny to use the pictures.
Earlier today Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he would delay a cloture vote on the Protect IP (Intellectual Property) Act (PIPA) bill and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) announced he will postpone further action on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). On January 14th the
White House’s announced its refusal to support the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).
The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) has submitted its comments on “
Remedies for Copyright Small Claims” to the U.S. Copyright Office. The Office asked for comments related to a study it is undertaking at the request of Congress to assess whether and how the current legal system hinders or prevents copyright owners from pursuing copyright infringement claims that have a relatively small economic value. The Office also asked for potential alternatives to improve the settlement of these claims.