Stolen Image Wins Fujifilm Prize

[DEvianT]

An image theiving scumbag has entered a stolen image in a Fujifilm competition and won a £200 second prize. Details are on Paul Indigo's photography blog.

Any photographers as apalled as I am by this blatant disregard of copyright should write to Fujifilm and make their feelings known in my humble opinion.

[Xia_Ke]

That's just friggin ridiculous! :mad2: Also read the one about the Flickr image. Now in cases like these, is there even any legal action that can be taken? Or would it be even worth it considering legal costs?

[DEvianT]

If you look at Chase Jarvis's blog (US commercial photographer) he did take action against K2 as a last resort. In the event of the above breach I am not sure what you'd do. Certainly I am hoping Fujifilm take action and at least retreive prize money and give it to the right person.

[DEvianT]

I had an image used without permission on a promotional stand. The company was unaware. It was one of their own employees who had been naughty. I approached amiably, proved it had occurred and they settled amicably. Hence I don't name and shame as they did the right thing (and made me sign to say I wouldn't name lol!)

I think the best way to go is to try amicably and reasonably. Not in the case of this sad sack though he's just straight up dishonest for personal gain in my opinion.

[Xia_Ke]

Makes me want to start further watermarking all of my images. As it is I have my name, contact info, and copyright sign inbedded in the EXIF data and have started adding copyrights in the lower corner of my shots. What can really be done to protect yourself online? Not that any of my shots are all that great or worth stealing but, I would be pissed if someone used my shots for profit or not without asking.

[Alison]

Sometimes I hide the watermark in hair or something as well as making one visible. Sometimes there will even be 3 watermarks on my images. They would have to look closely though hehe.
I also write in my exif now.

[DEvianT]

I wouldn't care when I get mailed by people asking to use images for personal use like a home website or screensaver I am happy to do it simply for a credit by the picture. Likewise many photographers I interview allow image use for free with the article about them as it's a mutually benefficial arrangement. But just going against good web karma and stealing is bad enough, but to actually do it to proffit from and take credit for someone elses endeavours is just unacceptable.

All we can do is look out for each other and tip each other off when theft occurs. That's how this person was rumbled so it does work when the online photography community watches each others backs.

[reverberation]

It really does not surprise me at all. People who are not photographers have no sense of what a picture means to a photographer. A picture to them is just a small object they can get for free from the internet. I am sure some grab all they can for free. That someone actually went so far as to enter a stolen picture in a contest just goes to show how audacious some crimminals are.
I had a strange thing happen on a skiing website. A bunch of us posted pictures and this person just posted a reply asking if they could make Christmas cards from the pictures. I was taken aback because it was such a generalized request, with the probable legal ramifications that anyone who posted or left their photos on that thread would lose control of their images if they did not publicly deny the request and seem like a jerk. I don't know if the poster realized this or not but it did seem strange to post a request like that to everyone.
As for watermarking, there are other ways as well. Creating and then fixing problems in an image, while saving copies to disk detailng what was done before uploading it is another way to prove ownership. You can easily make these invisible. Copywriting is expensive if you are going to copywrite individual pics. I think it is like 45 dollars each. I am not sure if you can copywrite an entire cd or dvd for 45 bucks. The way around that is to simply create a dvd film of all your shots and copywrite that.

[SmartWombat]

Copywriting is expensive if you are going to copywrite individual pics. I think it is like 45 dollars each. I am not sure if you can copywrite an entire cd or dvd for 45 bucks.

Yes, you can. even more than one DVD I think.

The way around that is to simply create a dvd film of all your shots and copywrite that.

It might be accepted, but it is a derivative work, being a film made from the original (unregistered) images. Copies of the images in JPEG format are acceptable.

http://www.peterkrogh.com/copyright/main.html
http://contributors.gettyimages.com/...article_id=890

Relevant portion of Getty article:
Step 1: Unpublished Works
Send the copyright office groups of unpublished pictures by scanning the images and storing them on CD-ROM together with a form VA and $30 (check with copyright office for any price increases) before submitting to Getty Images so that they may be registered as unpublished works. Once they are uploaded to our website, they are considered published. www.copyright.gov/forms/formvai.pdf

Please note: While it can take up to 4 or 5 months for the certificate of registration to be returned to the photographer or filmmaker, the date of registration is the date the submission is received in the copyright office, or, if it held for a long time offsite (due to security screening of mail) then the postmark date will apply as the effective date of registration.

I'd take their lead, and register the unpublished pictures as soon as possible.
Also note as they say once uploaded to a website, they are considered published.
That obviously includes posting on threads here, and in the Galleries.
Oh, and consult a lawyer if you do this for a living, or expect to make high value claims.
From Peter's website:
Disclaimer: We are providing information on how photographers may copyright their work. Although we believe it to be accurate, we are not responsible for any errors or omissions. It is best to consult a lawyer or the US Copyright office to make sure that you are following proper procedures.

Just because a work is accepted by the Library of Congress, it does not mean that the copyright registration cannot be challenged in court. In fact, if a significant amount of money is on the line, expect there to be a challenge. Any falsification or factual error in the registration could potentially invalidate the registration.

You must expect that the defendant in a copyright case will look hard at all information on the form, including the publication dates. Make sure that you are registering the earliest possible publication of the photo.

[DEvianT]

As I said I don't mind if someone grabs an image as a screen saver or whatever a home user doing that is not lost revenue to me. If I was bothered about that I'd not post the image in the first place. But entering a competition with someone elses image is beyond the pale it's an obvious immorality and an obvious deception. They know that very well before they did it.

[DEvianT]

It gets better! The W*nker has done it again. It appears Fujifilm have acted. Removed the image and hopefully going to kick the culprit in the nuts until their feet bleed.

[reverberation]

Yes, you can. even more than one DVD I think.


It might be accepted, but it is a derivative work, being a film made from the original (unregistered) images. Copies of the images in JPEG format are acceptable.

http://www.peterkrogh.com/copyright/main.html
http://contributors.gettyimages.com/...article_id=890

Relevant portion of Getty article:
Step 1: Unpublished Works
Send the copyright office groups of unpublished pictures by scanning the images and storing them on CD-ROM together with a form VA and $30 (check with copyright office for any price increases) before submitting to Getty Images so that they may be registered as unpublished works. Once they are uploaded to our website, they are considered published. www.copyright.gov/forms/formvai.pdf

Please note: While it can take up to 4 or 5 months for the certificate of registration to be returned to the photographer or filmmaker, the date of registration is the date the submission is received in the copyright office, or, if it held for a long time offsite (due to security screening of mail) then the postmark date will apply as the effective date of registration.
[/SIZE]

Thanks for the info. I think its a good idea to copywrite everything.

As I said I don't mind if someone grabs an image as a screen saver or whatever a home user doing that is not lost revenue to me.[/SIZE]

I would ask the person before downloading if I knew they relied on the images to feed their family. I can see that point, and it makes sense from a business perspective. I am only in it for fun, so these issues really don't affect me. I am just shocked at the attitude I see some folks display towards copywrite issues, especially as it relates to artists who are not internationally renowned.

I hope this guy gets crimminally charged. I mean it is an attempt at theft by deception. It also detracts from the honest artists who have submitted their own work and from the contest itself. If they make an example of this guy it may serve to deter others.

[DEvianT]

I agree in the UK I think it should come under a fraud charge. Just my opinion but hope it does and he gets screwed for it.

[Frog]

Guy probably doesn't even own a camera.

[livin4lax09]

good link deviant, thanks for the info. I feel bad for rebekka, her images are amazing. Same with Chase. but as was written, as photographers we do expose ourselves to this. And as someone else wrote, if plagiarists were smart, they wouldn't be plagiarists. I hope the guilty party gets completely screwed. there's no way he was unaware of the legal ramifications of stealing someone elses work and winning money with it. if he was, then he's just plain idiotic and I'm surprised he's lasted this long in the world.

[mn shutterbug]

I have just 1 word to describe this jerk - PATHETIC.

[Interject]

Makes me want to start further watermarking all of my images. As it is I have my name, contact info, and copyright sign inbedded in the EXIF data and have started adding copyrights in the lower corner of my shots. What can really be done to protect yourself online? Not that any of my shots are all that great or worth stealing but, I would be pissed if someone used my shots for profit or not without asking.

I was wondering the same thing even though I’m a newbie to the photography world. I had my images on Slide.com, but after reading that post I took them off pondering how to distinctively mark my images accordingly. Is there any paper work you have to go through to copyright them, or do you just use a photo editing program and mark it as such in a corner of your images that makes them copyrighted? Although I to feel that my images may not be all that and a bag of chips either, but they’re mine just like your images are yours, but others may find your images to them at that moment to be all that.

Tracy