I have had other hobbyist use my photos for the for sale thread on this forum and on our local forum and portray the photos as a WYSIWYG . I applaud you Gordon for doing the right thing and fighting for your rights!
How to Fight Back When Your Photo is Stolen—The Volatile Deceiver at Getahugetank.com
- Thread starter Bongo Shrimp
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Young Frankenstein
I sniff ozone and relax.
Now thats some trickery, specially on the person that buys that coral.
Young Frankenstein
I sniff ozone and relax.
Question ??? If i decided to make a thread, "The nicest coral and fish photos I have ever seen" and post photographs that i copied from other users. Does that offend anyone? is that against the law ? Not selling anything, just a photo thread.
If you use photographs without the photographer's permission, Yes, it's against the law. Selling has absolutely nothing to do with it. Here's an example of how it may cause trouble, for the photographer...
Say for instance that one of my photos was used in a magazine, as has happened numerous times, and in allowing the magazine to use my photos, I also agreed to not allow anyone else to use that photo (usually for a specific length of time) and then someone else copies that same photo to another form of media, say this forum as an example...Now I'm in breach of a contract I have with the above mentioned magazine. Even if my photo was copied by someone, giving me credit, I'm still in breach of said contract.
That's just one example and there are many more examples...
Here's another...
Say I sell some of my photographs, which I do, though not many. Say one of my photographs that I had for sale was copied and placed on a forum. Now the value of my photograph has gone down because it's "out there in the public view" more. A lot of potential buyers may think, "why buy that photo when I can just Right Click>Save As...etc.
So, in answer to your question, yes you would have broke the law...
Most photographers would say yes, if asked if their photographs could be used. It's when they're used without asking that it becomes an issue. As the owner of my photographs, I have a right to determine how, when and where they are used. If I'm asked, I'm in control. If I'm not asked, it's out of my control.
I have photographs that have been used by the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, for media brochures, posters, etc. I didn't expect them to pay me anything, in fact, I didn't even require anything written on the posters, giving me credit. However, they approached me, in a business like manner, and asked. I agreed, that simple. Had they used them without permission, it would have been a whole different story.
There are ways to find photos that are free to use, as long as they are used properly, such as Creative Commons. A lot of photographers will give "Creative Commons Licensing Releases" to their photos, meaning that they've allowed them to be used, free, without having to ask for permission in advance. However, in each Creative Commons Category, there are rules as to how the photos are to be used and it's usually required to give credit. As an example, some categories allow free use, with credit, for educational purposes only. Other categories may allow free use, with credit, for any purpose "other than for profit." There are other types of 'licenses' similar that Creative Commons as well.
Similar threads
