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Getting sued on your own photos when someone steals them


4 years 6 months ago #662921 by Sue Bidwell
This is a completely made up scenario.  However the more I started to think about this, it had me thinking of what would happen if this made up scenario were to take place. 

So you post a photo online somewhere.  Someone unknown to you takes the photo and has the nerve to register the photo.  Then years later decides to sue you when you use your own photo, but they believe it's there because they have used it for so long.  

So, would you have any recourse here?  
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4 years 6 months ago #662923 by effron
Backed up files and maybe a lawyer will be all you need, me thinks. Why worry though?
Why so serious?
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4 years 6 months ago #662931 by garyrhook
You would, in a court of law, need to prove you created the image. I'm not sure what would be required to accomplish that.
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4 years 6 months ago #662936 by icepics
You can register the copyright yourself for photos you plan to post online. As soon as you register, the photos are considered copyrighted, even if it takes time to receive confirmation from the US Copyright office. You can register a large number of photos as a set at one time. (Some of this could have changed, check to see what's current.)

Supposedly it would be easier to show ownership if copyright is registered, even though a photographer automatically owns the rights to any photos they take.

Look at Terms & Conditions on any site where you intend to post photos and make sure the website doesn't allow for others or the website itself to take and use your photos. When you use a site you're agreeing to their Terms so find out what you're agreeing to as far as usage.
Sharon
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4 years 6 months ago #662942 by garyrhook

icepics wrote: You can register the copyright yourself for photos you plan to post online. As soon as you register, the photos are considered copyrighted, even if it takes time to receive confirmation from the US Copyright office.


Clarification: the Supreme Court (in its infinite wisdom.. really, I can't roll my eyes enough) have decided that this is not the whole story. At least, if you want to sue for infringement.

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/us-supreme-court-decides-two-copyright-cases-and-impacts-registration-strategy

I abhor the clowns appointed to this court.
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4 years 6 months ago #662952 by Ozzie_Traveller
G'day Sue

The other side to this scenario might be ... that one specific image being challenged may on your part be one of a series of images taken by you on that specific date and location. As all of us seem to keep a selection of images from a location or photo shoot - rather than a single image in isolation - it would be easy enough to challange the 2nd person to show what I'll refer to here "as the rest of the photo shoot".

Hope this helps
Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/
Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/
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4 years 6 months ago #662954 by CharleyL
I always crop my photos slightly that I will be posting. That way, I have the original size on file, just in case. 

Charley
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4 years 6 months ago #662958 by Sue Bidwell

effron wrote: Backed up files and maybe a lawyer will be all you need, me thinks. Why worry though?


Nope, I'm not.  It was just something I was thinking about.  Wondering actually.
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4 years 6 months ago #662959 by Sue Bidwell

garyrhook wrote: You would, in a court of law, need to prove you created the image. I'm not sure what would be required to accomplish that.



I was just thinking about that.  If you had the original, wouldn't that match the camera that I owned.  But would each EXIF data be specific to one camera? 
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4 years 6 months ago #662968 by Tony Imaging
I think you are putting to much thought into all of this.  
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4 years 6 months ago - 4 years 5 months ago #662983 by Troponin
Before I lose my mind on this topic, I’ll just say that with US law, anything is possible. There is a law called declaratory relief in which a company can start as lawsuit against someone claiming the company stole their art. In the music business, this happens and artists are commonly screwed when it happens, although rare.

Our system really needs cleaned up. It’s has become a s*** show and the only people that benefit are the lawyers and dirty judges. Most of them are not educated or experienced enough in this area to understand how vulnerable artists are 
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4 years 5 months ago #663137 by Camera Diva
What? I would be very surprised if something like this was difficult to prove in the courts.  
At the beginning of time there was absolutely nothing. And then it exploded! - Terry Pratchett
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4 years 5 months ago #663158 by Adam Nagle
There are so many attorneys that just need to get a life and stop creating these BS cases.   
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4 years 5 months ago #663167 by garyrhook

Adam Nagle wrote: There are so many attorneys that just need to get a life and stop creating these BS cases.   


News flash: attorneys don't create cases without clients. And I'll respectfully suggest that people that draw blanket conclusions based on little information are, at best, ill-informed. An honest assessment of anything requires collecting data and critical thinking, not just assertions about alleged "winners".

And in case I'm not clear, I think that if you're going to bitch about something it should be specifics, not generalizations.

I could be wrong, but I'll take our judicial system over most of the rest of the world's any day, flaws notwithstanding.
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4 years 5 months ago #663268 by Prago
True, it’s all the wacky people that pay the attorneys who were there to make a living.
SWM into chainsaws and hockey masks seeks like-minded SWF. No weirdos, please
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