Image use question

dogberryjr

dogberryjr

[Pithy phrase]
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I just discovered that a national magazine has used one of my images from Flickr without my permission and without attribution. The photo had a Creative Commons license that specified attribution was required and that it not be used commercially. The magazine has already been printed and distributed, so attribution at this point is fairly useless. Anyone had any experience with this?
 
I wouldn't say that it is useless. They can always print an error statement in the next issue saying that through an oversight you were not credited and they can print your name next to the photo or something liek that.
 
That's a good point, David. I'll consider that.

On a side note, I'm drooling over the Soligor 135mm you have in the classifieds. Terrible being broke.
 
Jamie123 said:
I wouldn't bother trying to get an error statement. Focus your energy on getting them to pay you.
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What do you think is a reasonable figure? I'm thinking one MILLION dollars.

/Seriously, how does one come up with a number? I'm a (rank) amateur and wouldn't know an appropriate amount if it ran over my foot.
 
As it wasn't registered at the copyright office, I believe you'd only be entitled to the amount the market value of an image with magazines of similar circulation, no punitive damages (which is the biggie). So I'm not sure you have to come up with a number.

You do have to decide whether it's worth pursuing (lawyer, etc.) legally. Or you could just name and shame them. The Internet is good for that.
 
You can state the name of the magazine and the page number of the photograph. If it is legally yours then stating it on this forum is not a problem. I also believe that a letter to the magazine would be appropriate. This is one reason that I do not post my photographs. I had a bad experience where I gave some photos to someone. They were scanned and the scan was donated to a museum (which did not surprise surprise inquire of the name of the photographer) and posted on their website and I was not given credit. I have learned that whenever I give a photo to someone I write or paste my name on the back of the photo. Should it ever come up and they need to provide the photo (they will not have the negative) my name will be there. Anyway, enough of my rant.
 
Steve Bellayr said:
You can state the name of the magazine and the page number of the photograph. If it is legally yours then stating it on this forum is not a problem. I also believe that a letter to the magazine would be appropriate. This is one reason that I do not post my photographs. I had a bad experience where I gave some photos to someone. They were scanned and the scan was donated to a museum (which did not surprise surprise inquire of the name of the photographer) and posted on their website and I was not given credit. I have learned that whenever I give a photo to someone I write or paste my name on the back of the photo. Should it ever come up and they need to provide the photo (they will not have the negative) my name will be there. Anyway, enough of my rant.
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On the flip side, just consider it was given/donated for the common goods of society. It's far more useful to have your work displayed than buried inside your basement.
 
Araakii said:
On the flip side, just consider it was given/donated for the common goods of society. It's far more useful to have your work displayed than buried inside your basement.
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Sure - if I had given/donated it. I'm going to write them and see how they respond. It's the most interesting thing that's happened to me for a while. Yes, my life is that boring, folks.
 
Araakii said:
On the flip side, just consider it was given/donated for the common goods of society. It's far more useful to have your work displayed than buried inside your basement.
Click to expand...

But it wasn't given for the common good of society, it was taken for the good of a commercial magazine's bottom line. It was already on flickr with a creative commons license 'for the common good of society'.
 
dogberryjr said:
What do you think is a reasonable figure? I'm thinking one MILLION dollars.

/Seriously, how does one come up with a number? I'm a (rank) amateur and wouldn't know an appropriate amount if it ran over my foot.
Click to expand...

It usually depends on the size of the image in the magazine, the circulation of the mag etc.
Can't give you a figure, though. I'm sure others can give you more valuable information here.

Don't 'name and shame' them. That should really only be the last resort if they're complete d**** about it.
First find out what fee is acceptable to you and then get in contact with them and request that they pay the fee.

Also, don't do the usual 'request for them to donate money to a charity' thing that some photographers like to do in this situation. They used your photograph commercially so you should get the money.
 
Find a similar image on a commercial image library and then enquire as to the price they would charge for a one off magazine use. Then send them a bill for the image use, along with a letter showing the limitations for use you attached to the image online. Often these things happen because someone in the design dept simply didn't think when they uploaded the image, and often magazines are happy to pay in these instances.
 
looking at some statements from a library here that sells my images it ranges from $100-350 for a single editorial use, not advertising which is another price structure completely. hope that helps
 
That is why I never post images except for family gathering shots on facebook.

I shot a job for a university one time and the head photographer took credit for all of my photos. It was a pretty big deal too and I was pretty proud of the work I did, Long time in the past so who cares anymore.

At least the Department of Agriculture gave me credit for the work I did for them.
 
The follow up, as promised:

I contacted the magazine via email and got a response within an hour. The magazine's photo researcher was professional and checked into the issue quickly before acknowledging their oversight. They offered to compensate me at the current rate, which I accepted, and will try to give the appropriate credit in an upcoming edition. So hey, I'm published.
 
Congratulations on being published, and getting paid for it.

And for handling this in a very professional and congenial way.
 
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