Scubaboard copyright violation!

[mikemill]

Just to be clear - I meant the advertised service (the trip to Coz), not SB itself.

But legally, being a not-for-profit corporation, or indeed a for-profit corporation that does not actually make a profit, makes no legal difference to your liability for damages. But it can limit your ability to account for any profits.

Thanks for the info

 

[highdesert]

I sympathize with the OP's position, however IMHO, as has already been stated by others, he has no legitimate complaint against Scubaboard, but only against the creator of the ad. One cannot expect Scubaboard to police the ownership of every image in every ad on their site. I can imagine, however, that many barristers in the USA would make an effort to bring a complaint against anyone and everyone they could ... rightly or not.

 

[ktomlinson]

Even if the OP doesn't have a legitimate complaint with SB, it doesnt mean that it won't be a pain in the ass for NetDoc. I know a guy that paid a graphic artist to draw a picture of a state for a website. The "graphic artist" had actually ripped the image off of some random website he found. The person that actually made the picture of the state somehow found the image and sued the guy I know. Eventually it was thrown out of court, but it was still an unpleasant experience for the guy I know. When I create flyers, or websites at work I always make sure to have emails from the owner of the images stating that I can use them. You can also use stock photo websites....istockphoto has diving photos for $7-10 for large images. Jlyle seems to have a legitimate complaint, he may have just aired it with the wrong party. Maybe someone should give him $10.

 

[redacted]

Even if the OP doesn't have a legitimate complaint with SB, it doesnt mean that it won't be a pain in the ass for NetDoc. I know a guy that paid a graphic artist to draw a picture of a state for a website. The "graphic artist" had actually ripped the image off of some random website he found. The person that actually made the picture of the state somehow found the image and sued the guy I know. Eventually it was thrown out of court, but it was still an unpleasant experience for the guy I know. When I create flyers, or websites at work I always make sure to have emails from the owner of the images stating that I can use them. You can also use stock photo websites....istockphoto has diving photos for $7-10 for large images. Jlyle seems to have a legitimate complaint, he may have just aired it with the wrong party. Maybe someone should give him $10.

Maybe everyone should send him a penny.

Jim - would you please provide your mailing address.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Maybe everyone should send him a penny.

Jim - would you please provide your mailing address.

I am in for a nickel. One penny for each of my personalities.

 

[cicopo]

This is only a heads up for those who don't understand the issue, and it's not a complaint nor endorsement of this particular problem because I have already tried to alert people to the fact most sites require that ownership to uploaded photos be given to the site, which is understandable where the site isn't PAID to protect the image from downloads. Free hosting sites aren't going to spend money protecting your image. If you want total control of your photos DON'T UPLOAD THEM. If hackers can get into Sony's system they can find your photos too.

There are many things that need to be considered in something like this, and very few of us realize where unauthorized image use can go. PLEASE NOTE I'm not claiming that any of this relates to Jim's photo but it can & likely does happen far more often than any of us will ever know. Lets just say that in this case (this is a possibility but I'm not saying it will happen or was even considered, but it can happen) that nice fancy souvenir posters were sold at the event, at a decent price with a 100% mark up over cost, and no royalties were paid. Is that fair? Without the photos they wouldn't be the same. Lets expand the idea & sell T shirts too, etc. Where does it stop before one thinks the art on the poster or shirt, billboard etc is what makes it sell. Photographers have the same rights as song writers, authors or any other artist. How we protect them is up to us, but we must do it if we place any value on our work. Having posted thousands of photos on the net the least I'd expect is acknowledgement that I'm the photographer, plus that was agreed upon by asking for permission to use my photo. That said I do watermark my photos, but most could be cropped to remove it, so I now upload very low resolution images rather than files big enough for 8 X 10 prints.

 

[mikemill]

I sympathize with the OP's position, however IMHO, as has already been stated by others, he has no legitimate complaint against Scubaboard, but only against the creator of the ad. One cannot expect Scubaboard to police the ownership of every image in every ad on their site. I can imagine, however, that many barristers in the USA would make an effort to bring a complaint against anyone and everyone they could ... rightly or not.

IANAL and I don't know if copyright law falls into this area but for certain types of cases you can bring suit against anyone in the commercial chain. Say a chip designer made a faulty chip that was installed in a car that you bought which then crashed. You could go after the dealer, the manufacturer, the chip company, and anyone else in between. Would love to hear from a US lawyer in regards to if it applies to copyright law.

I will say that I think it would be reasonable for SB to check the origins of ads created for events organized by SB and in which SB itself picked the images to be used (as stated by NetDoc)

 

[jlyle]

Send your donations to the USO: https://www.uso.org/donate/

This is not about money. The image is worth $20 for low resolution, non-royalty use. I protested when I saw my image being used without my permission, payment or, at the very least, attribution. You can argue all you want, but theft is theft, whether it was done on purpose or by accident.

I will send NetDoc the original in full res with EXIF attached if he insists.

Edit: done

I still haven't gotten any of NetDoc's emails.

Edit: NetDoc says my email provider (roadrunner.com) is blocking SB email.



How about SB makes a $20 donation to the USO and we consider this a done deal?


PS Threatening to ban me from the board is pretty heavy handed. I have been polite in all of my postings and have a valid grievance.

 

[ColoDale]

Two of the photos in the old (original) banner are mine and are stored on the SB Gallery.

I was not asked permission but I don't mind one bit. I don't need restitution, compensation or attribution. If I did I would not have posted them publicly. SB - Feel free to use them as you wish. I am flattered they were used (or maybe I just used good keywords for an easy search).

As an aside, those in the banner are small and low resolution so I feel sorry that they may represent the location poorly.

I just am not peeved.

 

[Jax]

Send your donations to the USO: https://www.uso.org/donate/

This is not about money. The image is worth about $20 for low resolution, non-royalty use. I protested when I saw my image being used without my permission or, at the very least, attribution. You can argue all you want, but theft is theft, whether it was done on purpose or by accident.

I will send NetDoc the original in full res with EXIF attached if he insists.

I still haven't gotten any of NetDoc's emails.

How about SB makes a $20 donation to the USO and we consider this a done deal?


PS Threatening to ban me from the board is pretty heavy handed. I have been polite in all of my postings.

Okay, enough of this poo-storm.

Jim, you've demonstrated you're PO'd that someone used your work without permission. I respect that.

On behalf of ScubaBoard, the USO has a few more dollars.

Confirmation Number:

579808
Transaction ID:

3655629700
Date:

May 30, 2011
Personal Information:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Name redacted
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Email redacted
Billing Address:

XXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXX Address redacted.
Contribution Information:

$25.00
general contribution


May we consider the point closed? BTW --- freakin' awesome pics, Jim!