Scubaboard copyright violation!

[mikemill]

didn't copywrite it,(and yes you have to claim it yearly)

No you don't. What you said is 100% wrong. To start with you can't not copyright it. Once the work is created it is copyrighted. What you can do afterwards is license it or release it to the public domain (or in some situations release it with a license that gives the same rights as the public domain in countries that don't have a public domain). Second there is no yearly renewal:

A work that was created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author’s life plus an additional 70
years after the author’s death. In the case of “a joint work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire,” the term lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author’s death. For works made for hire, and for anonymous and
pseudonymous works (unless the author’s identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter

Oh and before anyone even thinks to say it: Registration isn't required for protection (but is needed for certain court proceedings).

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

good luck with that Mike.

In any case, OP, thanks for whining about this. I now have gone and started looking through your pictures. You have some absolutely fantastic shots. I wish I had that skill.

 

[DwayneJ]

I'm surprised how "flippant" SB's response to this is. Howard - Why don't you at least let Netdoc know since you do identify yourself as SB Staff and you likely have his phone number.

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

I did find the picture in the 2006 set.
So, just pull the ad. I doubt this was malicious. This pyramid picture comes up when you Google Cozumel diving images. They probably just used it becasue it is a great picture. The photographer objects. So take it down. I am grateful to this drama, because I have spent the last hour looking through some great photos. Thanks.

 

[knowone]

Throw a barbie and hand the boys some grog and submachine guns.

 

[diversteve]

I'm surprised how "flippant" SB's response to this is. Howard - Why don't you at least let Netdoc know since you do identify yourself as SB Staff and you likely have his phone number.

There's this from the other thread on this topic:

ScubaBoard support was away last week. Any emails that were sent to support@scubaboard were not answered. NetDoc is currently on his way back to the US and will probably respond to your claim personally in the next few days via email.

The short version of why is. NetDoc was helping me move a boat from the USA to Dominican Republic. We didn't have internet. It was 7 days at sea.

Your claim will be reviewed by the necessary parties shortly. Until then, I can't make any official statement on behalf of scubaboard, as I am only a volunteer for the site, as are the other moderators. All of the "staff" members of ScubaBoard are in fact volunteers, and not legally agents of the company. Nobody other than NetDoc can make an official statement on behalf of ScubaBoard involving legal matters.

Until that time, I would ask that you consider your complaint noted, and that the appropriate person will address you as soon as possible.

HowardE,

Thank you for your explanation. Do you want to take this thread down for the time being?

Jim

 

[Quero]

One of my sons is a professional photojournalist. At one point a low-res version of an image he captured of Shawna Forde (Arizona militia leader convicted of double homicide) was taken from an internet source and used without attribution or payment in both the print and online versions of an Arizona newspaper. As soon as he requested attribution and a fee for use, the paper simply withdrew the image, but by then it had been blogged all over the universe and could no longer be sold. There is really no practical legal recourse for these cases, Jim (jlyle), since a lawsuit would cost more than you could reasonably claim as damages/loss of income from the sale of the image. (Ultimately, my son did sell some of his images of Ms. Forde, and they were published in Newsweek, among other publications, so all was not lost.)

In practical terms, I think there are two avenues available to resolve this specific issue:
1) SB redesigns the banner without this particular image, just as the Arizona paper simply withdrew my son's image, rather than become embroiled in a copyright infringement negotiation.
2) SB adds a line of attribution on the image to recognize the authorship of it, and Jim graciously accepts this as sufficient recognition.

Edit: Please note that these are my personal views and are not to be construed as any "official" perspective on the part of ScubaBoard, its owners, or its business partners.

 

[The Chairman]

If anyone feels that they are a victim of copyright infringement, here is the process:

• Provide Clear Proof (original) that this is your picture. You have no right to report images of others.
• Clearly tell us what you want us to do.

We usually respond to such requests on the same day, but circumstances (like being out of the country on a boat without internet) may delay our response up to 7 working days. He emailed us on Wednesday, I got into port on late Friday and sometime Sunday I got to his email (out of several hundred) and replied 5 hours before this thread was started. In that email I asked for

• Proof of Ownership
• What he wanted us to do.

I have yet to hear back from him on either point.

I could assume that the litigant is "ignoring me" or I can patiently await his answers.

In any complaint about a copyrighted picture, several things have to be determined. Where did the picture come from and was there a chain of permission to use the picture. If you put the picture on ScubaBoard, either in our Photo Gallery or by linking it, you are giving ScubaBoard rights to use it. That's what you agreed to in the ToS. However, we also give you rights to remove or de-link an image if you so desire. We have no desire to piss people off over picayune matters, but we often use pictures from our gallery in promoting ScubaBoard at various Scuba and Trade Shows worldwide as well as promoting fun ScubaBoard events.

We were also given permission to use any image displayed on Hotel Cozumel's or Apple's Web Site to promote this event. The image probably came from there, though I can't remember precisely. In fact, most of these images came from ScubaBoard's Photo Gallery. In recent years, with the plethora of images being made public on the internet, the concept of "Fair Use" also muddies the pictures. Its a best practice if you want to maintain your image rights, that you embed copyright info into the picture as well as watermark it. Pictures posted on the internet without such protections may be interpreted as being available per Fair Use.

I hope this helps and we look forward to getting a response from our email.

 

[The Chairman]

In order to prevent any further drama, I have replaced the banner in question with an earlier version. Hopefully, this will placate all involved.

BTW, there is STILL ROOM for our Invade Cozumel Trip. No, this is not a money making trip for ScubaBoard. We have been given an incredible deal (below wholesale) and are passing it on directly to our users. We aren't even handling the payments so that there is no confusion about that.

Again, I hope this helps.

 

[The Chairman]

Threads merged. This certainly doesn't belong in Cozumel.