Hi
I have my fireworks website and their are plenty of photos/some video’s on their etc.
However certain people seem to think everyone else’s websites are their just to provide source material for their own projects.
Also a couple of features I wrote on fireworks have gone and turned up elsewhere.
Anyway when I contact these people the response is often the same
“Copyright does not apply to the web” etc
Or sometimes they say
“Only things with a copyright notice on them are copyright to someone”
And the most annoying
“Copyright only counts where cash is involved”
So basically are any of these true and if not can I take action against people stealing my work and content ?
Thanks for any help
By: Arabella-Cox - 23rd February 2004 at 05:50
You should at least ask that they credit you as the origin of the work but at the end of the day it is probably not worth chasing. If it bothers you then don’t post your work… make people have to pay to gain access to your site. If there is no money being made by you or those copying your work then you are unlikely to get a huge amount through the courts… that is assuming they are in a country you can bring actions against.
I’d suggest you start putting watermarks through you images and perhaps feel free to copy their content, or ridcule them for what they are doing on public forums related to the area of interest. If there are any magazines that are pinching your work then definitely get a lawyer to draft an official looking document to scare them.
A guy on another forum I frequent managed to whip up quite a lot of energy against an American Computer Magazine that published an inappropriate photo. (The photo was part of an advert for a new game and showed a line of Russian soldiers holding the game… the black arm bands gave away the fact that the men were actually lined up in a ceremony commemorating those that had fallen in Chechnia and the things they were holding were not boxed of a SOCOM game, but the photos of their fallen comrades. The first reply was quite aggressive and threatened the guy for copyright infringement for posting the advert on the net, but as the original photo was also copyrighted with the requirement that it not be used in a distasteful manner they really didn’t have a leg to stand on.
Fair use of material on the web basically means that someone can post someone elses work for the purposes of critiquing it, or for the purposes of discussion… as long as they are not passing it off as their own work. Most of the time the best you can hope for is that they credit the original owner and maybe include a link to their site.
Actually going after them would be expensive and time consuming… and unlikely to make much difference.
By: andrewman - 22nd February 2004 at 11:22
I have just e-mailed the people who stole my work asking for it to be removed or to pay me for it.
If only they had asked first I would have been happy but these idiots are just ripping everyone off.
By: Flood - 21st February 2004 at 20:29
Re: Copyright and the Internet
Originally posted by andrewman
“Copyright only counts where cash is involved”
Have you tried sending them an officially looking letter/email requesting a nicely rounded sum for use of your copyrighted material or the address of their solicitors so that your solicitors can arrange to meet them in court?
Could be worth a try…
Flood.
By: tenthije - 21st February 2004 at 16:43
Anything you make has a copytight attached to it. Be it music, text, sound or photo.
Therefore when someone uses it on their website (or elsewhere) you can get compensation for it. Of course the amount of compensation depends a bit, is it for a private or professional website, the size of the photo, the location of the photo etc.
At the very list your material should be credited.
You do not have to put a copyright notice on your work. It of course helps clarify things a bit, but you don’t have too to be able to claim copyright. Also, just a small statement on the opening page of the website will sufice, putting your name on every photo and every page of your site is not necessary.
As for the quote “Copyright only counts where cash is involved”, this is nonsence. Money is a way to obtain copyright! Not giving money (or other forms of payment whatever you want) is a sure way of breaking copyright laws.
Sign In
February 21, 2004 at 2:20 pm