photos on ebay - breach of copyright? UPDATE

apprentice_tycoon

I've just noticed that some of my daughters photos are being used in a product selling on ebay, they are band photos made up as pin badges, the photos are in circulation (with her knowledge and permission) on the band's fan forums and websites (with the bands persmission) but how does she stand with regard to her copyright with the product on ebay which is not with her permission

Contains_Mild_Peril

If you mean her photos as in photos that she herself took, that's copyright theft. If I were her, I would contact the seller and politely explain that she is the copyright owner and permission had not been given for the photos to be reproduced on merchandise, but perhaps an amicable agreement could be reached. They should then offer a small percentage. If they won't play nicely, she can report them to eBay.

Bossyboots

Agree with Contains Mild Peril on this.

apprentice_tycoon

I thought as much - yes, they are photos that she took herself, they are credited on the websites and forums with her name as photographer so it was a bit of a cheek really.

ViJay_3

Report it to VERO. It will get pulled very quickly. That's what frightens Ebay - the thought of litigation for breach of copyright. They could potentially be party to any action by dint of their role as an 'enabler'.

skintscotsman

apprentice_tycoon wrote:

I've just noticed that some of my daughters photos are being used in a product selling on ebay, they are band photos made up as pin badges, the photos are in circulation (with her knowledge and permission) on the band's fan forums and websites (with the bands persmission) but how does she stand with regard to her copyright with the product on ebay which is not with her permission

hi, i'm a photographer and have dealt with this before, this is definitely copyright theft...........

PM me if you want more info, your daughter is well within her rights to invoice the band for unauthorised use of the images....all depends on what she agreed in the first place. did her and the band sign a contract for use of the images?

i can point you in the direction of some useful sites that may assist her.

i have been stung in the past like this when i first started out and now i am sure to draw up a contract with the party for whom i am taking the photos.

i can send you a link to a sample contract too that may help if she wants to do music photography in the future.

skintscotsman

in fact, first of all have a dig through this forum here http://www.grassrootsx.com/forum/display_forum_topics.asp?ForumID=27

it is from a site called grassroots xchange - basically, it is a group of music photographers on a website talking shop!!!1 i've asked advice from them plenty of times and they are pretty damn helpful. its not the best site to navigate round but it is a veru useful resource and there are many seasoned photographers use the forums.

apprentice_tycoon

skintscotsman wrote:

hi, i'm a photographer and have dealt with this before, this is definitely copyright theft...........

PM me if you want more info, your daughter is well within her rights to invoice the band for unauthorised use of the images....all depends on what she agreed in the first place. did her and the band sign a contract for use of the images?

i can point you in the direction of some useful sites that may assist her.

i have been stung in the past like this when i first started out and now i am sure to draw up a contract with the party for whom i am taking the photos.

i can send you a link to a sample contract too that may help if she wants to do music photography in the future.

I think that I may have mislead you, it wasn't the band that used the photos it was an new ebayer that picked up the images from the band's website and copied them (and other bands/ artists too) to make pin badges.

Thanks for the info about the contract, I'll PM you shortly when I've had a chat with her

Bossyboots

I must admit I assumed from the first post that it was someone other than the band selling these, which makes it all the more upsetting.

mclaren_2

as a photographer, i would never deal with anybody without having some contract written out first. contract = legal binding

aeuerby

We had a guy buy one of our items at the end of August. To cut a long story short he paid eventually and then pestered and threatened for feedback.

He has since sold the item on himself (of course quite within his rights to do so) but on his listing he used the photo from our website without permission.
We have reported him to ebay but as the lsiting had already ended I doubt very much they will do anything.