our copyright on photos?

Maybe someone on here can give advice...OH has many photographs he took in the 70s as he was a professional photographer. Some he put on his blog and he now had requests from authors who want to use them in a book or on a book cover.

- How much is copyyright worth if he sells it for single use? I'm aware that there must be a sliding scale but we have no idea altogether, so a hint would be good.

- he was alerted that some of his picture are showing up on-line so they must have been nicked. How can he enforce copyright? I know the big photographic agencies have lawyers but maybe there are some who we can ask on a no-win no-fee basis? The net is an impossible jungle to find info that applies to us so if anyone has any first hand info they can share :)
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win - Gandhi

Comments

  • Mistral001
    Mistral001 Posts: 5,346
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    edited 21 October 2015 at 10:01AM
    As far as I know copyright can be sold for how much people are willing to pay. It really is that simple. A photograph taken of a celebrity in a compromising situation will sell for how much a paper is willing to pay which may be £1000's if they think they can get an exclusive, while the copyright of a photograph of your family's day out to the seaside will probably not fetch very much. Note every photograph taken by anybody is copyrighted automatically and it is not something that is applied for or reserved for photographs taken by professionals.


    Protecting copyright requires legal action. It is usually done through the civil courts by suing or threatening to sue someone who you suspect of infringing copyright. Infringement of copyright can be a criminal offense but the police rarely get involved as far as I know.


    PS. The OP's husband should perhaps think about taking any photographs he has on his blog down or at least swap them for low resolution versions.
  • Happygreen
    Happygreen Posts: 2,948
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    Thanks for the tip re resolution, I'll pass that on.

    He was alerted one to his pics used on different websites worldwide so that makes it practically impossible to fight for the rights unless you are with an agency that employs an army of international lawyers...I suppose he could try and write to them though.
    First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win - Gandhi
  • macman
    macman Posts: 52,992
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    Watermarking the photos online may deter some from copyright theft. If they're hosted in the UK you can pursue them and bill them, outside the UK it's far more difficult.
    For pricing, look online at the commercial picture agencies to get a feel for charges. All depends on the publisher: a big commercial publisher might pay thousands, a self-publisher printing 100 copies will pay far less.
    Good point about resolution: no point in putting them online at more than 72dpi, whereas for print purposes they would need to be a minimum of 300dpi.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • DKLS
    DKLS Posts: 13,459
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    Feed this website http://www.tineye.com your image, and it will tell you if its being used online.
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