Category: Copyright

  • The Great Wave: what Hokusai’s masterpiece tells us about museums, copyright and online collections today

    The Great Wave: what Hokusai’s masterpiece tells us about museums, copyright and online collections today

    During the lifetime of Hokusai, copyright legislation did not exist in Japan. Some anti-piracy measures were in place, however.

  • The great collapse of copyright – Thoughts of a Bohemian

    [contentcards url=”http://blog.melchersystem.com/the-great-collapse-of-copyright/”]

    The great collapse of copyright – Thoughts of a Bohemian

    One of the foundations of photo agencies is to provide its customers with safe, secure, properly vetted visual content. In exchange for a fee, clients of photo agencies are offered images they can use in full blissful confidence. Or so you thought.

  • Attorney Explains How Gigi Hadid Got Her Copyright Lawsuit Dismissed

    [contentcards url=”https://petapixel.com/2019/07/25/attorney-explains-how-gigi-hadid-got-her-copyright-lawsuit-dismissed/”]

    Attorney Explains How Gigi Hadid Got Her Copyright Lawsuit Dismissed

    Earlier this week, supermodel Gigi Hadid‘s lawyers successfully got a copyright case against her dismissed despite the fact that most people thought this was a clear cut case of infringement. The important question for photographers now is: how did her lawyers manage to pull this off?

  • Major CASE Act Copyright Legislation Passed by Senate Judiciary Committee

    [contentcards url=”https://petapixel.com/2019/07/19/major-case-act-copyright-legislation-passed-by-senate-judiciary-committee/”]

    Major CASE Act Copyright Legislation Passed by Senate Judiciary Committee

    This is a major step forward for the copyright legislation, which was introduced by a bi-partisan group of senators from Louisiana, North Carolina, Illinois and Hawaii. As of now, defending your copyrights means taking your case to federal court—a complicated and expensive proposition. If passed, the CASE Act would remedy this by establishing a small claims tribunal within the U.S. Copyright Office, making it much easier and cheaper to defend your copyrights in court.

  • Magazine Says Its Stolen Cover Photo Was a Stock Photo… of the Photo

    [contentcards url=”https://petapixel.com/2019/07/10/magazine-says-its-stolen-cover-photo-was-a-stock-photo-of-the-photo/”]

    Magazine Says Its Stolen Cover Photo Was a Stock Photo… of the Photo

    Renowned photographer Nadav Kander was recently surprised to find one of his portraits used without permission on the cover of a magazine. When confronted with this, the magazine’s explanation was that the image was purchased as a stock photo — a stock photo of the copyrighted photo in an exhibition.

  • Andy Warhol’s ‘Prince Series’ Is Fair Use, Court Rules – The New York Times

    [contentcards url=”https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/02/arts/design/andy-warhol-prince-fair-use.html?emc=rss&partner=rss”]

    Andy Warhol’s ‘Prince Series’ Is Fair Use, Court Rules – The New York Times

    The artwork did not violate the photographer Lynn Goldsmith’s copyright, according to a ruling that sided with the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

  • Time Inc. Settles with Photographer in Case of Tweeted Tom Brady Pic | PDNPulse

    [contentcards url=”https://pdnpulse.pdnonline.com/2019/05/time-inc-settles-with-photographer-in-case-of-tweeted-tom-brady-pic.html”]

    Time Inc. Settles with Photographer in Case of Tweeted Tom Brady Pic | PDNPulse

    Photographer Justin Goldman has reached a settlement with Time Inc., one of the nine defendants in a copyright infringement case involving the common practice of publications “embedding” Tweets in articles. The settlement effectively ends any further appeals in the case, which has implications for how publishers share and display copyrighted images hosted on social media servers and other websites.

  • Photog Threatens Copyright Infringement Suit for Unauthorized Use of Ilhan Omar Portrait | PDNPulse

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    Photog Threatens Copyright Infringement Suit for Unauthorized Use of Ilhan Omar Portrait | PDNPulse

    Photographer Jason Grow is demanding payment from an advocacy group that used one of his portraits in a politically charged fundraising ad without permission, and will sue for willful copyright infringement if the group ignores a May 8 deadline, according to his attorney, Andrew D. Epstein.

  • Appeals Court Reverses Controversial Fair Use Ruling in Copyright Case | PDNPulse

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    Appeals Court Reverses Controversial Fair Use Ruling in Copyright Case | PDNPulse

    A U.S. Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court’s finding of fair use in the case of Brammer v. Violent Hues. The lower court had rejected photographer Russel Brammer’s claim of infringement after his photo was used without permission to promote a film festival.

  • We All Work for Facebook

    [contentcards url=”https://longreads.com/2019/04/26/we-all-work-for-facebook/”]

    We All Work for Facebook

    Today’s media is ruled by a handful of corporations with enormous market power. One thing that makes these companies so valuable is how few people they employ, relatively speaking, for each dollar earned. A New York Times analysis last year found that Facebook makes just a hair under $635,000 in profit for each of its 25,000 employees. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, makes about $158,000 per worker. (At Walmart, it’s $4,288.) These calculations often get spun as representing a victory for automation and algorithms—machines, rather than humans, creating value. But the truth is, these media companies have billions of people working for them—they’re just not on staff. Whenever you post a photo on Instagram, write an Amazon review, or skim through complaints about potholes on your neighborhood’s Facebook group, you’re helping generate profit for the world’s richest corporations. A growing movement is making the case that you ought to get paid for it.

  • Certain uses of protected content by online services – Thoughts of a Bohemian

    [contentcards url=”http://blog.melchersystem.com/certain-uses-of-protected-content-by-online-services/”]

    Certain uses of protected content by online services – Thoughts of a Bohemian

    That’s it; it’s done. The European Directive on Copyright is passed, and along with it, the infamous “Article 13”, now Article 17 in the latest document. However, what will it mean for photo agencies and independent photographers?

  • Certain uses of protected content by online services – Thoughts of a Bohemian

    [contentcards url=”http://blog.melchersystem.com/certain-uses-of-protected-content-by-online-services/”]

    Certain uses of protected content by online services – Thoughts of a Bohemian

    That’s it; it’s done. The European Directive on Copyright is passed, and along with it, the infamous “Article 13”, now Article 17 in the latest document. However, what will it mean for photo agencies and independent photographers?

  • EU Copyright Directive puts future of Google News in doubt – 9to5Google

    [contentcards url=”https://9to5google.com/2019/04/15/eu-copyright-directive/”]

    EU Copyright Directive puts future of Google News in doubt – 9to5Google

    The future of Google News in Europe is now in doubt as EU member states approved The EU Copyright Directive. The new law – which could see Google having to pay publishers to include brief snippets in search results – was previously passed by the European Parliament, but was subject to approval by individual countries.

  • Getty Images Sued Yet Again For Trying To License Public Domain Images | Techdirt

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    Getty Images Sued Yet Again For Trying To License Public Domain Images | Techdirt

    Well, now we’ve got another lawsuit against Getty over allegedly licensing public domain images. This one was brought by CixxFive Concepts, and… also seems to be a stretch. How much of a stretch? Well, it starts out by alleging RICO violations, and as Ken “Popehat” White always likes to remind everyone: IT’S NOT RICO, DAMMIT. This lawsuit is also not RICO and it’s not likely to get very far.

  • Ariana Grande Strikes Back at ‘Greedy’ Photogs with Full Copyright Grab

    [contentcards url=”https://petapixel.com/2019/03/27/ariana-grande-strikes-back-at-greedy-photogs-with-full-copyright-grab/”]

    Ariana Grande Strikes Back at ‘Greedy’ Photogs with Full Copyright Grab

    TMZ reports that Grande’s new concert photo policy resulted from years of being “exploited” by people profiting from their concert photos of her.

  • Europe Adopts Tough New Online Copyright Rules Over Tech Industry Protests – The New York Times

    [contentcards url=”https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/26/business/europe-copyright-internet.html?partner=rss&emc=rss”]

    Europe Adopts Tough New Online Copyright Rules Over Tech Industry Protests – The New York Times

    On Tuesday, the media industry got some help on that front with the European parliament’s adoption of a copyright law that requires technology platforms to sign licensing agreements with musicians, authors and news publishers in order to post their work online.

  • Supreme Court Denies Co Rentmeester’s Copyright Petition over Nike “Jumpman” | PDNPulse

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    Supreme Court Denies Co Rentmeester’s Copyright Petition over Nike “Jumpman” | PDNPulse

    The U.S. Supreme Court has denied photographer Co Rentmeester’s petition for a hearing on his copyright claim against Nike. The high court announced its decision this morning, but gave no reason for its refusal to hear the case.

  • Alleged Copyright Infringer Hits Back Against Photographer Tom Hussey | PDNPulse

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    Alleged Copyright Infringer Hits Back Against Photographer Tom Hussey | PDNPulse

    A Florida businessman accused by photographer Tom Hussey of copyright infringement has struck back, accusing Hussey of committing “fraud on the court” by repeatedly suing over a photograph that isn’t properly registered. The defendant, Charles Ngo of Miami, charges Hussey and the image tracking service ImageRights International with “shaking down people for money where there is no such entitlement.”

  • RNC Didn’t Infringe Photographer’s Copyright, Montana Judge Rules | PDNPulse

    [contentcards url=”https://pdnpulse.pdnonline.com/2019/03/rnc-copyright-erika-peterman.html”]

    RNC Didn’t Infringe Photographer’s Copyright, Montana Judge Rules | PDNPulse

    The Republican National Committee has fended off a copyright claim in Montana, convincing a judge that unauthorized use of an image to criticize a Democratic candidate was fair use. In a decision that will upset photographers and copyright advocates, Montana judge Dana L. Christensen sided with the Republican National Committee (RNC) in a 2017 lawsuit filed by Missoula, Montana-based photographer Erika Peterman. Peterman accused the RNC of willful copyright infringement for their use of Peterman’s photo of congressional candidate Rob Quist in a mailer that criticized and mocked Quist, a Democrat. The RNC argued fair use, and the court agreed, saying the RNC had transformed the work and had not undermined Peterson’s ability to profit from the image in the future.

  • Can Photographers Fight “Fake News” by Asserting Authorship? | PDNPulse

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    Can Photographers Fight “Fake News” by Asserting Authorship? | PDNPulse

    What can professional photographers do to make sure their photos are not only seen but also trusted? Fred Ritchin, dean emeritus of the International Center of Photography and author, addressed what he called “the post-photographic challenge” at a salon, sponsored by Visura, the visual storytelling platform and grantmaker. Ritchin has been decrying the erosion of the public trust in photography since 1982, when National Geographic scanned and retouched a cover photo to move two pyramids at Giza closer together. The crisis of confidence is more acute now, at a time when the U.S. President and his supporters dismiss news they don’t like as “fake,” and AI can fabricate images of people and events (Ritchin showed several AI-generated “portraits” on the website thispersondoesnotexist.com).