Category: Copyright

After Closing Arguments, Verdict Expected Soon in Morel v. AFP and Getty Images

After Closing Arguments, Verdict Expected Soon in Morel v. AFP and Getty Images | PDNPulse

The jury is expected to announce its verdict today in the trial to determine damages in the copyright infringement case photographer Daniel Morel brought against Agence France-Presse and Getty Images, following yesterday’s closing arguments by lawyers

via PDNPulse: http://pdnpulse.pdnonline.com/2013/11/after-closing-arguments-verdict-expected-soon-in-morel-v-afp-and-getty-images.html

And the defense? “There was stone silence from the defense. [They were] dumbfounded—looked like a bomb went off!”

November 22, 2013
Google’s Book-Scanning Is Fair Use, Judge Rules in Landmark Copyright Case

Link: Google’s Book-Scanning Is Fair Use, Judge Rules in Landmark Copyright Case | Threat Level | Wired.com

In a 30-page decision (.pdf) Judge Denny Chin of New York ruled that Google’s move to digitize millions of university and commercially available books is on its face a violation of the owners’ copyrights. But Google’s limited use of the work makes the scanning “fair use” under copyright law, Chin ruled.

November 15, 2013
Supreme Court Declines to Hear Patrick Cariou’s Copyright Claim Against Richard Prince

Supreme Court Declines to Hear Patrick Cariou’s Copyright Claim Against Richard Prince | PDNPulse

The US Supreme Court has declined to review Patrick Cariou’s copyright infringement claim against artist Richard Prince, the Associated Press has reported. A federal appeals court ruled last spring that artist Richard Prince did not infringe Cariou’s copy

via PDNPulse: http://pdnpulse.pdnonline.com/2013/11/supreme-court-declines-to-hear-patrick-carious-copyright-claim-against-richard-prince.html

In its ruling for Prince, The appeals court took a broad view of fair use, finding that Prince’s works qualified as fair use even though they were not intended as commentary on the original works by Cariou. The decision was a victory for appropriation artists, who take elements of works by other artists without permission, and use them in new contexts, often as a form of commentary on society or popular culture

November 12, 2013
Canadian Photogs Now Officially Own the Copyright to All of Their Photos

Canadian Photogs Now Officially Own the Copyright to All of Their Photos

A big win for photographers in Canada: as of today, you now officially own the copyright to all your photographs regardless of whether they were

via PetaPixel: http://petapixel.com/2012/11/07/canadian-photogs-now-officially-own-the-copyright-to-all-of-their-photos/

A big win for photographers in Canada: as of today, you now officially own the copyright to all your photographs regardless of whether they were commissioned. The development comes as a result of Canada major copyright reform bill (Bill C-11) taking effect this morning. One of the stated goals of the new copyright law is to, “give photographers the same rights as other creators.”

November 11, 2013
Paying for pin-ups : Columbia Journalism Review

Paying for pin-ups

Why Getty Images is partnering with Pinterest

via Columbia Journalism Review: http://www.cjr.org/cloud_control/getty_on_copyright_pinterest.php

this gives us a chance to take advantage of our image search technology, find out where our images are being used and then reattach the metadata and provide the attribution for the content

November 8, 2013
Agency Reputations at Stake in Historic Copyright Trial

Link: Editorial Photographers UK | Agency Reputations at Stake in Historic Copyright Trial

Daniel Morel’s copyright theft case against photo agencies Agence France Presse (AFP) and Getty Images will begin on Tuesday November 12th, 2013 at the Thurgood Marshall US Court House in Manhattan, before Federal District Court Judge Alison Nathan. The stakes are high and EPUK will be in New York to follow the action.

November 7, 2013
Your Favorite Iconic Sports Photo Might Be Stolen Property

Your Favorite Iconic Sports Photo Might Be Stolen Property

Seven sideline photographers are suing for the misuse of thousands of images—and they're just the latest to expose the complexities of copyright in the Internet age.

via The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/11/your-favorite-iconic-sports-photo-might-be-stolen-property/281182/

Seven sideline photographers are suing for the misuse of thousands of images—and they’re just the latest to expose the complexities of copyright in the Internet age.

November 7, 2013
Photo Copyright Claims Follow Book Publisher

Photo Copyright Claims Follow Book Publisher

(CN) – Pearson Education must face claims that it printed and globally distributed thousands of photos in textbooks without permission,

Link: http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/10/18/62160.htm

Pearson Education must face claims that it printed and globally distributed thousands of photos in textbooks without permission, a federal judge ruled.
The publisher faces five lawsuits in New Jersey from Minden Pictures Inc. (MPI), a Watsonville, Calif.-based stock photo agency, and 12 of its photographers, including Frans Lanting , Jim Brandenburg, and Mark Moffett

October 29, 2013
Slaves of the Internet, Unite!

Opinion | Slaves of the Internet, Unite!

They really do admire your work, just not enough to pay one cent for it.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/opinion/sunday/slaves-of-the-internet-unite.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

People who would consider it a bizarre breach of conduct to expect anyone to give them a haircut or a can of soda at no cost will ask you, with a straight face and a clear conscience, whether you wouldn’t be willing to write an essay or draw an illustration for them for nothing

October 27, 2013
‘Misappropriation’ Art or Transformative Fair Use? It’s Complicated!

‘Misappropriation’ Art or Transformative Fair Use? It’s Complicated! – NPPA Advocacy Committee

In the ongoing copyright infringement case by photographer Patrick Cariou against “appropriation artist” Richard Prince, both sides have filed briefs respectively supporting and opposing the August 21, 2013 petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Cario

via NPPA Advocacy Committee: http://blogs.nppa.org/advocacy/2013/10/17/misappropriation-art-or-transformative-fair-use-its-complicated/

To illustrate how difficult these types of decisions are, the case involved 30 pieces of artwork, but the appeals court was only able to make a determination on 25 of them, remanding the remaining 5 pieces back to the lower court for application of “the proper standard” so as to “determine in the first instance whether any of them infringes on Cariou’s copyrights or whether Prince is entitled to a fair use defense with regard to those artworks as well.”

October 27, 2013
Pinterest Closes Another Copyright Hole, Inks A Deal With Getty Images, Will Pay A Fee For Metadata

Pinterest Closes Another Copyright Hole, Inks A Deal With Getty Images, Will Pay A Fee For Metadata – TechCrunch

With a fresh $225 million in its pocket, Pinterest is gearing up to spend a little of it to build out its platform and the data that powers it — and close up a copyright hole in the process. Pinterest today announced a deal with Getty Images — the image

via TechCrunch: http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/25/pinterest-inks-deal-with-getty-images-will-pay-a-fee-for-the-photo-agencys-metadata/

For Pinterest, it will be able to use this data to provide more detail to its users about what they’re looking at, including photographers’ names and what’s in the picture.

October 26, 2013
Photography & The Law: Access, Copyright and Social Media Issues

PPE 2013: Photography & The Law: Access, Copyright and Social Media Issues | PDNPulse

During a talk at PhotoPlus Expo 2013, sponsored by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), attorneys Mickey Osterreicher and Alicia Wagner Calzada provided tips for how photographers can protect their First Amendment rights and control the co

via PDNPulse: http://pdnpulse.pdnonline.com/2013/10/ppe-2013-photography-the-law-access-copyright-and-social-media-issues.html

During a talk at PhotoPlus Expo 2013, sponsored by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), attorneys Mickey Osterreicher and Alicia Wagner Calzada provided tips for how photographers can protect their First Amendment rights and control the copyright and distribution of their work.

October 25, 2013
NFL, Getty and AP Hit With Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

NFL, Getty and AP Hit With Copyright Infringement Lawsuit | PDNPulse

Seven photographer are suing the National Football League and two image distributors–Getty Images and Associated Press (AP)–for copyright infringement over widespread use of their images in NFL ads, products and promotions without fair compensation, accor

via PDNPulse: http://pdnpulse.pdnonline.com/2013/10/nfl-getty-and-ap-hit-with-copyright-infringement-lawsuit.html

Photographer Paul Spinelli is the lead plaintiff in the case. The other photographer plaintiffs are Paul Jasienski, David Stluka, Thomas E. Witte, David Drapkin, George Newman Lowrance and Scott Boehm.

October 23, 2013
Meet Cody Foster & Co., the design pirates who help big retailers rip off artists

Meet Cody Foster & Co., the design pirates who help big retailers rip off artists

Here’s another storming article from John Brownlee, this time about Cody Foster & Co, a purveyor of cheap accessories that’s becoming infamous for freakishly shameless swipes of oth…

via Boing Boing: http://boingboing.net/2013/10/18/meet-cody-foster-co-the-de.html

Cody Foster & Co, a purveyor of cheap accessories that’s becoming infamous for freakishly shameless swipes of other people’s work. By handling the dirty work of creative misappropriation, its clients — reported to include Anthropologie, Fab, Nordstroms, and more — may sell work designed by cool artists without paying them a cent.

October 18, 2013
David Byrne: ‘The internet will suck all creative content out of the world’

David Byrne: ‘The internet will suck all creative content out of the world’

The boom in digital streaming may generate profits for record labels and free content for consumers, but it spells disaster for today’s artists, says David Byrne

via the Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/11/david-byrne-internet-content-world

The boom in digital streaming may generate profits for record labels and free content for consumers, but it spells disaster for today’s artists across the creative industries

October 14, 2013
Beware Facebook’s New Terms of Service

Link: Beware Facebook’s New Terms of Service | American Society of Media Photographers

Facebook claims the right to monetize, not just your images, but a sizable portion of your entire online identity

October 7, 2013
Houzz Has Your Image Rights, How Long Before They’re Selling Them?

Houzz Has Your Image Rights, How Long Before They’re Selling Them? – A Photo Editor

It may already be too late. Houzz appears to be using the images posted by professional photographers to illustrate editorial stories they create for the front of the site. One photographer was contacted by a staff writer to find out who built what was de

via A Photo Editor: http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2013/10/02/houzz-has-your-image-rights-how-long-before-theyre-selling-them/

It may already be too late. Houzz appears to be using the images posted by professional photographers to illustrate editorial stories they create for the front of the site. One photographer was contacted by a staff writer to find out who built what was depicted in the images with no mention of licensing the images for this reuse.

October 2, 2013
Newspaper Editor Says Posting a Photo to Facebook Makes it Public Domain

Newspaper Editor Says Posting a Photo to Facebook Makes it Public Domain

Normally, we wouldn’t give much attention to the thoughts of an editor/publisher for a small community newspaper. But the response to photographer Kristen

via PetaPixel: http://petapixel.com/2013/09/30/newspaper-editor-says-facebook-photo-post-equals-public-domain/

the whopper comes at the end of the editor’s phone message: “Also, the photograph is in the public domain in the sense that it’s on Facebook, so I don’t know. Maybe you ought to charge Facebook.”

October 1, 2013
In TwitPic Copyright Claim, Daniel Morel Seeks $13.2 Million from AFP, Getty

In TwitPic Copyright Claim, Daniel Morel Seeks $13.2 Million from AFP, Getty | PDNPulse

Photographer Daniel Morel is seeking as much as $13.2 million from AFP and Getty Images at a trial to determine damages for copyright infringement of his exclusive images of the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, which Morel had posted via Twitter. T

via PDNPulse: http://pdnpulse.pdnonline.com/2013/09/in-twitpic-copyright-claim-daniel-morel-seeks-13-2-million-from-afp-getty.html

The trial is scheduled to begin November 12

September 25, 2013
A Letter to Mr. Zuckerberg

Link: A Letter to Mr. Zuckerberg | Thoughts of a Bohemian

I hope this note is read by you and all of your tech company friends, who will take note that regarding a photograph, “If you generate revenues on it, around it, relating to it, we want a piece of it.”

September 20, 2013