FB leeway for publication to obtain shots without getting from copyright owners...

[kopohui]

I chanced upon a shot taken by me years ago of a foreign football player (who used to play in Singapore) that is being featured a write-up on him in his native language (the watermark is still there).

I felt there must be nothing much I can do about it (for this case being I tagged this particular player on FB in the said picture) when publication may had obtained the picture via the player, instead of me, the copyright owner.

I am not sure if leeway as such has allows publication to obtain picture and credit their source (for this case, the player, maybe) in the manner.

Although the bigger concern being if picture being obtained via this channel for commercial purpose, is that anything the copyright owners (like myself) can do to protect our rights?

 

[shierwin]

Can have the links to the source image and the write-up you mentioned.

 

[kopohui]

Can have the links to the source image and the write-up you mentioned.

Hi shierwin,

Thanks for your reply and below are what you requested.

http://globalathlete.jp/2987 (the write-up in Japanese)

http://globalathlete.jp/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/川辺隆弥-300x245.jpg (the URL to the picture in which that indicated "(C)2011 Ko Po Hui")

 

[sy1988]

hi! Just my two cents'. Whether or not you own the copyright to the photograph taken depends on whether the player specifically commissioned you to take it. For example, if he specifically requested that you take photos of him during the match and pays you for your services, then arguably the copyright belongs to him and not you. But if you were just in the stands taking photos of him without any commission, then you own the copyright.

Assuming you own the copyright, then unauthorised reproduction of your work by any other person constitutes copyright infringement, unless it falls within the "fair use" exception in our copyright regime. For more details on the copyright regime, perhaps the IPOS website here would be useful: http://www.ipos.gov.sg/AboutIP/Type...yright/Askingpermissionandusingcopyright.aspx

Finally, one additional complication might arise here, since the global athlete website seems to be operated in Japan. If that is the case, then you face an additional hurdle of having to commence legal proceedings (should you wish to) in an overseas forum.

For further information on how to protect your copyright, this website might be helpful: http://www.ipos.gov.sg/AboutIP/Type...ight/Whoownscopyrightandhowtoprotectit.aspx#c

Hope this helps!

 

[kandinsky]

For further information on how to protect your copyright, this website might be helpful: http://www.ipos.gov.sg/AboutIP/Type...ight/Whoownscopyrightandhowtoprotectit.aspx#c

Hope this helps!

Useful link!

@TS, technically, copyright is already protected by law, it's the extent you're willing to go to enforce it, and whether it would be worth your while. The more relevant section from the IPOS site in this case is probably the Enforcement section. If you wanna go down that route, you should consult a copyright/IP lawyer.

http://www.ipos.gov.sg/AboutIP/Type...y/Whatiscopyright/Enforcementofcopyright.aspx

-------------------

I am not sure if leeway as such has allows publication to obtain picture and credit their source (for this case, the player, maybe) in the manner.

Doesn't really make it an 'FB leeway'. If anything, it's an 'internet leeway', as anything posted online can be easily exploited by anyone.

Although the bigger concern being if picture being obtained via this channel for commercial purpose, is that anything the copyright owners (like myself) can do to protect our rights?

You can write in to the publication on your own. Maybe post on their FB page - https://www.facebook.com/GlobalAthletePJ. Explain the situation. Tell them you're unhappy they used your image without permission. Tell them what you want from them. E.g, Take it down? Send them an invoice for licensing? etc. If they say "Yeah right. We already credited you, that's all you are going to get. We don't see why we should pay you anything.", it's up to you to decide if it's worth pursuing further. Unless they are a very big publication with deep pockets and a lot to lose if news of their infringement gets out, an apology/takedown might be all you can get out of them, if you get one at all.

From the looks of it, the company looks like a private soccer school. So I wouldn't call them a publication per se, it was a blog/news post on their website.

Global Athlete Project（GAP）established in 2011 by Eiji Kawashima, a Japan Soccer national team goal keeper, now playing in the Belgian League.

【GAP’s Mission】
■To spread enlightenment of the importance of the commanding languages in order to play active parts in global community, and to support acquiring of language skills for Japanese athletes who are trying to play globally. （

■To provide the environment where children can learn languages and have fun through various sports activities, and to foster global-minded world citizens.
■To support a second career for retired professional athletes who have played and participated in a global environment,with fluent language skills.

https://jobs.gaijinpot.com/job/view/job_id/98660/lang/en

According to various reports, the owner/founder supposedly speaks fluent English, so if you write in, shouldn't have any problem being understood.

Kawashima, who’s fluent in English and Italian along with respectable Dutch, French and Portuguese skills, talked about the progression of the project and his ambition for expanding in the future.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2012/06/17/soccer/language-skills-key-for-kawashima/

That said, the fact that they have this notice on their website is quite hypocritical. :bsmilie:

著作権・肖像権に関して
当サイト内で使用している図形、写真、映画（アニメーション、実写を問いません）、文章、音楽、音声、プログラムなどのデータを無断で転載、引用する事を禁じます。

With respect to copyright and portrait rights
The unauthorized reproduction of the contents of this site — Photography, Film (Does not matter animation, live-action), data text, music, sound, and programs — is strictly forbidden

Note: Translation cobbled together using google translate, can't vouch for the accuracy.

These two links talk about it in the US-context, but I think they have ideas worth thinking about. All the best.

What To Do If Your Work Is Infringed

In a perfect world, if you found someone using your image without your permission, you would send him a bill for use without your permission, he would pay you and you would be done with it. If he didn’t pay, you could threaten to sue, and he would quickly realize that the cost to go through the process was too much to bear, so he would settle with you and you’d receive a check. In the real world, however, some people just ignore your rights and threats, and you have to make a decision on what to do next.

http://asmp.org/tutorials/enforcing-your-rights.html

What do the pros do?
All right, all of this sounds wonderful, but what do working professionals actually do? I can’t answer that question for most of my colleagues, but I can tell you what I do—or, more to the point, what I don’t do. I don’t bother registering my copyrights, because I think opportunities for successfully suing someone over online theft are few and far between, and getting real money is extremely unlikely, so even limited time and money spent on registration fails my cost-benefit analysis. I don’t spend any time doing Google Image searches to see who is stealing my work. And I don’t watermark my images, as discreet watermarks are incredibly easy to remove, although when posting to social media sites I usually include a border around the image with the image title and my name, but that is mostly because I think it looks good. I actually think watermarking is a good idea, if for no other reason than to make sure that when your photo gets shared by others, people will know if belongs to you (I’m thinking of starting to watermark for this very reason). Overall, I tend to take the “free advertising” approach to most Internet infringement, and consider worrying about the rest as a waste of time.

Here’s a real world example which helps explain my attitude. One of my colleagues called me several years ago to let me know that an electronics store in Portugal had stolen a few of our images and was using them to sell computer monitors online (basically, they had superimposed our nature images on the photos of the monitor screens). His initial requests to the company had gone unanswered, so he spent several days organizing his Facebook followers to bombard the company with nasty messages until they stopped using his photos. He suggested I do the same. I asked him only two questions: How much time did you spend doing this? And did you make any money? The answer to the first question was “too much,” and the answer to the second was “nothing at all.” I decided to simply not bother. Instead of wasting time for nothing more than a moral victory, I instead spent my time productively building my business. Even if I had all the appropriate legal protections in place, the time and money invested in suing someone in another country, and the subsequent distraction and disruption this would have caused to my business, would probably have not been worth the eventual payoff. In short—to me at least—the juice is simply not worth the squeeze.

http://www.ianplant.com/blog/2013/07/02/photography-copyright-and-the-internet/

 

[kopohui]

Thank you for the replies and comments

 

[kopohui]

You can write in to the publication on your own. Maybe post on their FB page - https://www.facebook.com/GlobalAthletePJ. Explain the situation. Tell them you're unhappy they used your image without permission. Tell them what you want from them. E.g, Take it down? Send them an invoice for licensing? etc. If they say "Yeah right. We already credited you, that's all you are going to get. We don't see why we should pay you anything.", it's up to you to decide if it's worth pursuing further. Unless they are a very big publication with deep pockets and a lot to lose if news of their infringement gets out, an apology/takedown might be all you can get out of them, if you get one at all.

Actually, this isn't the first time I facing this problem but thought it's time for me to have a deeper understanding of my rights as the copyright owner.

In the past, whenever I came across website used my photos without authorization, I would:

1. Drop an email to the site administrators
2. Asking them where they obtained the picture and at the same time providing them the URL of the original shot to "seek their advice if the shots are identical".
3. Stated beforehand that unreserved apology will be made, if I, on my part, make a mistake when staking my claim.

Till this day, those who used my photo(s) without prior authorization would normally apologize for the blunder after such corresponds and credit me for the effort.

I am not sure if I being the "odd one" out there for not pressing for reimbursement, as money isn't the motive when I started to take football picture but merely as a form of deed to help local footballers.