infringement

What Do You Do when Someone Steals Your Photo for ‘A Good Cause’?

In about one week, we will mark the anniversary of the most traumatic and violent piece of French history in the last decades. On the 13th of November, 2015, several coordinated terrorist attacks took place in Paris, less than a year after the attacks against the newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

Your Photos Could Be Illegally for Sale on Amazon

The Internet has become the wild wild west of copyright infringement, and the fact that so many photos are illegally republished around without permission and/or attribution makes enforcement tough for the photographers behind them. If you've ever shared your images on the Web, there's one big-name place they could show up for sale without your permission: Amazon.com.

Photographer Suing Getty Images for $1 Billion

Renowned photographer Carol M. Highsmith is reportedly suing Getty Images for $1 billion, claiming that the stock photo company committed copyright infringement through the "gross misuse" of 18,755 of her photographs documenting America.

Snapchat Accused of Stealing Make-Up Artists’ Work for Selfie Filters

A photo posted by mykie (@mykie_) on Apr 28, 2016 at 2:58am PDT

Snapchat's selfie filters have turned into something of a phenomenon—whether you want to become a koala or puke a rainbow, they have you covered. But the popular ephemeral photo sharing and messaging app is in a spot of trouble over those filters this week.

Why Photographers Need a Copyright Small Claims System

Professional Photographers of America, the world's largest pro photography non-profit trade group, is launching a big lobbying campaign in order to see the creation of a copyright small claims system in the United States, something that's "vital to your photography business," PPA says.

Calvin Klein May Have Stolen My Work, but I Can’t Do Anything About It

I've been wrestling with this for a while now. I wasn't going to write a post like this but things have reached a certain point where I don't feel I can take anything on any further, so for now a little social media post will have to suffice in lieu of actual justice.

Trump Sued for Using Iconic Bald Eagle Photo Without Permission

Highly controversial Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is in the news a lot, but today he's making photography news. "The Donald" is being sued by two photographers who claim he has used their iconic image of a bald eagle on campaign materials for sale on the Trump website without asking permission or appropriately licensing the image.

How I Turned a BS YouTube Copyright Claim Back on the Real Infringer

My name is Aram Pan, and I'm a photographer documenting North Korea through 360° panoramas, photos and videos. I’d like to share with everyone my experience with what I call “copyright infringement abuse.”

Basically, I feel that the YouTube copyright reporting system is seriously flawed. Here's what happened to me...

Dear Nikon: I’d Like an Explanation From You

As many photographers know, Photokina is one of the most talked about events in the community. It is where all the camera and accessory manufacturers go to show off their new innovative products. In September 2014, a friend noticed something very interesting on the websites and blogs promoting Nikon’s booth at Photokina that year.

"Rooftopping" photos were being used to promote their booth, which was to be a massive interactive lightbox -- something that was going to really wow the attendees. What got my attention was the images they used in their promotion.

Richard Prince legal saga continues

Photographer Sues Richard Prince for Stealing His Instagram Photo

Artist Richard Prince sparked huge controversy last year by taking Instagram photos without permission, making extremely small edits to them, and then selling them as fine art for up to $100,000 each.

Now, one of the outraged photographers who had his photo used by Prince is suing the artist for copyright infringement.

This Photographer is Paying it Forward with $10,000 from Copyright Infringers

Yunghi Kim, a decorated photojournalist and 20 year member of Contact Press Images, is bringing more than turkey to Thanksgiving this year: she's donating $10,000 to create ten one-time grants of $1,000 with money that she has received “from fees recovered from unauthorized use of my work.”

Hull Property Group Stole My Photo

The following is my account of the most infuriating, frustrating and insulting photo usage theft I’ve dealt with. After attempting to resolve it with letters, phone calls and lawyers, I’ve decided the most beneficial thing I can do is lay out my experience in a cautionary tale and let people know how this company feels about photography.

What Do You Do When ISIS Steals Your Photo?

The Internet is teeming with copyright infringement these days, and there are various ways for photographers to get stolen photos taken down and paid for by the offenders. But what happens when the offender is a UN-designated terrorist organization?

That's a real situation that photographer Brian McCarty found himself with earlier this year. Known for his photos involving children's toys, McCarty found that ISIS had stolen and repurposed one of his toy photos for their propaganda.

Janet Jackson is Getting Instagram Users Deleted for Sharing Concert Shots

Janet Jackson doesn't just have a strict concert photography policy when it comes to professional photographers -- she's cracking down on fan shots as well. Instagram users are reporting that their accounts are being deleted by the service after they posted photos and videos of Jackson during her Unbreakable concert tour.

Court Says Copyright Owners Must Consider Fair Use Before Sending DMCAs

If you find that someone is using your photo online without your permission, one thing you can do is send a DMCA take down request to force the hosting company to remove the image. But be careful, though: you need to make sure the usage doesn't fall under fair use. Otherwise, you could be liable for sending a bad-faith take-down notice.

This Site Will Sell Your Instagram Selfie Without Your Permission for $150

Earlier this year, artist Richard Prince sparked a huge controversy by taking people's Instagram photos, making very small changes to them, and selling the prints as fine art for $100,000 a pop. Now there's a new website that's following in Prince's footsteps, on a larger scale but with smaller prices.

It's a service called Sellfie, which scours Instagram for the hashtag #selfie and then sells the photos as single-edition, high-quality prints for $150 -- all without the photographer's permission.

Dear PPA, I Still Love You, But…

Note: I wrote this because, well, if you make your living with your camera, this IS your circus and these ARE your monkeys.

Dear PPA,

You know that I have had nothing but mad love for you. Even as I typed those words, I made a peace-sign with my fingers and thumped them against my chest. I’m street like that.

Photographer Upset After Seeing Daughter’s Face on Theme Park Sign

Florida-based photographer Kiersten Grant was at the Miracle Strip Amusement Park with her daughter Mylie recently when she came across a board near a ticket line that featured a girl that looked surprisingly like Mylie.

After taking a closer look, Grant was surprised to discovered that it was Mylie.

The High Cost of Suing for Copyright Infringements

If you're wondering why copyright infringement is so widespread on the Web and why wealthy artists like Richard Prince can test the boundaries of copyright law without much worry, consider this: by the time photographer Daniel Morel won $1.2 million in 2013 after a 5-year copyright battle, his law firm had racked up a staggering $2.5 million in legal fees and costs -- most of which won't be paid.

So Your Company Has Been Found Using My Photos Without Permission. What Next?

In August I hired ImageRights International, a reputable copyright enforcement agency, to assume the routine handling of commercial infringements of my professional work. There are a lot. Starting in September 2014, companies began receiving letters from ImageRights’ partner law firms seeking to resolve these infringements on my behalf.

EliteDaily Sued by Photographer for Sharing Photos in Blog Post Without Permission

In an age in which pageviews are supreme, blogs and other online publications often ignore copyright laws, publishing viral photographs without permission in order to attract clicks and eyeballs. While much of the time this type of behavior flies under the radar, sometimes the unethical behavior comes back to bite the publishers hard when photographers do notice and take action.

Here's one of the latest examples: photojournalist Peter Menzel has filed a lawsuit against the blog EliteDaily for sharing his photos in a viral post without permission.

Kenneth Cole Lifted One of My Photos, And All I Got Was a $500 Gift Card

The year was 2008. I was still a novice with a camera, and the basics of photography were still very unfamiliar to me. I knew what my eyes liked, even if I didn't understand how to get the camera to capture it. On March 1 of 2008, I snapped a photo looking north on 5th Avenue in New York City.

At the time, I didn't have a Tumblr page to share my photos, and I didn't have Flickr, either. The only place my photos lived was on my computer's hard drive, and occasionally it would show up in a Facebook post to my friends. There was one other place, though.

Re: If You Don’t Want Your Photos Stolen, Don’t Post Them on the Internet

“If you don’t want your photos stolen, don’t post them on the Internet.”

This is an argument I have heard over and over again, mostly from people who have never had their work borrowed. Which of course is like saying, “I know you were home, but if you didn’t want your belongings stolen, you shouldn’t have left your door unlocked.”

Nat Geo Photog Says Amazon Won’t Stop Selling His Stolen Photograph

Earlier this month, National Geographic photographer Tomas van Houtryve had one of his photographs selected by TIME magazine as one of the Top 10 Photos of 2014. It was a high honor, but also one that opened an unexpected Pandora's Box for Van Houtryve: his photos began appearing on third-party products on Amazon without his permission.

And that's not all: Van Houtryve says Amazon isn't responding to his requests to have the products completely taken down.