----- Original Message -----
From: "Graywolf"
Subject: Re: Are your photos too good?
Sell lots of them. You will need the money.
Which is the point I have been trying to make. It is not about the image.
It is about the right to the profits from the image. Paul has the right ot
all profits from his image, anything that infringes that right is
actionable. In Wal-Marts case they are probably overdoing it. It is hard
to imagine a customer having one copy made as violating copyright (the
right to make a copy for personal use or study is right in the copyright
laws), but when the customer orders multiple copies he is probably trying
to beat the copyright holder out of earnings from his work, and I think
Wal-Mart would become an accessory to that. Guess who has the money to be
worth sueing?
A lot of photolabs used to have a habit of saying "What a nice photo" and
hanging a copy on the wall so the customers could see what nice photos
they process. Guess what? Yep! Advertising use. Loss of profits. Big
no-no.
As I said money is the real issue.
If we make a copy of an image, we are doing a copy for commercial gain. If
that image has a copyright on it (they all do, actually), then we are
hurting the copyright owner.
We are doing it for commercial gain, and that's that.
It doesn't matter if the customer wouldn't get the picture made otherwise,
or if it is one print or many.
The law, in this instance is not about intent, it's about actions.
And yes, we are a really easy target to take potshots at, so we are
exceptionally careful.
We use customers photos from time to time, with written permission.
Verbal agreements don't stand up well if the customer changes their mind
after the fact.
William Robb
