----- Original Message ----- From: "David J Brooks" Subject: Slightly OT: Ethical use of photos, horse show venues
> There is a two page thread over on the equine BB i help moderate, that > started off well intended, and has now, as anticipated started into > the copy right issue, brought up by some upset Mom who thinks it is ok > to lift proofs from websites and post on facebook etc. > > She claims, and say's she has a copy right book by her side, that > because the photos are taken at a public event, in a public place with > out consent of the riders.(we have the consent of the park owners) > that the photographer holds no copyright and if we do not post a no > right click or water mark on the photo(most of us do the latter) then > they are fair game. > > Any comments on this. This is for Canadian shows, but i'll assume most > portions of law would hold true in the USA as well. > Under Canadian law, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, the first owner of copyright is the person who paid to have the pictures taken. In the absence of a specific client (pictures shot on speculation with the intent of selling them later fits this category), then the photographer is the first owner of copyright. It matters not where the picture was taken, whether permission to take the picture was granted, or if the picture was taken on private or public property. If you weren't paid to take the picture, you are the first owner of copyright. As others have said, you have to live with a little bit of theft if you put something on the web. It's unfortunate, but people do lift stuff for personal use, and all you can do is make it difficult for them to do it. I'd hunt down the pictures that have been lifted and put on facebook, including hunting down her horsey friends that use facebook to see if they have lifted anything of yours as well, and file a breach of copyright complaint with facebook. That'd teach em. William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
