Using Other Makers and Sites Pics

[bruce johnson]

Here's the deal, one of my friends has something he made and has for sale on his site. It is his style, his work, his picture background. I know because I check out his site from time to time and it has been there for a while. Another site based within the US is advertising handmade custom gear and at least one of the pictures they represent as their work is his exact picture. They didn't try to photoshop another background in or anything, it is his picture.

I know that copying is the best form of flattery and all that, and it is impossible to duplicate someone else's work exsactly. The issue I am coming up with is this a legal deal? worth pursueing if it is? Just an example of some riding the coat-tails of someone they feel must be better than their work, or they'd have their own picture up there?

[Art]

Hi Bruce,

A cease and desist demand is about all it is worth. If you really want to pull his chain, file it in your local district court.

Art

Here's the deal, one of my friends has something he made and has for sale on his site. It is his style, his owrk, his picture background. I know becuase I check out his site from time to time and it has been there for a while. Another site based within the US is advertising handmade custom gear and at least one of the pictures they represent as their work is his exact picture. They didn't try to photoshop another background in or anything, it is his picture.

I know that copying is the best form of flattery and all that, and it is impossible to duplicate someone else's work exsactly. The issue I am coming up with is this a legal deal? worth pursueing if it is? Just an example of some riding the coat-tails of someone they feel must be better than their work, or they'd have their own picture up there?

[outcast]

Maybe your friend should copyright his stuff like one of our own resident leatherworkers does. It seems extreme to me, but if you feel the need to protect your ideas/work it may be the only option.

[dirtclod]

Bruce have your friend send the guy a bill for a couple hundred dollars and tell him to pay up or take the picture down.

One time on ebay i seen a picture that had been stole. The owner had it fixed some way where the picture said i am a thief i stole this picture from ( and the owners name ). It didn't stay up very long....LOL.

[bex DK]

Photographs are copyrighted even if not marked as such. So at the very least they can be forced to stop using his picture.

If you can find out where their web site is hosted, the photo's owner might be able to get their site stopped even if they company doesn't respond to direct contact.

[mulefool]

About 6 or 7 years ago I was building some chinks for another company. One night I was surfing the web looking at other makers websites and came upon one. I thought "Gee those chinks look pretty good, kinda like mine................................Wait a minute, THOSE are MINE!!!! They had just lifted the pic from the other companies website. I couldn't believe it. The folks I was building for had copyrighted their catalog and sent a little letter to the offending person and that took care of things. But really, I was just plain flabbergasted, I can't imagine doing such a thing. I guess some people have no shame. Chris

[Johanna]

I have found that direct to-the-point emails to webmasters usually gets the stolen content removed or properly credited pretty quickly. I let them explain to the owner of the site what the problem is unless they aren't quick about cleaning up. A phone call to the owner of the site comes next, then I guess legal action, but it's never gotten that far in my experience. Sometimes the webmasters have a pic because they needed one and googled for an image, sometimes they aren't aware that materials submitted by a client is not what it appears to be. The place to start is with the webmaster.

Johanna

[bruce johnson]

Thanks for the replies. I saw another picture on their site that really didn't fit with anything else. A very well done and kind of distinctive tooling pattern along with some finish details that again were distinctive. I emailed who I thought probably did it, and it was his. In a simple twist today I get an email from someone on one of the leather forums asking if I know how to do a briefcase like is on a third guy's site. Damn if it doesn't look familiar, and yep, there it was on the "weasel" site I had been looking at. I am beginning to wonder if there is anything listed they have actually done. On the plus side, they have stolen from some of the best. They have good taste.

[JohnBarton]

Here's the deal, one of my friends has something he made and has for sale on his site. It is his style, his work, his picture background. I know because I check out his site from time to time and it has been there for a while. Another site based within the US is advertising handmade custom gear and at least one of the pictures they represent as their work is his exact picture. They didn't try to photoshop another background in or anything, it is his picture.

I know that copying is the best form of flattery and all that, and it is impossible to duplicate someone else's work exsactly. The issue I am coming up with is this a legal deal? worth pursueing if it is? Just an example of some riding the coat-tails of someone they feel must be better than their work, or they'd have their own picture up there?

Well there are both legal and moral issues here.

A. The person using the picture without permission is violating copyright law unless that picture is somehow part of the public domain and copyright free. The person who owns the image is the one who gets to determine how it is used in commercial settings. It is legal to use images in a comparative way and also for parody. It is illegal to use images without permission to sell products.

B. Morally it's just wrong to rip off someone's property.

C. It's fraudulent to post a picture of a product you didn't make and say that it's your product. I am pretty sure if I posted a picture of a Mercedes without the star visible and then delivered a kit car both Mercedes and the customers would have the law after me.

I used to have people ripping off my pictures AND my copy (product descriptions, testimonials, etc...) and selling on Ebay, putting them in catalogs and on websites when they were selling knockoffs. I had to fight that fight with cease and desist letters every month or so for years.

It sucks. But it's part of life on the net. As easy as it is for us to advertise to the world it's just as easy for scumbags to rip us off and pretend to be more than they are.