Stolen Photos? Need Advice!

[rages4calm]

So I don't honestly know where to begin so this will be quite a bit of typing and linking so bare with me.

Six months ago I was shooting for a buddy of mine whom I freelance and sometimes do some work for. He runs car shows and car audio vents which are quite popular, Normally we have charity events as well.

Well six months ago one of the charity events was some Hooters girls doing a car wash and the money was for a cancer patient, there were some arkansas police officers at the event to kinda make sure all went well since their was quite a crowd for the car event with so many competitors.

Six months later... I'm getting a phone call saying my photos have been posted in local newspapers, newspaper websites, newspaper blogs. But it all started with 1 website.. one BIG website. The original article was posted and updated in June http://www.bustedcoverage.com/?p=5192 and later updated in November with some different wording and editing of my photos. http://www.bustedcoverage.com/?p=9056

Now where the fun part begins, first and foremost I was not given credit on any of these websites, blogs, newspapers etc... The photos were taken off my flickr account, not my actual domain however on my flickr account all my photos are marked "Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons"
Which states the following http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Not to mention I still have all the originals with the exif information as well. On top of that the photos are also apart of CarToyz (buddies company who held the event and are on his website as well).

So aside from the fact i'm pissed about them stealing the photos, not giving credit, not being informed about this until just recently. BUT these 2 officers were innocent and did nothing wrong by any means. The girls asked the officers to take some photos with them and their were plenty of witnesses including myself as the photographer and worker at the event that it was all fun and games.. was no sign of pedophile etc.. or whatever the media wants to call this.


So after making you all read this my question is what legal actions can I take? I already tried finding the owner of the bustedcoverage website however it is private info and I have no way of contacting him. I do know that I want to take legal action but I don't know where to begin or how to start. So far I have taken screenshots of their website and recorded videos as well.

Advice please.

Also EDIT: This is my flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/rages4calm

[ShaneKislack]

Talk to a lawyer. I'm not sure you have a case. They are using them editorially to illustrate a newsworthy piece. I'm pretty sure it might fall under fair use since they photo itself is the evidence they are showing.

Also, what are your damages?

Anyway, talk to a lawyer.

[rages4calm]

Originally Posted by ShaneKislack

Talk to a lawyer. I'm not sure you have a case. They are using them editorially to illustrate a newsworthy piece. I'm pretty sure it might fall under fair use since they photo itself is the evidence they are showing.

Also, what are your damages?

Anyway, talk to a lawyer.

Well they edited the photos in the 2nd post which they were not allowed to do, they used it without my permission.

Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

Noncommercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.

No Derivative Works. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

The fact my photos were posted in the paper along was enough to make me mad as it is. Most people get paid for this type of stuff, I don't shoot photos for other peoples pleasure if that were the case I would have uploaded these photos with fake illustration on all sorts of websites to draw attention to myself.

Also I do agree for the most part their might not be much I can do since their is not enough information online nor do most lawyers know how to handle most of this stuff about what legal actions can be taken. That is why I am here asking.

[ShaneKislack]

You'll need an intellectual property lawyer. It's a specialization.

[zepp]

Do you really think anyone would have taken note of your byline (since that's really the only compensation you're asking for) on these pictures had it been credited to you?

Just trying to humor you.

[CaptainTom]

PM sent..

[rages4calm]

Originally Posted by zepp

Do you really think anyone would have taken note of your byline (since that's really the only compensation you're asking for) on these pictures had it been credited to you?

Just trying to humor you.

lol trust me I'm finding it very hard due to the photos that are being used to be a bit upset considering my friends seem to be doing a great job of making me laugh lol

[AndrewCCM]

Funny. Busted Coverage stole my images as well. I threatened to have my client (Dallas Stars) go after them.

They were removed within a couple of days and replaced with a sarcastic comment in the blog.

BTW: They will just tell you they got the images from "girls Myspace, Facebook or blogs"... Not that it is a defense in any way.. But they seem to like that excuse for stealing. I even wrote their parent company and called their marketing office. NEVER got a call back. They are slime.

[photosteve]

Article 27 of the flicker TOS gives you an address to complain about copy right infringement. Don’t know how much they can do but at least they have a dept that handles it for you. Oh and by the way once you upload to flickr yahoo owns your photos.

PhotoSteve

[ElanR]

Actually, Carl, posting your copyrighted digital work on the web is a criminal violation under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). There is a very simple procedure of sending a DMCA notice to the operator or owner of the server hosting the material, at which point the material must be removed under criminal penalty.

Some basic info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital..._Copyright_Act

You can read an 18-page summery of the act here:
http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf

The notice process is partially described in this paragraph:

The statute also establishes procedures for proper notification, and rules as to its effect. (Section 512(c)(3)). Under the notice and takedown procedure, a copyright owner submits a notification under penalty of perjury, including a list of specified elements, to the service provider’s designated agent. Failure to comply substantially with the statutory requirements means that the notification will not be considered in determining the requisite level of knowledge by the service provider. If, upon receiving a proper notification, the service provider promptly removes or blocks access to the material identified in the notification, the provider is exempt from monetary liability. In addition, the provider is protected from any liability to any person for claims based on its having taken down the material. (Section 512(g)(1)).

You can probably get the desired outcome doing this yourself. Just keep in mind that your notice is held to a standard similar to a sworn affidavit, so keep your facts straight and simple. Try to find an already formulated DMCA notice on the web and just change it to suit your case. The penalties are so severe that most hosts just remove the material and move on, even when in doubt.

[dbphotos]

What everyone else said, but more importantly don't ever post images under Creative Commons. CC to most people means they can use them however they want - they don't read what CC really means. ALWAYS retain your copyright on ALL images and allow use as you deem appropriate. There is a lot of theft on flickr and they generally go after Creative Commons images.

Live and learn.

[Steelsun]

Looks like they took them down.

However, fair use is not a defense in this case. If they used photos out of context and made up a story to go with it, it is fraud and this sort of thing opens them to great lawsuits by you (as copyright owner) and anyone in the images and mentioned in the story.
This has been upheld in court several times. Most famous one was of two teens who were in a stock photo used to illustrate a story on teens aids, implying they had aids. Paper lost BIG.

[rages4calm]

Thanks for all the advice, I managed to get ahold of the owner of the network for bustedcoverage and take care of the situation.