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Posts Tagged ‘Theft’

Video: How Tony and Chelsea Northrup won $40,000 in image theft lawsuit

25 May

Well-known photography educators Tony and Chelsea Northrup have published a new video that details the saga of a stolen photograph, and the eventual $ 40,000 settlement they received as a result of going after the offending party.

The image, a portrait of Chelsea originally taken for a book cover, was used by an Australian company to promote a smartphone selfie case with built-in LEDs. According to the duo, they became aware of the unauthorized usage in 2016 after someone who recognized the image alerted them. Tony sent the company an email requesting information, he explains in the video, but instead received a letter from a lawyer hired by the company.

The lawyer’s letter claimed that a graphic designer hired by the company to design the product packaging had acquired the image “from a website” and used it as a stock image without the company’s knowledge. As the Northrups note, a high-resolution version of the image is the first result on Google when searching for “ring light portrait.”

The company, via the lawyer’s letter, had stated that it would recall all of the products with that packaging and cease use of material containing the image. However, Tony explains that the duo continued to receive images from followers showing the cases—complete with the pilfered portrait—being sold in Australian and New Zealand stores.

That ultimately set in motion a long legal tussle that involved hiring an Australian attorney willing to deal with an international copyright case. The duo explain everything that went into this process and the eventual $ 40,000 in settlement payments that resulted, with Tony estimating the company spent around $ 60k total when including fees.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Richard Prince must face lawsuit over image theft, judge rules

28 Jul

Controversial artist Richard Prince must face a lawsuit over his unauthorized use of photographer Donald Graham’s photo ‘Rastafarian Smoking a Joint,’ a federal judge has ruled. The ruling concerns a 2015 lawsuit Graham filed against Prince after he failed to heed a cease and desist order. Prince and Larry Gagosian, owner of the Gagosian Gallery where the pilfered image and others were displayed, had claimed the work is ‘transformative’ in an effort to have the case dismissed.

Real Bongo Nyah man a real Congo Nyah ? repost @indigoochild

A post shared by Jay Kirton Kwame Ka Asante (@rastajay92) on

Though Prince has managed to escape past lawsuits unscathed, this latest one may prove different. Talking about the ‘transformative’ claims, U.S. District Judge Sidney H Stein stated, “The primary image in both works is the photograph itself. Prince has not materially altered the composition, presentation, scale, color palette and media originally used by Graham.”

Graham’s version of the image was acquired from another Instagram account where it was featured; he had it enlarged and printed with his own Instagram-style comment beneath the original user’s caption. The exhibit at Gagosian contained a total of 38 of these ‘borrowed’ images, including the Rastafarian photo cited in the lawsuit. The court’s ultimate ruling on the lawsuit could set a major precedent for fair use as it relates to Instagram images.

Via: New York Times

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Facebook testing ‘profile picture guard’ feature that prevents sleazy photo theft

24 Jun

Facebook’s new ‘Profile Picture Guard’ feature makes your profile photos much harder to steal. Photo courtesy of Facebook

Photo theft is a big problem on Facebook, and the social network is finally doing a little something to combat it. Starting with its users in India, the Silicon Valley company is testing a feature called ‘Profile Picture Guard,’ which prevents other people from saving or even taking a screenshot of your profile pic.

As the headline suggests, Profile Picture Guard is still in the testing phase. In fact, it’s currently only available to users in India, the country that Facebook says inspired the feature.

‘In our research with people and safety organizations in India, we’ve heard that some women choose not to share profile pictures that include their faces anywhere on the internet because they’re concerned about what may happen to their photos,’ explains Facebook. So they designed a little peace of mind.

Here’s a look at how it works:

As you can see, the feature works in four ways. (1) It prevents people from saving, sharing, or (Android only for now) taking a screenshot of your photo. (2) It allows only you and your Facebook friends to tag the photo. (3) It adds a blue border and shield icon to your photo, indicating it’s ‘protected.’ And (4) if you so choose, you can overlay a watermark design across the entire shot.

Combine all 4 deterrents, and its far less likely you’ll find your profile pic on some random website. How much less likely? Facebook did some testing:

‘Based on preliminary tests, we’ve learned that when someone adds an extra design layer to their profile picture, other people are at least 75% less likely to copy that picture.’

Facebook ‘hopes’ to expand the feature to other countries soon. For our part, we hope they expand its scope even sooner. Protecting your profile picture from saving, sharing, and screenshots is a great first step; however, for the photographers out there, this kind of universal feature for all of their photos at once – or perhaps available for individual albums – would be a game-changer.

The ease with which photo thieves can filch photos off of social media sites like Facebook is one of the main reasons photographers choose to stay away. Profile Picture Guard is a small step in the right direction; a broader Picture Guard would be a giant leap.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Flashing a peace sign in a photo could lead to identity theft

18 Jan

The National Institute of Informatics (NII) in Japan claims that taking and publishing photos of subjects who are flashing the popular two-fingered ‘V’ or peace sign could lead to identify theft. It warns that fingerprint recognition technology is now so advanced that even casual snapshots can be used to retrieve fingerprint information. The report also says the technology is widely available and easy to use.

According to the NII, the danger lies in a combination of widely available smartphones with high-resolution cameras and the rising popularity of posting images on social websites. In an experiment the researchers were able to copy fingerprints from photos that were captured 3 meters (9 feet) away from the subject. That said, the fingers in question have to be in focus and the scene has to be well illuminated as presumably noise reduction at higher ISOs would destroy the fine low-contrast fingerprint lines. We would also assume that the experiment only works with high-resolution out-of-camera images. Many social media websites reduce the size and increase compression of posted images which should, with current technology, make it pretty much impossible to extract any fingerprint information. 

However, if you frequently flash a peace sign in photos and are worried about the possibility of identity theft, the NII also has a solution to the problem: it has developed a transparent film that can be attached to your fingers. It contains titanium oxide and makes it impossible to scan your fingerprints from a photo but doesn’t interfere with identity verification. Unfortunately, the technology won’t be ready for another two years. For now, think twice about showing your fingertips in a photograph.

(Photo: ‘Comic Fiesta 2014’ by Vernon Chan / Wikimedia Commons. Used under CC license)

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Smart Bikes: Connected Parts Use GPS to Prevent Theft

15 Jan

[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

smart bikes 1

Never lose a bike to theft again with smart, GPS-connected parts that alert you when it’s moved without your permission. Two new bike accessories that can be swapped out with standard parts on virtually any bike not only track your bike’s location, but also provide turn-by-turn, eyes-free navigation so you can get to where you’re going without having to glance at your phone.

smart bikes 2

The first is smrtGRiPS by Boréal Bikes, a connected bike grip that offers haptic feedback notifications and can easily be installed within standard bicycle handlebars. Used in conjunction with an iOS or Android app, the grip will tell you when to turn using vibrations.

smart bikes 3

You can also get the bike to audibly ring if you have trouble finding it, and in case of theft, it’ll notify a crowd GPS network so that when another smrtGRiPS user comes within 100 feet of your missing bike, you’ll get the location. It’ll even have your phone call 911 automatically when a crash is detected.

smart bikes 4

Another product, the Connected Cycle Smart Pedal, alerts cyclists when their bike has been moved via a mobile app. The app will also help you track your cycling activity with detailed statistics about how far you’ve ridden over a selected period of time, which routes you take and how many calories you’ve burned. The pedal fits onto any standard bike and made its debut at CES 2015.

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[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

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Sneaky Ways to Avoid Camera Theft

26 Aug
Extra photos for bloggers: 1, 2, 3

The greatest days are full of fun photo ops, not bad guys creepin’ on your turf. Protect your gear!

Cover your phonecam in junky camouflage and trick those thieves into stealing something else less cool, like a stack of old CDs.

Go “normcore” and try carrying your fancy camera in a something less fancy, like a tote bag covered in cats.

Sometimes all you need are confusion tactics … like a picture of a bright pink donut on your fancy camera lens.

Learn Three Tricks For Outsmarting Camera Snatchers

(…)
Read the rest of Sneaky Ways to Avoid Camera Theft (237 words)


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Facebook SDE blogs about copyright theft in 2012, gets flamed in 2014

29 May

Screen_Shot_2014-05-28_at_1.25.30_PM.png

Back in 2012, Jesse Chen – now an engineer at Facebook, but then a fresh graduate – wrote a blog post. In that post he explains how to get rid of the ‘ugly copyright overlay’ typically used in image proofs, posted online or sent out by professional photographers after events. Essentially a short guide to image theft, the post went unnoticed at the time, but two years later it has come back to haunt Chen, creating a storm of righteous anger from photographers on social media. Read more

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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How to Handle Image Theft Peacefully

25 Feb

stockyards-entrance

First off, I am certainly not a lawyer and am not giving legal advice in this article, I’m simply telling my story and how I handle image theft. If you have questions about legal advice, please consult with an attorney.

Recently I received a phone call from a family member who believed a local news station was using one of my images as a green screen background. This was interesting considering I hadn’t had any conversations with any news stations recently about such a thing. I asked him to send me a photo of the segment and sure enough, it was mine.

I’ve dealt with my fair share of image theft over the last five years of being a professional photographer and I’ve certainly seen a lot more situations of other photographers getting their images stolen.

One thing that has never sat well with me is when I see some photographers attempt to completely destroy people for using their images without permission. Taking a situation like this to social media and damaging the reputation of the offender should be an absolute last resort, not a first knee-jerk reaction.

Quick Side Story

I had this same image stolen by a well known wedding photographer in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I am friends with him on Facebook and was just scrolling through my feed when I saw this image being used as a photo booth background. I could not believe my eyes! What many photographers would have done is create a public post calling him out and saying what a despicable thing he had done. This would damage his local reputation and certainly go a long way toward making sure he never did it again.

Instead, I sent him an invoice for use of the image (it was in about 30 photo booth images in his wedding gallery), a cease and desist letter and a short email explaining why he was getting all this. Within 5 minutes he paid my invoice and sent very heartfelt apology letter and also thanked me for solving it privately instead of publicly. Turns out he hired someone to man the photo booth and told the person to only used free and clear images, but the person he hired was uneducated in finding the right images and found mine on Google and just assumed. Sure, he should have done a better job educating the hired help but it was a mistake. Not intentional.

Ok, Back on Topic – How I Handle Image Theft

Instead of calling the news station out publicly and demanding the image be taken down, I simply stepped back and analyzed the situation. I came to three conclusions…

  • The image was indeed used without my permission.
  • It had been shown on national television to hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people.
  • Whether they stopped using the image or not, I deserved compensation for the use that had already occurred.

Now it was time to make contact. I sent this short email…

Hello,

My name is James Brandon and your news program used one of my copyrighted photographs without permission this evening (I’m attaching a photo in the email). Also attached is a Cease & Desist letter to stop further use. Since the image has already been used and run on air, I’ll be sending an invoice for the unauthorized use of the photo as well. Please let me know immediately how you plan to respond to this matter, so I can act accordingly.  

– James 

I got an email back shortly that simply said, “James, I’m forwarding this to our corporate attorneys.”

I’m guessing the person writing the email didn’t think I had a case and figured his attorneys would confirm that. The next email I got from him was a lot more wordy and apologetic. It said…

Second reply from offending party

James,

I’m so sorry about the use of your photo.  It was an unintentional error. 

The editor thought he had found something in the public domain. Obviously, he was mistaken.  He would never have used it if he’d realized it was copyrighted material.

OF COURSE we will immediately stop using the image.  I’ve already deleted it from our system so it doesn’t get used again. In light of the error, could you please consider waiving the fee you would normally charge for such use? 

– Mitch (name changed for purpose of article)

Decision time

This is where I had to make a decision. I didn’t send them an outrageously expensive invoice for thousands and thousands of dollars. Rather, I went to the Corbis website and used their pricing guide to figure out how much they would typically charge for similar use of a stock image. I then added a small percentage to that amount since it was unauthorized use. Should I just let them off the hook since he apologized? I think that I might have actually considered that option if that latest email had been the first thing he wrote me. I however got the impression that he was very unthreatened by my letter initially and only after talking to his corporate attorneys did he see the need to be nice to me and apologize. So I decided to (politely) press on.

Mitch,

 I appreciate the apology. Since the image has already been used and run on air (and who knows how long), I really don’t see how it’s fair to ask me to waive the fee. I sent you a very reasonable invoice. 

 I will however agree that once the invoice is paid, I will send over a licensing agreement so that you can keep using the image in the future (provided that it is left in it’s original state and not Photoshopped like it was). 

 Thanks. 

 P.S. Do you know where the editor found the image? Was it on my website? 

-James

Assuming that it actually was a mistake, I was more than willing to let them keep using the image if they were willing to pay my invoice. Some would say that’s too nice of me, but that’s just the decision I made. He wrote back quickly…

Hello, again, James. (<—-That didn’t sound very nice. I think he’s getting tired of me)

 The editor thought he was on a site for which we have rights and somehow managed to get onto another site.

 As to the invoice, I understand your need to charge for use of the image, accidental or otherwise.  The fee is quite high, however, considering that it was on the air for only a few seconds. 

 Could you cut the fee in half?  I could submit that invoice TODAY and we wouldn’t need the license to keep using the image.

 Mitch

At this point I was getting frustrated. He spoke with his attorneys and they clearly told him that the news station was in the wrong. Now he’s trying to barter with me. I could have said screw it and gone to social media. I could have gone off on him and demanded my money and threatened a lawsuit. Instead I simply stood my ground and let him know my stance on the situation. I also let him know how I could have handled the situation…

Mitch,

When bartering, there has to be incentive on both sides to negotiate. If we were speaking before the image aired, there would be at least some incentive to get my image up on your news program. In this case, the image has already aired without my permission. I didn’t get a say in that. 

This image has been stolen before, I guess there just aren’t that many photos of the Stockyards sign out there. The other people/companies that used the image paid my invoice without question (for the same price) and didn’t try to negotiate it. They understood they were in the wrong and didn’t want to risk having the matter becoming public. They were also nowhere near the size of your news program. 

What most photographers do in a situation like this is immediately call out the business or person using their image on social media and their website. This gets the photographer’s followers up in arms and they will typically go bombard the Facebook page of the person or company in question. This looks very bad to the person/company’s followers and it usually gets the ball rolling pretty fast to get it resolved. 

I’ve chosen to take a more peaceful approach, and attempt to settle this matter privately first. Please pay the invoice so we can put this matter behind us and move on.

-James 

That was the last contact I had with Mitch. After that email, I got an email from somebody higher up asking for a W-9 and new invoice sent directly to him. I ended up talking to that person on the phone and explained the situation. He apologized for Mitch’s behaviour and for the unauthorized use of my image and said that I had every right to be compensated for it. He also thanked me for handling it privately and not defaming them publicly. He then paid my invoice over the phone and the matter was settled.

Conclusion

There are many ways to handle image theft, but most situations can be handled professionally without the need for burning bridges or destroying reputations. It can also nearly always be resolved without the use of attorney or going to court.

If someone steals an image blatantly and then refuses to take it down or ignores all attempts at making contact, then by all means sound off on social media and send your army. That’s not what happened here. The entire process of finding out about my image being used and getting the issue resolved and the invoice paid took about 6 days. It took some patience but in the end it was resolved peacefully.

What are your thoughts? Was I too easy on them? Too hard? What would you have done differently? Let me know!

For more articles on some legal ins and outs of photography and copyright try these: 

  • Intellectual Copyright – What is considered ‘stealing’?
  • Using Image Watermarks In Lightroom
  • Working with a Second Photographer – Legal Ins and Outs

The post How to Handle Image Theft Peacefully by James Brandon appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Lenstag: a World Without Camera Theft

17 Jan

Lenstag is a recently-launched, free online service for iOS, Android, and the web that records the serial numbers of your lenses, cameras, flashes, laptops and anything else in a secure, private registry before they are stolen.

If one or more of your items disappear, you can immediately flag the missing items as stolen which creates a public web page, quickly indexed by search engines. The serial number is then discoverable by a single Google search (example: ’75165 lenstag’) or by checking the Lenstag apps. Thanks to Lenstag’s growing relationships with the pawn shop industry and law enforcement, the exchange of money for that stolen item becomes much more difficult akin to trying to sell a stolen vehicle. The idea behind this service is that if everyone gets into the habit of checking serials numbers online before purchasing used equipment, it will become harder and harder over time to peddle hot items and thieves will get arrested when they try to pawn them. Think of it like a DMV for camera equipment.  The more people who register their gear, the more effective the registry system becomes.

By locking down a particular serial as belonging to you, the reselling and pawning of that stolen item becomes discouraged. Serials on Lenstag marked as stolen are indexed online.

By locking down a particular serial number as belonging to you, the reselling and pawning of that stolen item becomes discouraged. Serial #s on Lenstag, marked as stolen, are indexed online.

There is currently no foolproof way to prevent potentially having all of your gear stolen, even if your equipment never leaves your home. Insurance can protect you financially, but you permanently lose your original items and any images or video stored on them. There is no guarantee Lenstag can get your original items back either, but with Lenstag there is a chance that only increases with time.

The more serials that get checked prior to purchase on the used market, the safer everyone’s gear becomes.

The more serial numbers that get checked prior to purchase on the used market, the safer everyone’s gear becomes.

With Lenstag, you have a centrally-located place to store all of your serial numbers. They can be easily transferred to another Lenstag user if you decide to sell your gear. Your serial logs are date marked. This is handy if you ever need, for whatever reason, to prove that you have owned a certain piece of gear for at least as long as it has been registered. You can make your gear lists public as well. This is handy for showing clients what you own or for resource planning with collaborators.

Transfer serials, share gear lists with others, or prove what you own via an clear-cut dashboard.

Transfer serials, share gear lists with others, or prove what you own via an clear-cut dashboard.

You should use Lenstag if?

  • You don’t have any insurance. This service is free and is better than having absolutely no protection at all.
  • You already have insurance but want just a little extra peace of mind.
  • You collaborate with other photographers a lot or work with clients who need to know what equipment you are using.
  • You, for whatever reason, need to prove you own something without having to carry around a bunch of receipts or registration cards.
  • You buy a lot of used gear. You don’t have to be a Lenstag user to check a serial # but having the app on-hand for checking makes the process very easy. You can also use Lenstag’s text-to-check feature by texting the serial number in question to +1-415-749-9808. This works regardless of whether or not you’re registered on Lenstag.
Text to check a serial in question, regardless of whether or not you are registered on Lenstag.

Text to check a serial in question, regardless of whether or not you are registered on Lenstag.

Lenstag is used by all three of the major rental houses in the United States: BorrowLenses.com, LensRentals.com, and LensProToGo.com. It is currently being used in over 150 countries worldwide. Uploading an image of your item is quick and helps discourage theft one indexed serial at a time. Be sure your serial # is visible on your item when taking its picture for inclusion in your personal registry.

Not every number on your lens is a serial. Be sure you are reading the right thing.

Not every number on your lens is a serial. Be sure you are reading the right thing.

Want to know how gear gets stolen the most? The results may surprise you. Lenstag took the stats of its reported serials to learn the most common ways gear got stolen in 2013, along with the most commonly stolen models.

Don’t leave it behind! You’re most likely to have items taken from your car.

Don’t leave it behind! You’re most likely to have items taken from your car.

How to use & find Lenstag
Lenstag can be download for iOS and Android. You can also use their service via their desktop site.

The post Lenstag: a World Without Camera Theft by Jim Goldstein appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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The Ugly Truth About Image Theft: How to Protect Yourself

14 Jan

Back in the Middle Ages, you could have your ears or hands cut off as a punishment for theft. Though in today’s civilized society, lots of things have changed, and we no longer deprive people of the parts of their body. Instead, we, in the worst case, put them to jail, with their ears safe! While theft is an issue Continue Reading

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