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Has anyone any experience with the Patents Court, Small Claims re copyright infringement http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/courts/patents-court/patents-court-small-claims.pdf if one resides OUTSIDE of the United Kingdom and therefore cannot attend in person. If so, how difficult and time consuming was the procedure and was it worthwhile? I am seriously thinking of pursuing the "painter" who has used many of my photographs of aborigines as derivatives without my permission. He is well aware that he cannot do this as I have warned him months ago but he still continued with the exhibition and is still selling prints and "originals" of his "work" on a website. This I consider wilful use and in the past, I have been in contact with a UK IP lawyer but UK legal fees are really, really expensive and UK lawyers rarely, if ever, work on a contingency basis! The gallery in Oldham, Lancs has not been too forthcoming about which "paintings" were exhibited and now the exhibition is over. For the life of me, I cannot understand galleries who exhibit work when it is patently obvious that the "painting" was taken from a photograph. One of this "painter's" works is one of Clint Eastwood and although Mr Eastwood might be willing to sit for a painting, I don't think he would sit for a guy in Lancashire. Under UK law, one must have the written permission of the photographer if painters wish to use work as a derivative http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p22_derivative_works.en.htm and I am constantly amazed that "painters" the world over seem to think that photographs are in the public domain and there is no copyright issue. Just take a look as sites such as Fine Art America and RedBubble and you will see that theft of IP is endemic. Sheila