infringement thoughts

[Alex Ramsay]

I have just received a pathetically phrased email from someone caught by Alamy's infringement team, pleading for a reduction in the penalty fee they are charging. In his defence he pleads that his websites (where my picture has been used) are non-commercial and make him no income and that he lives on the state pension. This may well be true. However a quick online search reveals that he is just publishing a book on the same subject as his websites (which has just been announced as the Daily Mail's book of the week}. I know all too well how little this can mean in terms of sales and income. I'm also unsure of how much, if at all, I can influence the infringement team. What would you do?

 

Alex

[Steve F]

Did he remove the watermark?

[spacecadet]

Presumably we are not talking about a particularly large sum, but I don't think I'd be falling for any sob-stories. Anyway it's up to Alamy at this stage so I wouldn't be intervening.

[geogphotos]

You shouldn't get involved. Alamy is pursuing the infringement and your contract makes that clear.

[Alex Ramsay]

20 minutes ago, Steve F said:

Did he remove the watermark?

Don't know, as I can't so far find the picture on his (very extensive) websites

[Steve F]

8 minutes ago, Alex Ramsay said:

Don't know, as I can't so far find the picture on his (very extensive) websites

 

ok. I agree with the above answers.

[Betty LaRue]

3 hours ago, Steve F said:

 

ok. I agree with the above answers.

Many people have excuses about why they broke the law, or pleadings for why they shouldn’t be punished for breaking the law. Paying the infringement price just might make him think twice about lifting images without paying in the future.

[Mr Standfast]

I'm a pensioner so the rules don't apply to me, is not going to generate a lot of sympathy in this forum!

 

 

[Michael Ventura]

I would let Alamy handle it.  

Edited March 28 by Michael Ventura

[Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg]

just spoke to my evil twin;

🤬__🤬__🤬

he says threaten to report

infringement to Daily Mail

if a box full of free books

don't arrive by next Tuesday...

& mention your stock photo
income is less than author's pension...?

[Chuck Nacke]

11 hours ago, Alex Ramsay said:

I have just received a pathetically phrased email from someone caught by Alamy's infringement team, pleading for a reduction in the penalty fee they are charging. In his defence he pleads that his websites (where my picture has been used) are non-commercial and make him no income and that he lives on the state pension. This may well be true. However a quick online search reveals that he is just publishing a book on the same subject as his websites (which has just been announced as the Daily Mail's book of the week}. I know all too well how little this can mean in terms of sales and income. I'm also unsure of how much, if at all, I can influence the infringement team. What would you do?

 

Alex

Alex,

 

I would agree with those who wrote "Let Alamy deal with it."  

 

Chuck

[Nick Hatton]

Bet your not the only one he's pinched an image off

[Alex Ramsay]

Thanks all - have taken your advice!

 

Alex

[Steve F]

1 hour ago, Alex Ramsay said:

Thanks all - have taken your advice!

 

Alex

 

Alex, out of curiosity - did the infringement team forward the infringer's email to you? Presumably the infringer hasn't contacted you directly (Alamy wouldn't pass on your email address I'm assuming).

Steve

[Radim]

58 minutes ago, Steve F said:

 

Alex, out of curiosity - did the infringement team forward the infringer's email to you? Presumably the infringer hasn't contacted you directly (Alamy wouldn't pass on your email address I'm assuming).

Steve

 

Once upon a time, my photos used to be tagged with my name. Every once in a while, someone would call to say they didn't like something. You can find a contact on the Internet in a few minutes. Once I took the liberty of taking a photo of a car on the street, and the man on the phone was angry that he had not permitted me to take a photo. Another time, someone else called to say that they wanted a photo from me, which is on Alamy. He was probably a graphic artist from the bank that was in the picture. I told him to go ahead and buy it from Alamy. It wouldn't be a lot of money, At that moment he started cursing, threaten lawyers, courts etc. Such phone calls will ruin your whole weekend. That's when I thought I didn't need to listen to it and renamed all my photos. Since then I have been without stupid phone calls. R🫠

[Alex Ramsay]

2 hours ago, Steve F said:

 

Alex, out of curiosity - did the infringement team forward the infringer's email to you? Presumably the infringer hasn't contacted you directly (Alamy wouldn't pass on your email address I'm assuming).

Steve

No, he contacted me directly - nobody's hard to find these days. He wanted to make Alamy an offer, so I told him it was Alamy's decision to make. He then emailed me again to say that he had had his offer accepted (much lower than Alamy's original demand, sadly)

 

Alex

[Alamy]

Hi Alex, 

 

Would you mind forwarding the email thread from the infringer to us at contributors@alamy.com so we can make our infringements team aware of this? 

 

Thanks,

Louise 

[Alex Ramsay]

1 hour ago, Alamy said:

Hi Alex, 

 

Would you mind forwarding the email thread from the infringer to us at contributors@alamy.com so we can make our infringements team aware of this? 

 

Thanks,

Louise 

 

Hi Louise - just sent it to you

 

Alex

[Jansos]

Talking about infringements... I have had a few sales this month with this particular wording - <<Duration: In perpetuity Infringement. Website use>>
Does this mean that Alamy found a photo being used that infringed their T&Cs? I'm not signed up as 100% exclusive with Alamy (although perhaps I should be these days) and so I am a bit perplexed, but at the same time happy, if it is an actual infringement.

[geogphotos]

Jansos - itcould be that even though non-exclusive it could only have come from Alamy -one possibility would be an Alamy watermark

[Philip Game]

I have just received a follow-up email from Alamy regarding the claim made many months ago by a large German publisher, Axel Springer, alledging infringement of their IP rights by a number of images, including a few of mine.  As I recall, the images concerned were seemingly harmless shots of Springer's office building in Berlin. In an Anglo-Saxon jurisdiction they would arguably be regarded as existing within the public domain.

 

Alamy is defending the claim but in the meantime is removing the allegedly offending images from the collection... Long story short, the costs incurred so far will be split on a per-image basis.  From a total of 6050 images taken down, four of mine are affected and accordingly I am to be docked some £45.73. 

 

Anyone else here affected by this turn of events?

[Steve F]

2 minutes ago, Philip Game said:

I have just received a follow-up email from Alamy regarding the claim made many months ago by a large German publisher, Axel Springer, alledging infringement of their IP rights by a number of images, including a few of mine.  As I recall, the images concerned were seemingly harmless shots of Springer's office building in Berlin. In an Anglo-Saxon jurisdiction they would arguably be regarded as existing within the public domain.

 

Alamy is defending the claim but in the meantime is removing the allegedly offending images from the collection... Long story short, the costs incurred so far will be split on a per-image basis.  From a total of 6050 images taken down, four of mine are affected and accordingly I am to be docked some £45.73. 

 

Anyone else here affected by this turn of events?

 

Wow, nightmare!! Why are you being docked if Alamy is defending the case and there is no judgement yet? 

Strange for a publisher to go to court over this. Are they suing other agencies I wonder...?

[pazmander]

Axel Springer own the tabloid Bild who feature in a thread elsewhere on the forum.