Discussion:
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Texas
A photograph created by myself was printed in a calendar for sale in San Antonio, Texas without my written consent. There is no doubt that I am the creator of said image. I have sent the image to the Library of Congress for registration and I am now awaiting the registration number from them. It is a digital image and I have the original in my files. There are many sister pictures also taken at the same time. Do I have a chance of winning anything there or should I let it drop? It does make me mad though because I offered to let her legitimize it retroactively and she just ignored me (I sent her a bill). She blames it on the one that gave her the picture to use in the first place. ...Bob
Answer:
Do I have a chance of winning anything there or should I let it drop? If you can prove they used your image without your permission, then you may win something -- the problem is, it will almost certainly be far less than what it costs to pursue a lawsuit. Now, had the photo been registered with the Copyright Office (not the Librarey of Congress) before the unauthorized use took place, then you might have been able to obtain enough in damages such that a lawsuit might have been worthwhile. But without a preexisting registration, unless you can prove that you had a huge market for that photo, and now that market is seriously damaged by the unauthorized use, you won't be able to recover enough to even pay your legal fees.
Answer:
The Great State of Texas.
Thank you for your reply. I understand what you are saying, but it is a little more complicated than that. When I sent the bill to the printer, they filed a malicious lawsuit with a lot of trumped up charges and dragged me into federal court on a trademark infringement case. Cause No. SA-05-CA-0692-XR Since the charges were not valid the case was dismissed without prejudice. However the press got wind of it and smeared me across the tv and newspaper without reporting that the charges were all dropped. I believe that this was an attempt to get me to forget about the bill that I had sent them. Good grief it was only $475. An extreme remedy that won't work because for some reason I just can't let it go. ...Bob
PS: It was a Corporation d/b/a the Little Church of La Villita that put me into federal court.