Discussion:
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? California.
I was watching the news last Thursday the 20th about a local baseball benifit tomorow featuring Joe Montana and other star's. The story was being told and behind the news caster was an image I had shot a few months back. I called the station and they said the took it of the baseball league's site. I granted permission to the baseball league to use it on their site but no other permissions we given to anyone else. I try to register my images every 3-4 months. I called the station and was told my image was taken off the website but no one asked for permission. If the baseball people were asked they would have told the station that a majority of the pics on the site were mine and theres a direct credit to me and a link to my website with many of the same images .A couple days later I received a call from the genearal manager. I was very polite and informed him of what happened.He said they would not use my image anymore but, I wasn't not gonna be paid a dime, and that if I didn't want that image used it should not be in the public domain. I'm not gonna say how much I asked for but it was not a lot at all. I tried to be more than fair. He said he's been throught this before with people making claims and wanting payment and that he saw nothing wrong with what they did.
To me this has nothing to do with the baseball league, It's about using something that I take great pride in creating and using it without so much as a phone call or email. I'm not a full time pro photographer but I am regularly published on a weekley basis with local papers and have done photography for years. I have shot well over 1,000 images since day one of this great league. I've had many chances to sell these images and have not ever sold one. I've printed images for parents for free when asked. I do my best to shoot these kids and their special moments to keep forever. It's about taking my work then basically telling me SCREW OFF we can use anything we want anytime because it's out on the internet!
Ive registered my images from october through december. The image in question first apperead at the end of october or the beggining of november on the baseball's website.
Any advise would be helpfull. I have a plan but would like some info before procedding. Thak you.
Answer:
It's not clear from your post, but was the picture i question registered PRIOR to the newstation using the picture?
If it was, then you should try and find a local attorney with some experience in copyrights to at a minimum make some demands. If the work was registered prior to the infringement, then you could sue the station and perhaps recover statutoru damages, hopefully in an amount enough to pay for the legal fees with a bit left over for you, and enough to punish the station.
If the picture was not registered, you are probably limited to getting a lawyer to send a nastygram to the station, asking for reimbursement for unauthorized use. That is, unless you've got very deep pockets, because with an unregistered copyright, the most you can recover is your actual damages -- that's money that you can prove to a court that you are out as a result of the station's infringing activity. Since you don't sell the photos, it'll be hard to prove any significant actual damages, so you'll likely have to foot the legal bills yourself -- and that only makes sense if you have money to burn and an itch to make the station miserable.
In any event, your best bet, since you've already tried discussing this with them yourself, is to get a local attorney involved, start with a demand letter (along with a cease-and-desist) and then see what happens from there.
Answer:
The image is registered. I have 90 days from 1st publication and just made it. Thats why I try to register my images every 3-4 months. It's not that I dont sell my images , I only give them to some of the parents for this particular league wich is a handicap league. I'm having a letter drafted and heard I should calll it a settlement offer instead of an Invoice in case it goes to court a settlement offer can be retracted.
Answer:
The image is registered. Good.
I'm having a letter drafted and heard I should calll it a settlement offer instead of an Invoice in case it goes to court a settlement offer can be retracted. If you send an invoice, they could use that in court to show what the "damages" ought to be, because it's something you sent them that tells them how much you need to be made "whole."
A settlement offer is not only retractable (although I'm not really sure what that buys you) but, more importantly, if it is noted as a settlement offer under the applicable federal rule, it is inadmissible in court, so the other side will not be able to admit any information from the settlement offer to show how much you need to be made "whole" -- therefore there is nothing to "bind" or alter the judge's discretion during the damages phase.