Competitor using our photo's
Discussion
Its a breach of copyright for the use of the photo. If you have asked them to remove it but havnt then invoice them.
Is the issue the photo used or the image in the photo? ie a pic of your product which is identifiable as yours? or a pic of a general product but the photo you took/own? as thinking along the issue of passing off as well as copyright.
Is the issue the photo used or the image in the photo? ie a pic of your product which is identifiable as yours? or a pic of a general product but the photo you took/own? as thinking along the issue of passing off as well as copyright.
The photo was taken by myself here at work, and they could quite possibly have saved the picture off of my advert or via google images. The image is hosted by the platform they sell on.
The image is of a product we buy and sell, same as they do however rather than taking images themselves they have simply used mine.
I only have a handful of photo's to watermark and re-upload to prevent this going forward.
The image is of a product we buy and sell, same as they do however rather than taking images themselves they have simply used mine.
I only have a handful of photo's to watermark and re-upload to prevent this going forward.
Edited by Mudgey on Tuesday 1st August 10:17
Thanks for the replies everybody!
I have tried searching online to find out the correct course of action to follow but I haven't had much luck, probably lack of using the right terms to search for! Is there anything online that anybody could point me towards?
I'll look into sending them a cease and desist letter so I have evidence that it has been signed for and received.
I have tried searching online to find out the correct course of action to follow but I haven't had much luck, probably lack of using the right terms to search for! Is there anything online that anybody could point me towards?
I'll look into sending them a cease and desist letter so I have evidence that it has been signed for and received.
just 1st class letters are fine and preferable.
Make sure you send it to their registered address or if none some other public shown address.
Put a large 1 in the corner of the first letter and carry this on 2 3 4 etc.
Invoice them for each day used ie £15 per day once a week used with a letter asking them to stop each time, build up a big pile of invoices and letters as this will help you in court.
The amount does need to be reasonable. You may not get that much. For instance if you look on Bigstock you can purchase the licence to use images (I sell some of my images there) depending on the use you get a price to pay.
Clearly if taking anyone to court then the invoice is going to be a good sum and if you have warned them of the cost to use it and they continue to use it they the court may well grant you that sum. I would go in with £15 a day.
Money claim online.
Make sure you send it to their registered address or if none some other public shown address.
Put a large 1 in the corner of the first letter and carry this on 2 3 4 etc.
Invoice them for each day used ie £15 per day once a week used with a letter asking them to stop each time, build up a big pile of invoices and letters as this will help you in court.
The amount does need to be reasonable. You may not get that much. For instance if you look on Bigstock you can purchase the licence to use images (I sell some of my images there) depending on the use you get a price to pay.
Clearly if taking anyone to court then the invoice is going to be a good sum and if you have warned them of the cost to use it and they continue to use it they the court may well grant you that sum. I would go in with £15 a day.
Money claim online.
If it is on their website then you can progress quite easily.
I normally email them saying if they dont remove within 7 days I will instigate legal proceedings and ask Google to delist them. Always seems to get them to remove it.
Google has forms on-line which you fill in and they will delist the page if you can prove copyright infringement. I normally just point out the age of the page and that I took the picture. Normally Google respond in 5 to 7 days but the offenders have normally removed by then.
I normally email them saying if they dont remove within 7 days I will instigate legal proceedings and ask Google to delist them. Always seems to get them to remove it.
Google has forms on-line which you fill in and they will delist the page if you can prove copyright infringement. I normally just point out the age of the page and that I took the picture. Normally Google respond in 5 to 7 days but the offenders have normally removed by then.
Unless there's a better alternative, perhaps you could take a screenshot of each day the image is used, or maybe take a pic of the monitor screen with your phone so you've got an independent record -perhaps a small movie of the website loading and your image displaying?
Would it be unnecessary to look at the code for that website and see if there's a URL for the image or something - is that not really required?
Would it be unnecessary to look at the code for that website and see if there's a URL for the image or something - is that not really required?
This is relatively an easy fix. Look up their hosting company provider using one of the many lookup tools e.g.
https://www.webhostinghero.com
Then contact the abuse/compliance department of the hosting company and file an infringement notice. Each hosting company is different, but it should be a straight forward process.
They will ask for evidence that you own the image, so be prepared to show you own the original e.g. by showing it is was hosted on your website first etc.
They will contact the company on your behalf and ask for their reply. If they don't reply with a set time period, their website will be taken down by the hosting company. So you can be sure you will get a reply.
I have done this a few times myself and it is excellent way to get your point across if you are being ignored.
https://www.webhostinghero.com
Then contact the abuse/compliance department of the hosting company and file an infringement notice. Each hosting company is different, but it should be a straight forward process.
They will ask for evidence that you own the image, so be prepared to show you own the original e.g. by showing it is was hosted on your website first etc.
They will contact the company on your behalf and ask for their reply. If they don't reply with a set time period, their website will be taken down by the hosting company. So you can be sure you will get a reply.
I have done this a few times myself and it is excellent way to get your point across if you are being ignored.
Hoofy said:
EddieSteadyGo said:
by showing it is was hosted on your website first etc.
How do you genuinely do that so it's proof? I mean, I could copy your site and put Copyright 1997 at the bottom. Is that enough? 
In practise, most of the time the other party doesn't try and fake evidence to say they own the image. Mostly they just remove the image and hope that is where the matter ends.
The hosting company isn't in a position to arbitrate so if the other person disputes the infringement and says in fact they do own the copyright to the image they won't do much. But then the other party is getting themselves into further hot water by lying. In the OP's case, at present they are just ignoring his emails and hoping the problem goes away.
Hi you may or may not be aware that all digital photos contain a finger print, technically know as meta data.
We utilise this a lot at work, it can be incredibly helpful and accurate at tracking an images movements, origins and ownership.
For example the original would contain camera, date taken, location (possibly), serial number of camera etc etc. There is a good chance this data is still on the copy. There are plenty of meta data editors and viewers have a look, might come in handy.
We utilise this a lot at work, it can be incredibly helpful and accurate at tracking an images movements, origins and ownership.
For example the original would contain camera, date taken, location (possibly), serial number of camera etc etc. There is a good chance this data is still on the copy. There are plenty of meta data editors and viewers have a look, might come in handy.
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