Unauthorised Use of Photographs

Thank you all for your interest, comments and advise. Paul I took your recommendation and made a set for the shots used by Nikon Turkey, it looks as though every photo I upload in on their site within minutes!!

I have now tried to send an email to Nikon Japan and wonder if I will get any response from them.  Hoping to hear from Nikon UK tomorrow! I would really like to know what their policy is regarding this type of usage of other people's copyright material!

Thanks for the birthday wishes too Paul, very much appreciated! 

Regarding PoE download policy, PoE's T&Cs allow anyone to download a limited number of images from PoE for non-commercial use, provided the photographer's name and PoE are acknowledged. See the link  http://www.picturesofengland.com/terms?sid=d1f3b48a2e0900e5  

Ownership of the copyright remains the photographer's, although uploading to PoE grants certain licensing rights to PoE, as detailed in the T&Cs.  I am not sure about Flickr's T&Cs.

If someone e-mails me asking for the original image, I will agree if I am satisfied it is for non-commercial use, subject to the acknowledgement to me and PoE being placed alongside the image. I regard it as a bit of free publicity for me and PoE  ! 

Commercial use is a different matter, and I can understand Cathy being unhappy with Nikon's use of her images. 

Cathy, If I understand it correctly, your images have been taken off Flickr without your permission. You could refer the complaint directly to Yahoo  http://info.yahoo.com/copyright/us/details.html in the first instance.

Despite Ron's suggestion, I think it is very unlikely that you will get any financial settlement, unless you wish to engage a copyright lawyer. 

Thanks Edward I did report it today on Flickr having read through all sorts of details, and it would appear they are infringing the use of an API (this is all getting too technical for me).  Not sure what they will do or even let me know what they have done! 

Meanwhile I have received a reply from Nikon Europe as follows:

If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to contact us again

So although the site appears to look like a Nikon site - it isn't an official one!  I have discovered which group on Flickr they are uploading from and am now considering just removing all my content from that Group.

It doesn't seem worth bothering to try to do anything else! 

It looks as though you can have all sorts of rights in this world - but only if you have enough time, energy & most of all - money - to enforce them!!

Thanks Paul - you really are an incredible detective and know you way around - I am the next best thing to illiterate about the workings of the internet!

Having discovered the above information though - just what does it imply? With only 62 visitors per day it isn't exactly a cash-cow is it? 

It must be most annoying to see the unauthorised use of pictures. One thing to bear in mind however is the low resolution of the shots on the site. This will deter serious use I'd have thought.

We spend a lot of time seeking out good images to capture through our lenses, and the last thing anyone wants is for someone to "steal" the pictures, especially for commercial gain. Some sites are open to the idea of just downloading stuff from anywhere that allows it. I hate it but that's the real world we live in.    

Thanks for that Edward. Seems our images are under threat, even the "low res" ones. I'll just carry on, as in truth, there seems little one can do if the offending party is really stubbon. The least anyone can do is give credit to the photographer, if nothing else.

To date I've been lucky and always been offered a fee or credit. My time will come.....