St John Villas posted MY photo on Facebook

2muchsnow · Post by **2muchsnow** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 12:21 pm

I guess I can consider it an honor, but not sure how or where they got it. Checking my FB feed this morning was surprised to see a familiar photo.
At first I was hey that's a great photo I have one just like that. Then upon closer inspection, I realised it's the same one. One I took on Solomon Beach, exact Same clouds, same angle, I'd say coincidence, but it's even missing the channel buoys which I took out.

So any thoughts on what I should do? I certainly didn't give them the photo, and they didn't credit me or even ask me if they could.
I've shared it with the forum folks via my flicker account previously, which I ironically closed last week.

lprof · Post by **lprof** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 12:54 pm

Seeing our own photos (yeah, even mine) show up unexpectedly, without permission, around the web can happen any time we post them publicly without a watermark or copyright of some sort (sometimes even then). It has happened to several VIOL members in the past. I am not saying that it is right, but it happens.

Perhaps you should write a comment on the FB page. I know of one person who protested a FB page using her photo without permission or credit, and she was offered a free lunch!

2muchsnow · Post by **2muchsnow** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 1:11 pm

Yes, posted a comment on the link and a direct post on their page. Still haven't heard anything.
They are probably like … oooops.

I'm holdling out for a villa stay...

ccinhbg · Post by **ccinhbg** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 1:23 pm

If you get a villa stay out of it, I'd say "use it anytime you like! One week - one use; two weeks - two uses." Once you get up to 52 uses a year you're set!!

Xislandgirl · Post by **Xislandgirl** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 1:30 pm

Welcome to the internet! If you posted it here or FB or Shutterfly, etc. without a copyright, they have free access to it.

2muchsnow · Post by **2muchsnow** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 2:51 pm

Indeed, guess you have start watermarking the hell out of things. The Wild west of the internet.
I've only shared images on Flickr and all were tagged as copyrighted. All rights reserved.
No creative commons licensing.

I just happened to close my flickr account early last week, so not sure when or where they grabbed it. It's certainly low res.

lark22 · Post by **lark22** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 2:56 pm

True -- they do have access, in the sense that they're able to view and download the image. But they aren't allowed to use it without permission -- the creator of an artwork (in this case a photograph) automatically retains copyright for that artwork without having to do anything special. (Problem is, unless you register the work, it's difficult to officially do anything about it.) But copyright is implicit. Posting it to Flickr (or Facebook, or the forum) doesn't change that.

It would be one thing if St John Villas were using it on a not-for-profit blog, but they're a commercial operation using your photo for publicity (and therefore ultimately to make money).

I guess I'm especially touchy about this because photography is my profession -- I know they're not running your photo in a national print ad, but I do think they should at least take the time to ask for permission and provide a photo credit.

bdkane · Post by **bdkane** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 10:27 pm

I have used photos from the internet on occasion, always crediting where I have gotten photo from, problem is, often they are not the party that originally took the photo...

sailorgirl · Post by **sailorgirl** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:03 am

is the image still up. St John Villa is in violation of your copy rights whether you indicated the photo was copyrighted or not. I would send a letter asking them to immediately remove it. It matters not if they got the pic from a third party or if you posted it on Flikr. Technically they owe you for the infringement. How many views did the picture get?

2muchsnow · Post by **2muchsnow** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 12:32 pm

Update. They finally got in touch with me…

Hi Michael, we typically find our photos through fan submissions and web sites such as Pinterest. Although I don't have the exact location of where we found the photo, I can assure you our staff was unaware it had a copyright.
We'd be more than happy to take the photo down, or if you'd like we can attach photo credit.

I opted for a photo credit with a copyright notice. Which they updated quickly.

Moral of the story? watermark or at least embed your name and copyright in the image somewhere.
And keep an eye out for any photos you post/share.

sailorgirl · Post by **sailorgirl** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 6:05 pm

Glad to hear they got back to you.

usvi-on-line