Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Copyright of pictures


  Great was my surprise when I found this image of mine
on an Etsy shop for sale!!!
You can purchase my photograph in various sizes,
in a frame, without a frame
and as stationery!
The only problem is that the shop is not my shop,
but Bernadette's Cupboard
and I did not give permission for my photograph to be used
and definitely not sold.

When I contacted the shop owner she challenged me
as to how did I copyright the picture and how can I
prove that I am the photographer, despite the fact
that I pointed her to this blog post where I shared
the sacred process of creating this devotion

For those who are uncertain about copyright, I found the following on

Copyright attaches at the time of creation and there is no requirement to use the “circle c”. Image source: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net



Copyright is a federal law of the United States that protects original works of authorship. A work of authorship includes literary, written, dramatic, artistic, musical and certain other types of works.
Copyright attaches as soon as the original work is created, and applies to both published and unpublished works. As soon as you type words, click the shutter on your camera (or, for many of you, hit the home button on your iPhone), apply paint to canvas or paper or lay down tracks for your next hit, you’ve got a copyright (with some exceptions).
Copyright is an automatic right and does not require the author to file special paperwork, as is the case for trademark and patent. Registration is required to enforce the rights, but as a matter of right, an author is not required to register anything to get the right to use the “circle c,” showing the work is copyrighted.
One of the many terrific things about copyright is that it comes with a host of exclusive rights that allow the owner to do or authorize a number of things and exercise substantial control over his or her work. The copyright owner has the right to do four things (called exclusive rights):
1.            Reproduce the copyrighted work;
2.            Display the copyrighted work publicly;
3.            Prepare derivative works based on the copyrighted work; and
4.            Distribute copies of the copyrighted work to the public by sale, rental or lending, and/or to display                the image.


I am more upset about my picture being named May Day!! and somewhere
else Mary in the Garden, than the fact
that someone else is making money from it.


9 comments:

  1. horrible, some people have absolutely no morals.

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  2. Is this ironic that someone would use your image to make money for themselves?

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  3. Have you filed a complaint with Etsy? Be sure you keep the thread of conversation with the bottom feeder. Clearly, you have proof that it is yours.

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  4. Yes, be sure to let Etsy know what is going on. So sorry. No morals is right. Shame on her!
    gloria

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  5. She has added that the Mary photo is no longer available. I went to her Etsy and I did see your work there but it is no longer available. Makes one wonder who is stealing what from one's blog and doing business with it.

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  6. Thanks Hettienne for sharing this. I think it is so easy for one to cross the line on the Internet and we have to rely on integrity and honesty. It's good to know there is a protective 'law'.

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  7. That is just awful. So unfair! I am sorry! At least you found out!!

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  8. You must have been heart sick. Imagine the nerve of her to challenge you about it! Even though you feel that the money that she may have made selling the image that was your creation was not that important, I feel that it was, and her actions were no different , in my opinion, than those of a thief. It would be aggravating to have the name of it changed, too. That name puts a completely different feeling to your image.

    Just last night, as I was inserting my blog's name onto pictures of an image of A Madonna and Child figure that I had repaired, I paused for a moment. It felt disrespectful labeling the images with my blog name, but then again, if someone wants to copy the picture for some purpose, they will at least have to take the time and effort to crop out my blog name.

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  9. Disturbing for sure but it sounds like you handled it well. I would certainly let Etsy know though as in a distant way their brand name is attached to the seller's name as well.

    Darla

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