[RANT] Why do companies use other peoples images without permission?

[Christa W]

I know I am late on this one but I think I may know why this gets done.  I used to work as a graphic designer for my boyfriend's friend's small "mom and pop" type printing company.  He hired me because I could do the work but was currently in school and didn't have a degree.  He paid me very little and in some cases gave me incredibly inferior equipment to work with.  When I started in 2007 we had Photoshop 5.0.  Not CS5, but the version from May of 1998.  I can easily picture a company decided on an ad campaign and hiring out either a company like ours or even their own in house team.  They would be set up similar didn't have a budget for original designs, perhaps they didn't want to pay iStock or Shutterstock for the type of images they wanted.  So, the person under pressure and deadline finds a great photo doing a Google search and all they need to do is remove the watermark and tada!  There are some people in power and that make the decisions that put pressure on the lowbie designer and they may make a horrible and stupid choice but I am certain it happens. 

 

[deactivateduser232015]

Originally Posted by Christa W /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I know I am late on this one but I think I may know why this gets done.  I used to work as a graphic designer for my boyfriend's friend's small "mom and pop" type printing company.  He hired me because I could do the work but was currently in school and didn't have a degree.  He paid me very little and in some cases gave me incredibly inferior equipment to work with.  When I started in 2007 we had Photoshop 5.0.  Not CS5, but the version from May of 1998.  I can easily picture a company decided on an ad campaign and hiring out either a company like ours or even their own in house team.  They would be set up similar didn't have a budget for original designs, perhaps they didn't want to pay iStock or Shutterstock for the type of images they wanted.  So, the person under pressure and deadline finds a great photo doing a Google search and all they need to do is remove the watermark and tada!  There are some people in power and that make the decisions that put pressure on the lowbie designer and they may make a horrible and stupid choice but I am certain it happens. 

Christa, thanks for your view point. That's really interesting, but as a professional web/graphic designer, that's really disheartening. I mean it's hard to talk now because Adobe put out CS2 for free, but I know how expensive it can be. On the other hand, as someone who's making those graphics, usually for free, it's really frustrating to see companies taking that work and using it to promote their products -- essentially taking work you did without paying you. That's why I have a number of disclaimers up on all the sites I worked on to protect myself. I think more and more designers have realized this necessity and have taken legal protections, so small companies also need to be careful too.

 

[makeupbyomar]

I listened in on a similar discussion on our set today. The end result was that Compny A found out that our company "B" ripped a photo from them without permission, our company fired the guy who uploaded the photo and our Compny was sued a huge amount of money from company A. Now our legal department, is very paranoid of any of any crew member posting any photos / videos of any preproduction material as well as any behind the scene photos that include actors up to the web. I also work on and off with a fashion / adult photographer, and she is extremely paranoid of her images being posted to a site without her getting some kind of compensation for it, that's why so many models and H/M/W stylists don't like working with her because we can't post any of our work to any site without her wanting compensation for it, or she puts a huge watermark logo across the image ruining it for us and tells us to use that.

 

[cherilynn8]

People are stealing more than just images from people.. I know several people that have had their created recipes taken and other bloggers put them on their blog and do NOT give credit to the person who worked so hard to make the recipe in the first place.  I have had a couple of mine taken as well.  I know its not the same thing but it shows you that if it is posted on the net people think they can grab them and use them at will.. forget about copywrite infringement.  I am sure if people want to do something about it they could take them to court.. Maybe they will be paid for use of their image.

 

[makeupbyomar]

I never thought about recipes being stolen as well... Seems nothing is sacred.

 

[deactivateduser232015]

Just to add some more thoughts... maybe companies do it to bloggers because bloggers are easier targets (i.e. less likely to sue or have lawyer representation). 

For example, I recently came across this: one blogger made this photo as a feminist statement



http://roseaposey.tumblr.com/post/39795409283/judgments

And a lingerie company stole the concept taking out the negative connotations/feminist message



now since been deleted off their facebook page.

http://abuseofreason.tumblr.com/post/59752468433/wynesthesia-ashleeta-thelingerieaddict-i

I mean, it's clearly intellectual property theft still. If you take a book and replace all the names of characters and call it your own, that's theft. If you take the iron man costume and make it green, that's still theft because the idea/concept behind the item is the same.

She's a high school student so the most anyone did was get upset and bombard the page with messages until they took it down. But if she actually wanted to pursue it and had legal aid, she would actually have a case against them.

It just seems companies steal from bloggers because they know there'll be less (serious) retaliation. And that's a moral shame

 

[Monika1]

The tiny plus is these companies do run the risk of trouble. And more and more trouble as time goes by - individuals expressing their dismay on Twitter and the rest of the Web do become super powerful as a group. Shaming and boycotting these companies and publicising their misdeeds is bad business for them. And they never know when someone's mom, dad, husband, daughter, or the blogger herself, might be a lawyer!

Originally Posted by Kyuu /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Just to add some more thoughts... maybe companies do it to bloggers because bloggers are easier targets (i.e. less likely to sue or have lawyer representation). 

For example, I recently came across this: one blogger made this photo as a feminist statement



http://roseaposey.tumblr.com/post/39795409283/judgments

And a lingerie company stole the concept taking out the negative connotations/feminist message



now since been deleted off their facebook page.

http://abuseofreason.tumblr.com/post/59752468433/wynesthesia-ashleeta-thelingerieaddict-i

I mean, it's clearly intellectual property theft still. If you take a book and replace all the names of characters and call it your own, that's theft. If you take the iron man costume and make it green, that's still theft because the idea/concept behind the item is the same.

She's a high school student so the most anyone did was get upset and bombard the page with messages until they took it down. But if she actually wanted to pursue it and had legal aid, she would actually have a case against them.

It just seems companies steal from bloggers because they know there'll be less (serious) retaliation. And that's a moral shame

 

[zadidoll]

Speaking of lawsuits for unauthorized use of photos.

So SyFy channel's new Heroes of Cosplay has been using the works of numerous photographers either without their permission or without compensation to promote the show. After being called out on cropping numerous images SyFy did begin to credit the photographers but in many cases still did not obtain permission. As a result a lawsuit has been filed.

http://bgzstudios.com/blog/photography/heroes-of-copyright-infringement-the-photographer-litigation-against-syfy/

 

[makeupbyomar]

Speaking of lawsuits for unauthorized use of photos. So SyFy channel's new Heroes of Cosplay has been using the works of numerous photographers either without their permission or without compensation to promote the show. After being called out on cropping numerous images SyFy did begin to credit the photographers but in many cases still did not obtain permission. As a result a lawsuit has been filed. http://bgzstudios.com/blog/photography/heroes-of-copyright-infringement-the-photographer-litigation-against-syfy/

Lawsuits like this a easier to file in the film / tv industry, as they have legal departments. Last year when I was working on Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, numerous BG performers were posting photos on various sites, so production gathered the several hundred extras together and had Legal and the various Union reps come in and do the usual breach of contract speech. Their IT department had IP addresses of the uploaded photos and production threatened to sue the individuals responsible if the photos were not removed within 24 hours. However, it's a bit more leg work for small time photographers, as they have limited resources in terms of hiring the big guns to reclaim their work.

 

[zadidoll]

I want set secrets! Ok... knowing you can't really spill everything but you CAN spill what eyelashes were used! LOL

 

[makeupbyomar]

I want set secrets! Ok... knowing you can't really spill everything but you CAN spill what eyelashes were used! LOL

Lol, I hear ya... Unfortunately I don't know what lashes Lily wore, I was responsible for the stunt doubles, and the stunt team. Due to the nature of stunts, being dangerous and-all, I couldn't apply falsies to Naomi (Lily's stunt double), even applying sweat to her was a problem. The script called for it, it was part of the character breakdown, and it was the instruction of my Key, but since I was the on-set MUA for Stunts, it was a tough call, (as you never see a stunt doubles face on screen anyway), but for safety's sake, facial sweat on Naomi was a big no-no, and detailed make-up is not crucial, but as long as they have the same look as the main actor/character. However my Key let me apply some facial sweat to Lily though, (for the big fight scene in the Hotel Dumort Ballroom scene). So there's one set secret... safety first. As for trailer gossip...