Using my pics in a magazine without asking first

[JustGettingOnWithIt]

I have been looking on the forums for a while and find them fascernating. I am hoping for some advice and so here is my first post

A mainstream magazine related to the industry I am in (arts and crafts) has published a photo that belongs to my company without asking permission to do this first. I found out by one of my customers showing me the publication.
I know there are rules to copyright and if they had asked me I would have given them permission but that's not the point. The fact is that they didn't ask first.

I am going to write to the editor and explain that they didn't have the right to do that and that they need to ask permission in future. I am also going to bill them if they do it again.

So my question is what do you think of this? How should I go about this as I could go nicely or be quite cross about it. Also I don't want to ruin any legal route if they ignore me and carry on lifting images from my website for their mag.

Thanks for any suggestions
Vicky

 

[fisicx]

Bill then now. Don’t even think about letting them publish for free.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

So my question is what do you think of this? How should I go about this as I could go nicely or be quite cross about it. Also I don't want to ruin any legal route if they ignore me and carry on lifting images from my website for their mag.

Thanks for any suggestions

I have no sympathy for copyright infringers. My approach is to gather all evidence, screen shots of the website and wayback machine. I then send a carefully crafted letter before action pointing out that my fee is £500 minimum for uncredited use. I necessary I see them in court.

Did they just lift the image from your website?

However it does depend a bit on context. A magazine should know all about copyright but a schoolkids blog I'll be more lenient.

Whatever you do get all your ducks in a row before contacting them.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Bill then now. Don’t even think about letting them publish for free.

You cannot just bill them. You have to have a contract to bill them. This is not an unpaid bill but copyright infringement.

More background

Research the subject from the links below.

http://www.epuk.org/news/cardiff-steal

https://www.webbaviation.co.uk/copright.htm

http://www.epuk.org/news/copyright-in-the-21st-century

 

[Mr D]

Bill them for your picture. Don't wait.
They should be eager to pay you off.

 

[alan1302]

Bill them for your picture. Don't wait.
They should be eager to pay you off.

As explained you ca't just bill them.

 

[JustGettingOnWithIt]

Thank you for the info so far. It is a mainstream mag, you can get them in a supermarket. They did lift it from the website. They even linked back to the website that I sell from.
Thanks
Vicky

 

[The Byre]

So they gave you free advertising - and you are upset?

 

[JustGettingOnWithIt]

So they gave you free advertising - and you are upset?

I'm not upset, it's just that they didn't ask permission that they absolutely should have done. I dont want to just leave it though as they might keep doing it. I have no control over what content of my business they publish in the future or in what context if I let it drop. They could choose to publish some content that I charge a fee for which would absolutely not be acceptable. I want them to know I've seen what's happened and give them fair warning to ask permission in future.

 

[UKSBD]

Next time they do a similar article would you prefer it they used one of your rivals photos and linked back to their website or used one of yours and linked back to you?

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Next time they do a similar article would you prefer it they used one of your rivals photos and linked back to their website or used one of yours and linked back to you?

What is a link worth? Pennies.
What is a photograph worth? Thousands.

 

[The Byre]

Trade mag price for a photo maxes out at about £100. Back in the 90s, we sold original pics for £60 a pop. It is normal trade mag practice to use pics and pay for them with a link. As this is a popular mag with Tesco shelf space, that is a very generous deal.

For a photograph to be worth thousands, it would have to be a picture of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in their front room, dancing naked to a suspended kipper! I could probably get you over £50k for that one after I've taken my 20% fee!

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Trade mag price for a photo maxes out at about £100.

Its not their price that is important. Its the fee that the owner of the copyright charges which is relevant.

While I haven't done commissions for several years my last ones were the equivalent of £4000 in today's money.

 

[UKSBD]

What is a link worth? Pennies.
What is a photograph worth? Thousands.

Some people would love a popular magazine featuring one of their OP's products and linking back to their site (even if they did use one of their photos to do it)

Hence why I asked the question, how the OP answers it should determine what they do next.

 

[antropy]

For a photograph to be worth thousands, it would have to be a picture of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in their front room, dancing naked to a suspended kipper

Maybe Prince Andrew doing this would be the more likely... Alex

 

[The Byre]

I want them to know I've seen what's happened and give them fair warning to ask permission in future.

In the days when I was feeding trade mags with articles and pics, if someone I had given a link to or got a good mention, started complaining and getting shirty about 'permission' I would never go near them ever again.

Trade mags are fighting for their lives and are going out of business a six-pack at a time. There is NO MONEY for good journalism or pretty pictures.

I haven't done commissions for several years my last ones were the equivalent of £4000 in today's money.

That was a commission - spec pics sold for £60 in the 90s and trade mags probably can't afford even that nowadays.

Most are trying to go online and are failing miserably. We are heading full-tilt into depression and there just is NO MONEY. All them widgets ain't selling.

Maybe Prince Andrew doing this would be the more likely.

I expect Ghislaine has an iPhone full of stuff like that! Could be her ticket to freedom!

 

[Paul Carmen]

Some people would love a popular magazine featuring one of their OP's products and linking back to their site (even if they did use one of their photos to do it)

Hence why I asked the question, how the OP answers it should determine what they do next.

Without knowing the publication/domain its impossible to know, but the link could be worth a lot of money in several ways:

1. it might drive decent traffic and leads to your website
2. if its a follow link and stays on the site permanently, it could have a reasonable impact on organic rankings

Many people pay a lot of money for a decent backlink from high domain authority sites, either by creating campaigns and articles to get links, or by paying and publishing content on the the 3rd party site... they probably thought they were doing you a favour...

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Trade mags are fighting for their lives and are going out of business a six-pack at a time. There is NO MONEY for good journalism or pretty pictures.

In that case they should go out of business and leave room for publications who do have budgets. It is not the job of the OP to feel sorry for the publishers of the magazine.

I wonder who the publisher is? Archant? Future?

 

[UKSBD]

Without knowing the publication/domain its impossible to know, but the link could be worth a lot of money in several ways:

1. it might drive decent traffic and leads to your website
2. if its a follow link and stays on the site permanently, it could have a reasonable impact on organic rankings

Many people pay a lot of money for a decent backlink from high domain authority sites, either by creating campaigns and articles to get links, or by paying and publishing content on the the 3rd party site... they probably thought they were doing you a favour...

Yes, but it depends on the OP'S mentality

They could get all stroppy, contact the magazine, demand a payment, feel better that they taught them a lesson.

They could be grateful for the publicity, contact the magazine, say they would have preferred to have been asked 1st, offer more content and try and get more free publicity.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Without knowing the publication/domain its impossible to know, but the link could be worth a lot of money in several ways:

1. it might drive decent traffic and leads to your website
2. if its a follow link and stays on the site permanently, it could have a reasonable impact on organic rankings

My business website never had a single link bring any benefit. Even fan sites didn't produce anything. What I did get was loads of people asking for free photographs.

 

[The Byre]

In that case they should go out of business and leave room for publications who do have budgets.

They are going out of business because that room is vanishing. There won't be any replacement mag. Nothing. It's over.

We had about 30-40 years of specialist mags and a very brief period of specialist websites. Print is dead or dying. Specialist websites will be next. The party's over.

 

[gpietersz]

A mainstream magazine related to the industry I am in (arts and crafts) has published a photo that belongs to my company without asking permission to do this first. I found out by one of my customers showing me the publication.

You definitely can get money out of them, but if its good publicity for you and you want to maintain a good relationship.

I have one site from which content is regularly copied. If its acknowledged I mind less and usually do not care.

If its acknowledged and used a a place that makes me look good (major media, academic journals, etc.) I

If they are in another jurisdiction it may not be practical to go after them.

So far I have only once asked for (and got) payment when several paragraphs were used in a textbook by a major publisher. I think the authors were at fault, and the publisher was pretty decent about it an immediately offered a few hundred euros and acknowledgement of the source in future editions and the errata for the current one.

I am planning to do more and actively hunt plagiarism. I was quite annoyed when I recently found a household name sized website had plagiarised me.

 

[JustGettingOnWithIt]

Thank you all for your replies.
I have read each one with interest.
I was looking for the best approach to talking to the mag about it. I don't want money from them I just want them to do the right thing and ask properly next time but also make it clear I am not going to stand for it if it happens again. This edition has been out a few weeks and I haven't seen any boost in sales. This is the same for other times I have paid for ads or had features in print. It isn't where I get my sales from and wouldn't rely on it. I don't have any relationship wit the mag, nor am I interested in one. I realise they may be struggling like lots of industry but one quick email is all it would have needed. I am going to draft a letter to them. Thanks

 

[fisicx]

I don't want money from them...

Why not?

This edition has been out a few weeks and I haven't seen any boost in sales.

You won't. Unless there is a whole article about you, your business and how wonderful you are the chances of getting any leads are minuscule.

 

[paulears]

If you took it to the IP court they want to know the damage it's done. If publishing it was shown to be actually positive, would they award any damages?

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

This edition has been out a few weeks and I haven't seen any boost in sales.

You shouldn't expect to. Many a time i've seen a link in a trade mag, saved it as a bookmark and placed an order months down the line.

You've had a free advert in a magazine. End of......

 

[Financial-Modeller]

Yes, but it depends on the OP'S mentality

They could get all stroppy, contact the magazine, demand a payment, feel better that they taught them a lesson.

They could be grateful for the publicity, contact the magazine, say they would have preferred to have been asked 1st, offer more content and try and get more free publicity.

I would take this a stage further @JustGettingOnWithIt

Perhaps treat it as an introduction, and produce an advertorial or similar for the same publication, making it as easy as possible for the publication to publish further information for you in a future edition.

And/or use it to increase coverage elsewhere. Contact What Widget magazine and say "You will have seen MyCo in Widget Weekly magazine and here is a more detailed blurb ready to publish" IYSWIM.

 

[money road]

What is a link worth? Pennies.
What is a photograph worth? Thousands.

That's not true,- if the magazine is so popular, then the link may be worth hundreds or even thousands.
I would use this situation for my own benefit:
Ask them to mention your brand and link to the original source
You can also tell them to pay "the real" price for image rights.
If you don't want collaboration, then just ask admin to remove it
If they refuse to remove image or does not respond at all, take action by law.

BTW I understand author pain, but images, videos, and copy are stolen daily.
I could even consider: if sharing from your website to my Facebook profile is not theft...

 

[paulears]

My grandsons and my daughter-in-law's mum just made an appearance on the Sun Newspaper's cheap holiday offer - a leaflet sent to people wanting to pay a tiny amount and get a few days in a holiday centre. They did this last year and were asked to send in pics of them enjoying themselves - and now they pop up on an advert. I'm sure somewhere in last years small print was the permission. Not worth checking as they're very pleased!

 

[Deleted member 59730]

That's not true,- if the magazine is so popular, then the link may be worth hundreds or even thousands.

Do you have evidence of this?

I worked for many high circulation magazines and the products mentioned in editorial pictures hardly ever got good responses. Its an ego trip at best.

My own website links have appeared millions of times and the most I get is time wasters asking for freebies.

 

[money road]

Do you have evidence of this?

I worked for many high circulation magazines and the products mentioned in editorial pictures hardly ever got good responses. Its an ego trip at best.

My own website links have appeared millions of times and the most I get is time wasters asking for freebies.

Get me cheap backlinks from Forbes, Huffingtonpost, entrepreneur, bbc, yahoo news,- should I keep writing down?

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Get me cheap backlinks from Forbes, Huffingtonpost, entrepreneur, bbc, yahoo news,- should I keep writing down?

I think you are confusing mentions in a printed magazine and links on the web. Two different animals

 

[money road]

I think you are confusing mentions in a printed magazine and links on the web. Two different animals

OMG, sorry, my fault for miss understanding if the images were printed. In this case author should go straight to court and claim cash to be paid...