Legal question

Dear all,

First of all sorry to bother you with such question but I am a little bit lost and would like to have your advice.

I recently have been contacted by a french leasing company for an authorization to use one of my pictures on their internet and facebook site.

I answered them I would be pleased to grant them the right to use it for a price between 50 and 60 EUR.

Today, I have been contacted by the company representative in a quite agressive way.

In a nutshell, he is accusing me of taking pictures of planes I do not own and for which I do not pay (maintenance etc ...) and to "commercialize" them.

Moreover, he is allowing himself to use the picture without paying anything.

What do you think about that ?

Thanks for your assistance and your advices and have a nice day.

Sam.

Hi Murmeldeier,

I had very similar situation with some manager of some corporate jets rental company from Switzerland some time ago. After I said my price, his answer was almost the same and since my primal job is all about copyright and other rights I explained him in 2-3 sentences that I have every right to take pics of any airplane in public place (if it’s allowed by airport itself of course) and airports are public places as well any other public traffic vehicles. Legally there is NO way he can press charges whatsoever. It is all about being loud and treating spotters as scum or some young geeks.

Well, in my case that manager addressed to a “wrong” person because I know the law and the particular rights. In his next mail he was very polite and willing to pay with no comments at all.

If he use your pic without permission you can easily press charges and you will win. That's like 200% for sure!

People simply don’t understand the “power” of copyright and that author’s deed is the most protected thing in law itself.

Hope this helped.

Boytronic

" In a nutshell, he is accusing me of taking pictures of planes I do not own and for which I do not pay (maintenance etc ...) and to "commercialize" them.

Moreover, he is allowing himself to use the picture without paying anything. "

Pretty stupid reaction. But at least some kind of answer. Most people don't even reply when you want money for your artwork (justifiably). 60 EUR are acceptable, especially for a company.

Thanks Boytronic and Oliver for your answers and advices !

I am preparing an answer ...

You can also contact the company that hosts his website and issue a DMCA notice - basically a take-down notice. Most hosting companies will act on this as they don't want to get embroiled in any legal proceedings as the 3rd party.

The thing with the DMCA notice is also working on Facebook and Instagram. If click on report there is an option to make a DMCA report and they will double check it and get back to you.

Many thanks once again for your advices.

In fact, I wrote him a kind email explaining that in France (as the picture has been taken in France) you can take a picture of anything (some exception for "art") and use it at your convenience provided that it does not cause any "huge" damage to the owner.

I also reminded him the notion of "copyright".

No answer from him.

He just put a link to the picture (hosted by AP Pictures) on his private Facebook page; I do not have any issue with that.

Have a nice day and week-end.