A dream come true : your image being used everywhere. A nightmare come true : you don’t get a penny while others are. A frightening true life example of what happens to your photographs in the XXI.
The Stolen Scream: A Story About Noam Galai from FStoppers on Vimeo.
The question is : was the image labeled CC on Flickr ? If so, it could have led to this worldwide free loading feeding frenzy. How can this be prevented ? how do we instruct people to, at least, ask permission before using an image?
What is interesting is the photographers’ reaction. While he is clearly unhappy about the situation, instead of suing everyone, he has resolve to using the situation to publicize himself ( see his website here : http://www.thestolenscream.com/) and reverse claiming ownership of his image.
Smart, very smart. He might just end up on top.
Noam said in the comments his picture was labeled as “All Rights Reserved”. This was clearly a theft.
Noam,what a great photo. You have been ripped off by the masses. Not only is this blatant copyright infringement,but companies have used your image for advertising.A legal no-no..
I am sure companies are aware a photo of a person can not be used to advertise or endorse a product without a written model release and were probably just banking on the fact ‘no one would see it’.
You really need to contact a lawyer—one that will handle you on a contingency basis.
You deserve to be paid for your photo as well as use of your
face!
Good Luck to you.
Linda Matlow
http://pixintl.com