Suing for Copyright Infringement

Trying to sue for infringement is a waste of YOUR time and effort. Nothing will happen.

It looks like they stole your pic for use as a YouTube thumbnail. If they don't respond directly to your request, I would simply submit a copyright removal request to Youtube. I've had to do this several times for Youtube videos I made. It is very effective. You can request a 7 day warning or an immediate pulldown and Youtube strike once infringement has been proven. If given a warning from YT, they usually pull it down ASAP to avoid a strike on their channel. 3 strikes and Youtube kills their channel. Unauthorized use of a thumbnail counts as copyright infringement.

Submit a copyright removal request - YouTube Help

If your copyrighted content is on YouTube without your permission, you can submit a copyright removal request, which is a legal process. For videos, you can sub
support.google.com support.google.com

PS...I know it's more about the principle, but if it makes you feel any better that video only has 400 views...50 of which are probably from posting that link here :)
 
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Bell206 said:
Do you register your picture copyrights?

If not has it been more than 5 years since you published the photo?

Whether the copyright is registered makes a big difference on any legal actions.
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there is no requirement to register anything. the second you write of photograph something you have all the copyright protections automatically. there is a huge difference if you chose to enforce your copyright or not. if you never enforce your rights one could argue that you gave them up (for copyright)
 
pfarber said:
the second you write of photograph something you have all the copyright protections automatically
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Not quite. You only have limited protections. Plenty of guidance on this and was even referenced above had you read. Register of the copyright gives you the remaining protections especially when you want to enforce your copyrights in court.
pfarber said:
if you never enforce your rights one could argue that you gave them up (for copyright)
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No argument required. The copyright laws and regulations specifically state how long your rights last whether you enforce them or not. Perhaps you should spend more time reading up on a subject before commenting just as you attempt with your aviation comments.:rolleyes:
 
The way I understand it, the work is automatically copyrighted as soon as it was created. But if you ever want to recover punitive damages for improper use prior to your telling them to stop, you need the formal filing.

Orherwise, you can notify a user that they're illegally using a copyrighted work, but can only recover damages from the date you notified them (assuming they keep using the work).

Copyrighted a book last year, it was online and easy. Figure pictures are probably the same.

Ron Wanttaja
 
Also helps to put a copyright notice on the work whether you do the formal filing or not. Usually easy to excise, of course.

Ron Wanttaja
 
wanttaja said:
the work is automatically copyrighted as soon as it was created.
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Yes, but the work is not automatically registered. Without registration your only tools to enforce your copyright are sending letters demanding to stop using your work, reporting the use to a governing 3rd party, and private legal actions for actual damages all of which is on your dime and proof.

When registered it creates a public record, provides a path to an infringement action in federal court, and allows you to collect statutory damages and attorney fees. Whether you need to register all your works falls to your situation and the potential for damage to you or your "brand." I only have about 1/3 of the works I "published" registered which include mainly items that I assigned a value to. Given your line of work you may want to sit down with an IP attorney and get some advices on your situation as there are ways to register works in a group or collection which can save on the registration costs. Its what I did many years ago and served me well.
wanttaja said:
Also helps to put a copyright notice on the work
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Prior to the early 90s a copyright notice was required by law on all works. But that changed and is no longer a requirement but is definitely a recommendation given by many. There are a number of free copyright references out there that can give a good foundation on how the copyright system works. I went through these and other references to get a foundation then talked to an attorney to answer my questions. IP attorneys can be rather expensive so having a good basic understanding how things work keeps those costs down a lot. Here are several references with the Circulars the easiest to read and follow:
Compendium of the US Copyright Office
Copyright Law
Circulars

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I just wrote a book and got an agent. He has not sold it to a publisher yet. Before I signed the contract with the agent, I sent the manuscript to several publishers that accept them “over the transom “. The manuscript has a copyright label. This discussion notwithstanding, I certainly believe I am protected and could certainly sue for damages if someone appropriated it. I do not think you forfeit your rights by not “registering”- does that actually have a legal definition? There is a clear, provable, and entirely enforceable chain of provenance, sans “registration”, however that might be defined.
 
Iflydogs said:
I certainly believe I am protected and could certainly sue for damages if someone appropriated it.
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You may want to check into that a bit more. The only reason I register my copyrights is for infringement legal actions that are not available unless the copyright is registered. And if I recall correctly, the US Supreme Court stated the same as well.
 
Thanks, I will. But I assume my agent has my back? After all any revenue I lose, he loses 15% ?


It may have been true in the pre-digital era. Now, you cannot open, modify, or create a digital document without creating an impermeable timestamp. It would be trivial to establish provenance.

We are talking about suing for damages. We live in a country where: (1) a robber fell through a skylight and successfully sued the owners of the house he robbed. (2) a boy riding a bike swerved into traffic and the family successfully sued the HOA because “the road must have had something that caused him to swerve” (3) a drugged-up movie star beat up his girlfriend, was convicted of such, and then successfully sued her when she said that he beat her up. I am pretty sure I would prevail in a court.
 
Sorry, I trust my agent. Don’t disagree those are actual citations but they defy reason.Are there any actual creators on this forum with actual agents who advised them to register their work? If not…
 
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Iflydogs said:
Are there any actual creators on this forum with actual agents who advised them to register their work?
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Never had an agent but my IP attorney advised me to register if I want to collect. So I have about several dozen registered copyrights. Just hope its not your agent who does the infringement.:)
Good luck as getting to this level that you are at is a big deal. Let us know if you make a best seller list.
 
Thank you! I don’t know everything, that’s why I am asking. I will def ask him if I should register it.
 
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