Me and my brother are running in a strength and fitness company in New Zealand. We have a full website, over a hundred products, and have been putting in huge amount of work to get it off the ground over the last few years. I have done all the photography. Alot of the stock stuff have been composited onto digital backgrounds, so is unique, and easily recognizable.
This week, we were approached by a company(based in the USA) asking us to carry some of their products. They emailed us a catalog of their stuff(some products we already stock, some we dont) and one of their images was mine. I recognized it straight away, there is no doubt.
I have a few ideas on how I could tackle this, but am really curious to see what some of you think before I commit to a path.
I was prtty stoked if im honest, a bit flattered, thinking, of all the images out there of Lock-Jaw Pro's, they chose mine to steal. At the same time, it took me ages to photograph out entire range, then edit them all onto backgrounds, then some prick just nicks it. hmm.... conflicting emotions.
Ideal outcome for me would be payment, but not really for the cash, more to teach them a lesson. I reckon chances are slimmer than slim, and really i don't care about the cash. more about the lesson.
you need to establish you can proof its yours so the original raw files of the two or 3 photos etc you composite together, if its your product photo on someone elses backdrop its a trickier situation.
first port of call would be to invoice them as they've used it in catalogues etc so send them an invoice for the use of it
Ive thought about the "change your attitude" comment a bit.
I think i understand what your saying, that this is my property, and basically i should be pissed that its been stolen.
the more i think about this, the more i agree. especilly that this other website is very very loosly our competition. We're in different countries, but i had to go thru alot of hours shooting and editing all our products, all so they can just swipe it off us.
yeah, so point taken. cheers
I also looking into Image rights. Seems like a really cool service. I've just signed up and uploaded all our catalog images, i also emailed them about the website i found.
Has anyone else here used image rights? I'd be curious to hear about the process, and how many, if any, payments you've been made from them. Not after your personal finiancial details, just an insight to your experiences.
They may not be the thieves. They may just be using stolen property. Find out where they got your image. They may think they bought it legitimately.
Although it is flattering that someone thought your work was worth having, they didn't pay for it. Consider how you would feel if you saw someone using any of the items you sell through your site, yet had not bothered to pay when they took it. Sure it is nice they liked your product, but if you let people steal your stock you won't be in business long.
I have just received an email from image rights. It was not an auto reply, one if their people are looking into the case, trying yo establish a few things like contact details for the company extra. They have a minimum settlement Target of 750, so we're strapped in now, hear goes nothing.
Thanks for the advice everyone who replied, I have taken your points in the chin. I really was quite unconcerned by the whole thing really, which I suppose doesn't help.
I'm starting to see this in the bigger picture, and putting a but more value on my work. Cheers
I'll keep posting on this thread as things progress, just in case someone out there is interested in the outcome
