Korean Aquarium using my photo

After an inquiry from an NGO about using my photo of a Clione limicia, I did a search and found this:

Busan Aquarium

Most likely, it was downloaded off of The Sea Slug Forum.

I have contacted the Aussie Company that owns the Aquarium...we shall see. It may have been used for years....

Cheers,

Marli

Keep us informed on their response. I used to supply technical support to their aquarium in Melbourne, Australia so I will warn you that they were very slow to pay...

I heard from the Aquarium today. The image has been removed. Of course, no offer of payment. I have no idea how long it was used.

Cheers,

Marli

Reply to the email asking if they wish to make an offer or do they want you to send an invoice. Point out the standard industry markups over normal price for unauthorised use of an image.

They felt that removal was sufficient; an offer of two night's hotel and beer if I ever came to Busan was made. Like that will ever happen.

Cheers,

Marli

That's a pretty good offer considering.

They felt that removal was sufficient; an offer of two night's hotel and beer if I ever came to Busan was made. Like that will ever happen.

 

Cheers,

Marli

It might be time to send them an invoice then.

The first thing infringers do is remove the evidence. Some "consider the matter closed" but this is a mistake - if the infringer does not respect the value of photography then they will search the web and steal from someone else. It is for this reason that infringers must pay in cash.

With copyright infringement there are two payment aspects to consider:-

1. Fee for the infringement, from initial use up to removal

2. Fee for the continuing use once 1. is paid

Item 1 is non-negotiable with respect to how much you charge. Set a fee and stand by it. Infringers will try to negotiate and appeal to your moral side to not pay, or reduce the fee. By stealing your work, infringers have demonstrated they do not have a moral code that matches yours, and should never be negotiated with. Negotiation of fees and terms of business are restricted to those who contact me before using my work.

By offering you a beer and lodgings they have conceded that the infringement will cost them something. Figure out what you will charge and if you are not sure have a look at the London Freelance Fees Guide for online use. Invoice them for at least 12 months use.

As a rule I use this fee guide for any infringement, and then I add 25% - why should infringement be a cost-effective route to a legitimate license?

Good luck. If you need specific help, just PM me.

An agreement has been reached. Hopefully, they will follow through with payment...no beer required.

Cheers,

Marli

An agreement has been reached. Hopefully, they will follow through with payment...no beer required.

 

Cheers,

Marli

That's great news!

There is a useful web site for monitoring things like this. www.archive.org. It takes a snapshot of most web sites on the net and stores a history of them. Not every site is on there and not all changes are covered but ive found it usefull in the past. Its often used by fraud investigators for this very reason, if there is a snap shot from say a year ago and your image is on there if gives you an indication of how long its been there....

There is a useful web site for monitoring things like this. www.archive.org. It takes a snapshot of most web sites on the net and stores a history of them. Not every site is on there and not all changes are covered but ive found it usefull in the past. Its often used by fraud investigators for this very reason, if there is a snap shot from say a year ago and your image is on there if gives you an indication of how long its been there....

There is another one too but I can't think of it's name - Time Machine or something like that. I used it once a couple of years ago.

There is another one too but I can't think of it's name - Time Machine or something like that. I used it once a couple of years ago.

If memory serves me well, its called wayback and maintains archives of changes to websites.

All resolved; money's in the bank.

Cheers,

Marli

All resolved; money's in the bank.

 

Cheers,

Marli

Well done - so many infringers think its ok to "take it down and consider the matter closed" so its nice to see a financial resolution. If every photographer adopted a "pay up" stance with infringers I have a suspicion that image theft would be reduced. "Take it down" is no incentive to correct the found-it-use-it behavior whereas payment does two things; a) deters future infringement of another photographers' work and b) attaches a monetary value to photography.

If its worth publishing, its worth paying for.