The Daily Planet Show, Discovery Channel Canada

Some friends in Canada contacted me to congratulate me on one of my clips being used on the Daily Planet Show, Discovery Canada, last week. They even credited me by name. However they had not asked for permission to use the clip.

In the past the same channel has requested permission to broadcast other clips of mine and, as they do not offer any licensing fee, I have always refused.

I have sent a couple of emails to the only email address I can find on their website, but so far no response. The video clip is clearly labelled under the CC Attribution + Noncommercial + NoDerivative license. I am rather angry about this.

Does anyone have any good way to contact them or advice.

Thanks

Kaj

Damn Canadians....

Hi Kaj,

Discovery Channel is owned and operated by Bell Media, the same people who own Bell Telephone, The Globe and Mail newspaper, Bell Satellite TV, the CTV Television network, Bell Mobility Cellular and various other smaller companies.

One of the companies that you might be interested in is "Exploration Productions" which produces the "Daily Planet" show that you are having trouble with. Their webpage is located here at:

http://www.exploration.ca/

A further internet search lists their physical address as:

Exploration Production Inc
9 Channel Nine Crt
Scarborough, ON M1S 4B5, Canada
Phone: (416) 332-5700

I would like to help you further but a very urgent family matter will be taking up most, if not all, of my time for the next several weeks.

Good luck with your inquiries, hope it works out well for you. Please keep us posted as to how if goes for you.

P.S. As a last resort, you may want to contact "Imagerights". They specialize in recovering fees for photographers who have had their images used in unauthourized manners without compensation. I have heard varying opinions on their effectiveness and have no personal experience with them but it might be worth a try. Their website is listed here:

https://www.imagerights.com/

Thanks for the info and reply Paul,

Bell Media have now contacted me and we are trying to resolve their admitted unauthorized use.

The matter has become slightly more complicated as their explanation for using the video was that they had seen it on my website, and they had asked permission for other videos of mine in the past (not this one) and I had always refused as they do not pay for any licensing fee (you get a credit, whoppee). They then say they saw it on YouTube on what they though was my channel as the user was called LiquidG. When I searched for LiquidG and my video I found nothing. LiquidG does exisit, but has no underwater videos. When searching all of YouTube I could not find my video. They said they sent the user an email requesting permission, and he agreed they could. They have admitted this was an error.

When I asked them for the link, they sent me a YouTube url to a video that now said it had been deleted by the user. This user was called LiquidG01. His channel has 5 videos on it, all uploaded about an hour after my initial call with them. There was a Google+ link, which when clicked showed me that my video had been upload at the same time as the others, then deleted. I have screen grabs of this. So the video did not exist ever on YouTube, and definitely not when they said they saw it on the 3rd April. It really seems they are trying to deceive me about their 'innocence' in using the video.

I will wait to see what they have to say tomorrow.

Cheers,

Kaj

Not only have they used your material without permission, they are also treating you as an idiot. I don't know what kind of costs you are trying to get for the unused footage, but I would certainly seek legal advise on compensation as well as for unauthorised usage. Good luck

This definitely sounds as if it is time for a letter from a legal counsel. Not only have they used your work without permission, it would appear (perhaps not, but it sure looks suspicious) as if they are attempting to cover their tracks in a rather clumsy manner. It is hard to imagine that a seemingly reputable organization would stoop this low.