I find it quite incredible some people's mis-understandings of basic copyright, especially by those who are in supposed to be in the business professionally!

We're currently taking further action against a UK magazine to whom we supplied a number of images under a very clearly restrictive usage licence for printed publication in a specific issue of the magazine.  The magazine then went on to reproduce them on their website, without permission, and then seemed shocked when we sent an invoice for their unauthorised use.


Then over the weekend, I was notified of a self-titled 'producer/director' in the USA (with 15 years in the business apparently), who copied another of our images, digitally removed the company logos, added his own logos instead, and used it in a 'commercial parody' to help promote his own services (combining it with a bunch of other videos and stills from other people, with his own voice-over).

Upon requesting that he remove the image from the video due to the clar breach of copyright, his incredulous response was:

Unfortunately, permission is not required under the United States Copyright Law's doctrine labeled "Fair Use". In short, The "fair use" exemption to (U.S.) copyright law was created to allow things such as commentary, parody, news reporting, research and education about copyrighted works without the permission of the author. That's vital so that copyright law doesn't block your freedom to express your own works , I will not remove the image from my ###### parody commercial.

Thankfully YouTube have upheld my request, and the entire video has now been taken offline with a credit to Jason Parlour Photography in its place.

It amazes me the way some people try to work, especially when the fees to legally reproduce my work is so accessible!

Labels: copyright, fair use