I do have problems and trouble, but not with the KPA but i want to share this. URGENTLY!

    I really think you need to consult a copyright lawyer over this - the guy could be fishing... send out 100 emails to see if anyone offers to settle out of court.
    He now has you on the line wiggling... perhaps another question might be worth putting to the forum...


    Anyone know any copyright lawyers that can offer some quick free advice... Yeah I know... lawyers and 'free' don't usually appear in the same sentence, but then again this is a rather special forum. The KPA user network spreads far and wide...
    I'll continue to follow this thread - rooting for you...

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    Quote from Geraldo7

    pooh, i do not sleep well these days.
    does anybody know what would be the cost of using a photo on a website
    if the artist lives in america. in germany you have to pay more or less the double
    sum of the sum you would have paidif you use it without permission. the photographer is german and me, too.
    so, is here german law or american law applicable. any pros on the forum?

    In my experience I have seen 'Getty Images) (an American Company actually, charge about £1100.00 for that sort of thing, which they later negotiated down to £750.00... hope it helps...

    Careful I'm watching you...

    Quote from Geraldo7

    how did this guy find it at my site?


    That's quite easy. Open http://images.google.com
    Drag the image that you have on your local disk in the search field and you're done.


    We can just hope that this will not get a business (posting pictures on public web sites and waiting for others to use them on their sites to sue them).


    Another interesting question in your case is, whether the photographer who wants to sue you had the permissions to publish the photos of the band.


    A good source for media (with defined permissions) is: http://search.creativecommons.org/
    They clearly state for which purposes the media can be used (commercial purposes, adapt, build upon etc.).

    thanks folks, it feels sooo good, that colleagues of mine care :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
    whether it will be of good use the future will show
    btw it is not the photographer himself but an employee of his that threatens to sue
    i received (by himself, sic!) the calculation table for the use of pictures on websites for a short period of time
    which is 150.- Euro, so if i understand it correctly, the question is only about the "punishment fee"
    he seems to want 5 times the double sum, because ... of this and that
    my lawyer checks it now
    opinions and experiences are so very different on that topic that only a pro photographer could add something
    substantial here, but then again, only a german photographer, because laws differ from country to country
    pooh?! headache already? me, too!
    do not misunderstand me: i think it is absolutely correct if an artist wants to see money for his work. period.
    but how in the world is there a legal way to communicate that i adored santana and ac/dc. can i at least put a link
    to their homepage when this BS is over? or is this illegal, too?
    and at the end of the day this new wave of prosecutions will result and has to
    in a new way of dealing with photos in the internet, which is not soo bad after all, ...


    ... but then again, something stinks here X(


    klassiker, tried your method and gave up after 20 minutes. 400 hundred persons have used the pic before me and i am not be found there

    My occupation: showing teenagers the many hidden secrets of the A-minor chord on the guitar.

    Edited once, last by Geraldo7 ().

    Hi,


    The only thing I can say is that I feel for you... Not easy to be cornered like this when you do something like this without any malice.


    Unfortunately we have come to an age where instant access to anything by the use of technologies brings great things but also the opposite extreme. Probably more of the dark side but that's only my view.


    Everything being so easy to acccess and link that we don't think (at least for a while) that we might be doing something wrong. Just think mp3, videos, concerts and all this stuff filmed by people where it says in big letters on their tickets not to film and take photos... Most of us do this for ourselves and to show to a couple of friends only. Others go and post this stuff to the public.


    In any case, I think that the guys going after you are of the bad kind. Being there simply to make a buck. Probably more $$ by suing and harrassing others than the value of the picture itself that they we not able to sell to a high bidder magazine. This is lame...


    As much as I respect the author's rights, I totally don't agree to this practice of circling innocent victims like sharks.


    This is wrong.


    All the best and wish that it will not be too painful on your wallet and psyche after this is behind you.

    As I mentioned in my post before: copying other people's work without consent and using it for self promotion is not ok. Way too many people do not ever consider what it takes (time, money, effort) to achieve/create/produce something. On the other hand - unreasonable claims for minimal damage if at all should not even be considered.


    I have experienced people stealing my images and putting their names as copyright owners on them. I was furious, they took advantage of me, but a potential sale or license fee is not the same as an actual damage (like the guy who totaled my car last winter and whose insurance is not paying the full amount, because the cars had been 2 weeks old and already 1.500 km "milage").


    Balance brings peace. Be reasonable. This will work out.


    H

    90% of the game is half-mental.

    hm sry think the guy has the right to. ( it is not very cool but i think he would win it) :/. you never may use something somebody created in your own works without his permission. Its like you cut out a solo of a metallica song and put it into your song. (im not a pro in law and such things but a webdesigner from germany)


    i think a link should be no problem ...

    hey stealth! you are on the right bus, that is exactly the point.


    if i were a famous photographer with a house in germany, a mansion and an office in L.A. and i would see that a
    poor musician - at least in comparison to a friggin' millionaire - uses my photo on a website, i would do the following:


    i'd write a not very amused but still polite letter with words similar to those:


    Dear Geraldo, i am not pleased to see my picture on your site http://www.musicblabla.com. In case you don't know: i made this photo
    and hold the copyrights. You have now 48 hours to either

    • delete it and give 150 bucks to a charitable donation of your choice
    • or apologize on your site that you used a photo unrightful, make a headline <h2> that i have made this good photo
      and make a donation of 150 dollars


      I will personally check in 48 hours and if you havent done either 1 or 2 i will call my lawyer asap

    with kind regards, gustav gans



    i would however never threaten someone so drastically below my financial and social level by no means to death
    by scaring the shit out of him pretending that i am willing to sue him for the sum of 10 years of his income as happened here
    this is the point here and this is why we call those people sharks. and rightfully so!
    good night

    My occupation: showing teenagers the many hidden secrets of the A-minor chord on the guitar.

    Geraldo, with all due respect ... I think pointing out "poor musicians" is not a good way to see things. There are many "poor photographers" having a hard time to earn a living in a very very bad market.


    Travel to some far away destination, wait for the right weather, get up at 3:00am, hike to the top of a mountain, wait for the sunrise, take some nice pictures ... and then hope for some postcard manufacturer at home to buy your image for 40 Euro. Most of the time you won't sell, because there are so many image pools selling pictures for 2 Euros each. Tell me how you can possibly earn your expenses in such a bad market? And as soon as you start to present your work on your website to do some self marketing or advertise your work in some way, stealing will start immediately. It's just as bad as the music market for most. ;)

    You were stealing others' work and it's their right to charge more than a regular license fee would have cost.
    We can discuss the amount asked for by this specific guy, and your lawyer will help to get this down to a reasonable level. I'm not defending this specific guy. But you can't expect anything like "donate something to a charity", imho.

    hi evrybody interested in this case, because i think many of us have posted something they shoudn't have, in hindsight i know better ...


    here is an update: my lawyer has written to the photographer himself and not this employee who wrote the first 3 E-mails
    the response comes in the same swabian dialect which is strange enough (sic!)
    now he seems to loose his cool and threatens to sue me in the USA, says that the copyright office of the US is on his side and that
    a court procedure with a US jury will cost me even more and surely will do justice to the photographer soon


    all of this can mean two things: the whole thing is a fake by an employee who wants to cash in on someone naive enough or
    the whole thing is indeed going to ruin my life, because he says that a copyright infringement to a photo registered @ the US copyright
    office will cost between 30.000 and 150.000 dollars. i have to confess: i am trembling.


    but will a photographer living in california write mails coloured by a svabian german dialect? this is all so bizarre!


    cu

    My occupation: showing teenagers the many hidden secrets of the A-minor chord on the guitar.

    my lawyer recommends to wait, because he is irritated that - obviously again - the svabian employee answered his e-letter.
    i just don't know. imagine a worst case scenario! and my life is down the drain :evil:
    what is your advise, guys

    My occupation: showing teenagers the many hidden secrets of the A-minor chord on the guitar.

    Well, I'd recommend to stay cool and calm and let your lawyer do his work.
    I also can't help but feel that you're exaggerating a bit too much when you say things like 'Life down the drain' etc., even when I get your sentiments.


    In any case: statements from the other side to 'have the copyright office of the U.S. on his side' are actually a bit ridiculous to me.

    I'm not a lawyer, but I live in the US.


    Is your webhosting company in the USA? If it is not, no USA court has any jurisdiction in this matter. And that person who is threatening you knows that.


    If you lived in the California, the person could try to take you to court, but you are a teacher, and only 235 people saw the picture. If a US court was told this person is harassing people all over the world, they would likely make this person pay any court costs, and award him zero dollars from you.


    Does German tax law consider you to be a professional guitar teacher? Or, are you considered to be an amateur or hobbyist?


    Would a German court award a large dollar amount because 235 people saw a picture used for Educational Purposes?


    This person is emailing people all over the world, and demanding large sums of money. He gets none from the people who ignore him. At one point, the person asked YOU to tell him the dollar amount YOU were willing to pay. That proves the person is just trying to scare people into paying him money.


    If you ignore him, he will move on to other targets.


    If your lawyer believes a German Court would have any interest in this matter, have your lawyer send a snail mail letter ( signature and proof of identity required for delivery) directly to the photographer. Let the photographer know any future contact about 235 people seeing his picture on an educational website is to be sent directly to your lawyer, with proof of the identity of the sender.

    i have rehearsals in 15 minutes. will answer after that. thank you paults and ingolf!

    My occupation: showing teenagers the many hidden secrets of the A-minor chord on the guitar.

    Somebody should find that guy and kick his ass.
    Old , good method is the best for such a hyenas .

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    This smells more and more like a scam.... I would just write him to F$£k off....but I'm Italian... 8)

    "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" Serghei Rachmaninoff


    hahaha! :D :D :D one good laugh a day keeps the doctor away. :thumbup:
    Ingolf: do you think i am exaggerating?
    the range of possible scenarios still reads like this:
    best case: this guy is not legitimated to negotiate in the name of the photographer at all and is going to pee off
    fair case: i am going to pay the double sum of a rightful demand: 300 euros
    not so good, but still acceptable case: paying a four digit sum
    worst case scenario: the country i unfortunately know only from hollywood movies has the lawyers it is supposed to have
    those sharks are going to create a case of "willfull infringement of copyrights" supported by the copyright office of the US and
    an american judge is going to fine me for a-10-year-income???


    thank you so much for your comment paults :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: , but then again you are no lawyer and only god knows of what lawyers are
    capable to do ... ||| but yes, i am going to relax and let my lawyer do his work.


    cheers and thank you so much, and i will post M-u-s-i-c {believe it or not} i have made in a couple of minutes in this forum. cu

    My occupation: showing teenagers the many hidden secrets of the A-minor chord on the guitar.