Among all of the other benefits of registering your copyright, one of the practical reasons is that registration brings with it the legal presumption that you are the creator. The burden is thus placed on an infinger to disprove the validity of your registration. Typically this is very, very difficult. In other words, “very not easy”. […]
Archive for category Legal Things
That Ole Dog Still Hunts
Aug 9
Picasso Never Had a Day Rate
Jul 31
There is an oft-told story of Picasso drawing on a napkin. If you Google “Picasso Napkin Drawing” you’ll find endless variations of the story. Here’s the short version: Someone sees Picasso at a café and asks him to draw something on a napkin. Picasso complies and signs it. Pablo then says, “$25,000 please”. (Sometimes the […]
For a while, I’ve heard about artists and photographers doing a search for their name (and images) on the Wallpart website, which supposedly sells prints. After hearing so many artists and photographers all claiming to have “found” their images on this site, I was figuring that they aren’t spending time scouring the Internet for […]
The Sky is Not Falling
Jul 24
Much is being written, many hands are being wrung and even worse for Ed, hair is being pulled out in reaction to some form of an Orphan Works that may be proposed to the Congress. This is won’t be the first such proposal and maybe not the last. The very same hysteria was exhibited the […]
Here is a current litigation right out of Ed’s files. Facts: A young “All American” handsome man and attractive woman carefully plan out their dream wedding. They are right out of central casting. Both bride and groom would be perfect and if this had been a “regular” commercial shoot, both would have been cast. But here neither is a professional model nor […]
Svenson Again
Jun 15
As discussed in our prior articles (here, here, and yet again here) residents of an apartment building in the uber trendy Tribeca area of Manhattan, sued fine art photographer Arne Svenson for photographing them without obtaining their consent. Svenson had photographed residents including partially unclothed children, while in their own apartments. There was no dispute that […]
What scares artists more than a blank canvas and photographers more than a corrupted flashcard? The question of how to hire a lawyer. This is a topic we get queried on frequently, especially at the end of our lectures when we talk one on one with attendees. We guess it’s simply a topic that’s not discussed in […]
We’ve used our blue face image logo for many years to show how we keep saying the same things over and over until we’re blue in the face. Now, we’re reading so much that is inaccurate or incomplete in all forms of media that we are getting the blues – and we ain’t talking about the […]
Let Us Count The Ways….
May 22
Recently a federal judge in New York who happens to see Ed and his associate in his courtroom with some frequency, asked a pretty good question. Paraphrased the inquiry was, “How would you categorize the types of infringement claims and cases that have been coming into your office”? So Ed did an informal inventory of […]
Get Up, Stand Up
May 1
Posted by Jack and Ed in Be Aware, Copyright, In The News, Legal Things, Paperwork, Stuff you should know | Comments off
Here’s your chance to be heard in Washington regarding copyright issues (one of our favorite topics, believe it or not). The Copyright Office itself is seeking comments from photographers. Or as they say, they’re requesting “written comments on how certain visual works, particularly photographs, graphic artworks, and illustrations, are monetized, enforced, and registered under the […]
Tags: Call to arms, copyright, Seeking comments