I never did very well in math – I could never seem to persuade the teacher that I hadn’t meant my answers literally. ~Calvin Trillin We are often asked (by “we” we mean Ed) what is the formula the Federal Courts use to determine the amount of statutory damages a copyright holder can be awarded […]
Archive for category Stuff you should know
The Math of Infringement
Apr 28
Two ladies, both “of the media” who at first blush appear to have little in common, now share the title, “litigant”. Though they live some 1,500 miles apart from each other, have dissimilar backgrounds and neither would be confused for the other, they are now sisters in litigation. First up – daytime TV star, real […]
For those readers who cling to the absurd notion spread by your comrades that written, signed model releases aren’t really that important, be warned that this article will upset you. We hope it scares the heck out of you. Here are the relevant facts and portions of the March 6th decision of Justice A. Singh […]
Soviet Style Negotiating
Mar 25
Ed, as a student of Russian history (really, he is) will be the first to tell you that a Soviet Style has nothing whatsoever to do with “politics” or your political orientation. Rather it is a style your adversary takes based on a somewhat traditional Russian approach that predates by many decades the current regime […]
The two of us will be doing our act live, and without a net, on April 10th at Photoshop World in Atlanta. We start at 8:15am and go until 10:30. Two back to back sessions. We will cover a bunch of new developments in the news. Can you say Getty? And as we always have […]
There is a vast, underground market, which resides on the web and is based on infringing copyrights and selling counterfeit goods. Protecting your work against such thieves who have no brick and mortar address to call home nor even a “true” identity, is a difficult but hardly impossible task. Creators – and even some lawyers […]
“Haven’t I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain?” The preceding quote is by J.K. Rowling from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Interesting concept. For over three decades we have unfortunately regularly referenced cases […]
Back To The Future – Again
Feb 21
As a follow up relating to our “Back to the Future” article, Ed recently took the deposition of an employee of a large consumer company which maintains a stock library of photographs used by/or submitted to it for potential use over the years. Various documents were needed by it of and concerning an image, containing […]
This Churning Ain’t Butter
Feb 16
After reading a recent hot case being debated online this week, we noticed a photographer saying his legal costs to pursue his case would be $50,000. We’ll address that in another article, but we thought it would be good to inform about some of the costs of litigation. Auto mechanics, stockbrokers, builders, and countless other […]
Often times an ad agency will seek to obtain a license to use a photo (or a model’s image) and describe that intended usage as, “One year, consumer print advertising”. That seems fine and dandy but if the model’s agent or the photographer has no clue as to what publications the client is intending to […]
