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**interested_observer** · 11-16-2012, 05:38 PM

Here is an interesting article about a photographer seeing her photograph show up on a dress and shopping bag....

Quote:

Photographer Jessica Nichols‘ most popular photograph on her Flickr account (above left) is titled “Loads of Ranunculus” and has more than 10,000 views. Nichols got a nasty shock a year ago when she discovered that American fashion designer Chris Benz had apparently turned the photo into numerous clothing designs for his Spring 2012 line, without Nichols’ knowing and/or permission. Since July of this year, Nichols has been fighting against the infringement in an attempt to get the designer to pay up.

Photog Claims Major Designer Used Her Photo on Clothing Without Permission

Adam · 11-16-2012, 05:54 PM

Interesting, but on my screen it looks like those are 2 different pics. Then again, I'm only browsing from my phone

would suck if this was indeed infringement!

JinDesu · 11-16-2012, 06:03 PM

Adam - click the gif at the end.

Sagitta · 11-17-2012, 12:19 AM

Yup.

Clothing designer did a copy-paste-profit.

The photographer should basically own anything he did with that photo now.

philbaum · 11-17-2012, 01:59 AM

Seems like if Amazon is selling, essentially stolen property, e.g. the flower image, then they could also be sued for continuing to sell that stolen property once they have been informed of the rightful owner.

Might also be useful to get an independent filmmaker involved to take video for a documentary on stolen images, ala Michael Moore's films.

rawr · 11-17-2012, 02:06 AM

What is depressing about this pretty blatant theft is that the original image as posted to flickr was only 500 x 751 pixels at it's largest size. Yet even that low-res original wasn't enough to discourage the theft, since for the purpose of stealing it (printing on fabric), a small image was still good enough to use.

I put most of my stuff on flickr at a maximum of 800 pixels on the longest side in part to discourage this sort of misuse, but clearly even that is not discouragement enough. Sigh.

This case also riles me because you apparently have this affluent clothing designer trying to rip-off an unknown amateur photog, even though the designer could easily afford a license fee for the photograph. But he was too cheap, and also probably thought no one would notice.

Laurentiu Cristofor · 11-20-2012, 10:23 PM

How about the florist that arranged that bouquet - can they claim that their design was stolen?

philbaum · 11-24-2012, 03:10 AM

Originally posted by Laurentiu Cristofor

How about the florist that arranged that bouquet - can they claim that their design was stolen?

Nope, IIRC, the type of things that can be copyrighted is limited to some degree - flower arranging is not one of the qualifying activities.

11-16-2012, 05:38 PM	#1
interested_observer Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Tumbleweed, Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,707	Photog Claims Major Designer Used Her Photo on Clothing Without Permission Here is an interesting article about a photographer seeing her photograph show up on a dress and shopping bag.... Quote: Photographer Jessica Nichols‘ most popular photograph on her Flickr account (above left) is titled “Loads of Ranunculus” and has more than 10,000 views. Nichols got a nasty shock a year ago when she discovered that American fashion designer Chris Benz had apparently turned the photo into numerous clothing designs for his Spring 2012 line, without Nichols’ knowing and/or permission. Since July of this year, Nichols has been fighting against the infringement in an attempt to get the designer to pay up. Photog Claims Major Designer Used Her Photo on Clothing Without Permission

11-16-2012, 05:54 PM	#2
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,608	Interesting, but on my screen it looks like those are 2 different pics. Then again, I'm only browsing from my phone would suck if this was indeed infringement! Adam PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide \| Site Help \| My Photography) PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:

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11-16-2012, 06:03 PM	#3
JinDesu Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: New York City Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,638	Adam - click the gif at the end.

11-17-2012, 12:19 AM	#4
Sagitta Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Maine Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,081	Yup. Clothing designer did a copy-paste-profit. The photographer should basically own anything he did with that photo now.

11-17-2012, 01:59 AM	#5
philbaum Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Port Townsend, Washington State, USA Posts: 3,659	Seems like if Amazon is selling, essentially stolen property, e.g. the flower image, then they could also be sued for continuing to sell that stolen property once they have been informed of the rightful owner. Might also be useful to get an independent filmmaker involved to take video for a documentary on stolen images, ala Michael Moore's films.

11-17-2012, 02:06 AM	#6
rawr Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 11,913	What is depressing about this pretty blatant theft is that the original image as posted to flickr was only 500 x 751 pixels at it's largest size. Yet even that low-res original wasn't enough to discourage the theft, since for the purpose of stealing it (printing on fabric), a small image was still good enough to use. I put most of my stuff on flickr at a maximum of 800 pixels on the longest side in part to discourage this sort of misuse, but clearly even that is not discouragement enough. Sigh. This case also riles me because you apparently have this affluent clothing designer trying to rip-off an unknown amateur photog, even though the designer could easily afford a license fee for the photograph. But he was too cheap, and also probably thought no one would notice.

11-20-2012, 10:23 PM	#7
Laurentiu Cristofor Banned Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: WA Photos: Albums Posts: 3,055	How about the florist that arranged that bouquet - can they claim that their design was stolen?

11-24-2012, 03:10 AM	#8
philbaum Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Port Townsend, Washington State, USA Posts: 3,659	Originally posted by Laurentiu Cristofor How about the florist that arranged that bouquet - can they claim that their design was stolen? Nope, IIRC, the type of things that can be copyrighted is limited to some degree - flower arranging is not one of the qualifying activities.

Photog Claims Major Designer Used Her Photo on Clothing Without Permission

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