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concordbridge
Lv 4
concordbridge asked in Business & FinanceSmall Business · 1 decade ago

What compensation should I pursue for a photographic copyright violation?

Hi you shadetree lawyers! I have photos of a certain house posted and each photo includes the (C) insignia. A Realtor has taken my photos and used them to market the house. The house will be sold and closed in about three weeks.

How much compensation should I ask for this unauthorized commercial use? I think a non-commercial music download can carry $750 fine/damage claim. Any links to references would be dynamite! Thanks!

Update:

There are 6 stolen photos. Follow this link to see them.

http://tinyurl.com/yll3ce

Update 2:

All the other comments were helpful. Thank you!. A social conversation with an attorney leaned toward the "procuring cause" argument which Norman was suggesting, but might not have realized it. (yahoo it for more info). A longtime realtor pal thought that procuring cause was too extreme in this case.

My plan is to get expert advice within the next few days. I will post additional comments then.

Thanks.

L.

3 Answers

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  • norman j
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    First of all name the Realtor, the realty company, and the owners in the suit. Let the judge decide who is liable and who isn't. Talk to the home buyers AFTER THE SALE GOES THROUGH and hope they say that the picture is why they looked at the house.

    You should seek damages for the going rate of commercial use of private pictures. Then you should seek punitive damages. Ask for the Realtors full commission on the house, and also an arbitrary sum like 5 Million for the company not ensuring their employee was not breaking the law (to teach them a lesson).

    Then you can let them plea bargain you down to the commission plus 500,000.

    Make sure you can prove that the sale went through because of your pictures. That way you can say, "If it wasn't for me, the house would not have sold."

  • the nothing
    Lv 4
    1 decade ago

    How many photos are there??

    Since your photos are helping to sell the house, you might be able to get a percentage of the house, say 15%?

    You should call a lawyer and talk to them.

    15% of $100,000 is alot more than $750 x the amount of pictures you took.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Here are a couple. Good luck and go get em!

    http://www.ephotofiles.com/copyright.html

    http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB11289742425...

    Source(s): Internet
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