[bimmer722]

So I was on ebay yesterday and noticed several vendors using photos of my car to sell their product. Although flattering at first I did not give them permission to do so. Should I complain or just leave it alone? If they're going to use it at least they should throw something my way don't you think?

[493263]

You probably can't do anything if it's a photo of your car in a public setting. You may have a case if it's in a private setting. There are no privacy laws against taking pictures of you and your property in public. If you uploaded your photo of your car in a public forum, then it's also free game unless you copyright it. Maybe if you contact the business and they may compensate you voluntarily.

So if you come across a photo of yourself being used in a way that you didn't agree to, what can you do about it? Here are three possible legal routes you may be able to take:

Appropriation of likeness. In Jennifer Love Hewitt's case, she brought suit alleging an invasion of privacy by appropriation of her likeness. Also known as the right to publicity, laws about the appropriation of likeness prohibit using another's image to advertise or sell products without that person's consent. Along with the common law right to publicity, some states also have their own statutory right to publicity.

False light. If the photo is being used to portray you in a misleading or unflattering way, you may have a lawsuit for false light. For example, a Georgia teen whose Facebook bikini photo was used without her permission by a school administrator at a seminar about the dangers of social media brought suit for false light against the district. In a false light suit, the plaintiff typically must prove that an image was shown to a third party with reckless disregard of placing the plaintiff in a false light that would be highly offensive or embarrassing to a reasonable person.

Intrusion of solitude. If the photo in question was taken somewhere other than a public setting, you may have a case for intrusion of solitude. As you may recall, TV sports reporter Erin Andrews sued for intrusion of solitude after a man took video of her through a peephole into her hotel room and posted the video online. Unlike other invasion of privacy torts such as false light and appropriation of likeness, the images don't even need to be made public; the taking of the pictures in the first place is sufficient to violate the law.

Here are ways to copyright

http://blog.photoshelter.com/2010/09...r-online-imag/

[bimmer722]

Originally Posted by 493263

You probably can't do anything if it's a photo of your car in a public setting. You may have a case if it's in a private setting. There are no privacy laws against taking pictures of you and your property in public. If you uploaded your photo of your car in a public forum, then it's also free game unless you copyright it. Maybe if you contact the business and they may compensate you voluntarily.

So if you come across a photo of yourself being used in a way that you didn't agree to, what can you do about it? Here are three possible legal routes you may be able to take:

Appropriation of likeness. In Jennifer Love Hewitt's case, she brought suit alleging an invasion of privacy by appropriation of her likeness. Also known as the right to publicity, laws about the appropriation of likeness prohibit using another's image to advertise or sell products without that person's consent. Along with the common law right to publicity, some states also have their own statutory right to publicity.

False light. If the photo is being used to portray you in a misleading or unflattering way, you may have a lawsuit for false light. For example, a Georgia teen whose Facebook bikini photo was used without her permission by a school administrator at a seminar about the dangers of social media brought suit for false light against the district. In a false light suit, the plaintiff typically must prove that an image was shown to a third party with reckless disregard of placing the plaintiff in a false light that would be highly offensive or embarrassing to a reasonable person.

Intrusion of solitude. If the photo in question was taken somewhere other than a public setting, you may have a case for intrusion of solitude. As you may recall, TV sports reporter Erin Andrews sued for intrusion of solitude after a man took video of her through a peephole into her hotel room and posted the video online. Unlike other invasion of privacy torts such as false light and appropriation of likeness, the images don't even need to be made public; the taking of the pictures in the first place is sufficient to violate the law.

Here are ways to copyright

http://blog.photoshelter.com/2010/09...r-online-imag/

Thanks for the insight. The photo, which I took myself, was taken inside my garage. Is that considered a private setting? It's not like I was parked at a car show and a picture was taken and posted. The photo in question was uploaded on this forum and I did not watermark it which now thinking about it I should of done.

[493263]

Originally Posted by bimmer722

Thanks for the insight. The photo, which I took myself, was taken inside my garage. Is that considered a private setting? It's not like I was parked at a car show and a picture was taken and posted. The photo in question was uploaded on this forum and I did not watermark it which now thinking about it I should of done.

Yes you may have a case if you can prove it is in your garage. Your best bet is to contact them directly and quote the laws they violated. They probably don't want to take it to court and neither do you since that's the expensive route for both of you. Or if you have a friend that's an attorney, it's better if they write the email.

Then negotiate. I don't think you'll get more than a few hundred bucks.

[Bmw doubles]

Check out the course 'Photography and the Law: Understanding Copyright' on lynda.com. http://www.lynda.com/Design-tutorial.../160107-2.html

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by bimmer722

So I was on ebay yesterday and noticed several vendors using photos of my car to sell their product. Although flattering at first I did not give them permission to do so. Should I complain or just leave it alone? If they're going to use it at least they should throw something my way don't you think?

If a seller took a picture of your car in a public event, it is not illegal.
Im sure if you contact him, they will remove the picture.

I would always start by contacting the vendor.

[lsturbointeg]

Just curious...I got banned here for 3 days but admin didn't say why? I wonder if it's because I save pictures I find, save it to my photobucket So I can post here when replying or giving examples when people are looking for pictures?

I know back in the day when I did carshows a vendor used a picture of my car on their website because of a bodykit I had. I did not purchase it from them but they did use it to show "we carry this design" . I emailed them but did not get a response nor did I want to pay and hire someone to investigate. So I just let it be.

To the OP I think yes u should be able to get something for using your car as advertisement

[chrisny]

Sounds to me like it's not worth the hassle of anything more than a phone call and/or email to the vendor asking them to stop using it.. If it was a picture of you or your family, different story entirely. But if it's just your car, and doesn't show enough of where it was taken (ex. to show enough that someone could see it and find your house to rob you etc), I'm not sure I'd get that worked up about it, personally. Further, like 493263 said, you posted it on an internet forum, so I don't think you have much of a case anyway unfortunately, since you put it out there… I'm no attorney though, so maybe call one just to clarify if you want to pursue it.

Out of curiosity, what were they trying to sell? Were you in any way a customer of theirs? Not sure either makes a difference, just curious.

[Mr Clean]

Actually its punishable to use pictures without permission and giving appropriate credit to the originator especially for commercial purposes (any activity which turns over a profit). Posting pictures on a public forum for public consumption is allowable because it is done for entertainment purposes. However, sellers cannot use these pictures as the basis for their selling platforms (as in to visually illustrate a product or service) without giving credit and /or royalties to the creator. Such creates a sort of "free rider" problem since sellers can effortlessly tap into a pool of photos from online forim sections (some of which are dedicated to owner photos and other such media) without paying for it. I would screenshot the webpages where they used your pictures, demand that they take your pictures down and ask to be appropriately compensated.

[493263]

Originally Posted by Mr Clean

Actually its punishable to use pictures without permission and giving appropriate credit to the originator especially for commercial purposes (any activity which turns over a profit).

If that was the case then every news network and website would be sued to oblivion. You can't just throw your stuff out in public and expect privacy especially when it's a car. Cars don't have rights. For your images of property, art, etc... you need to copyright it or you don't have much of a case.

[Mr Clean]

Originally Posted by 493263

If that was the case then every news network and website would be sued to oblivion. You can't just throw your stuff out in public and expect privacy especially when it's a car. Cars don't have rights. For your images of property, art, etc... you need to copyright it or you don't have much of a case.

Generally speaking websites that use photos that do not belong to them issue captions within the photo at the bottom or underneath it stating where it was retrieved from or who owns it. Sometimes these websites retrieve these photos from image sites where they have to pay a small fee to obtain a license or the photos may be free to use (depending on the intent). News outlets and certain websites which cater to the public are allowed to use material without permission as long as it aligns with the fair use limitations. Such includes using materials for scholastic purposes, for comments and criticisms, to educate the public at large ect. I can take a picture of my car in a private setting and upload it to the forums knowing that It will be viewed by any user of the world wide web or perhaps even downloaded for use as a wallpaper by an overzealous fan, however, a vendor cannot use my photo (intended for public consumption) to further their business without my consent and captioning that photo with my information. If they do in fact use my photo in a manner which I do not agree with and such which likens me to endorse their product(s) a problem arises. For example: I use the photo that you took in your garage and uploaded to the forums to show a forum member something to "prove" to viewers of my online stores (using your photos representatively) that you bought and endorse a product I am selling for my business. How would you feel if you did not like or endorse my product?

Copyright laws, patents and trademarks have been created to help establish public trust and equity. You have the wrong idea thinking that anything uploaded to the internet is public property.

I just finished getting into it with a vendor for using my photos I posted in my build thread on ebay to augment their business without my consent. I sent them a nice desist letter and they quickly took it down, apologized and gave me a small fee for my troubles. As a result, the information Im posting is not pieced together from some website as it is indeed first hand. There is a reason I have deleted most photos from my build thread.

Op, try placing a water mark on all your publicly uploaded photos for the future.

[493263]

Originally Posted by Mr Clean

You have the wrong idea thinking that anything uploaded to the internet is public property.

I think you read one sentence and jumped to conclusion.

[Mr Clean]

Originally Posted by 493263

I think you read one sentence and jumped to conclusion.

Ok.

[lsturbointeg]

Good information going here!

[bimmer722]

Originally Posted by Mr Clean

Generally speaking websites that use photos that do not belong to them issue captions within the photo at the bottom or underneath it stating where it was retrieved from or who owns it. Sometimes these websites retrieve these photos from image sites where they have to pay a small fee to obtain a license or the photos may be free to use (depending on the intent). News outlets and certain websites which cater to the public are allowed to use material without permission as long as it aligns with the fair use limitations. Such includes using materials for scholastic purposes, for comments and criticisms, to educate the public at large ect. I can take a picture of my car in a private setting and upload it to the forums knowing that It will be viewed by any user of the world wide web or perhaps even downloaded for use as a wallpaper by an overzealous fan, however, a vendor cannot use my photo (intended for public consumption) to further their business without my consent and captioning that photo with my information. If they do in fact use my photo in a manner which I do not agree with and such which likens me to endorse their product(s) a problem arises. For example: I use the photo that you took in your garage and uploaded to the forums to show a forum member something to "prove" to viewers of my online stores (using your photos representatively) that you bought and endorse a product I am selling for my business. How would you feel if you did not like or endorse my product?

Copyright laws, patents and trademarks have been created to help establish public trust and equity. You have the wrong idea thinking that anything uploaded to the internet is public property.

I just finished getting into it with a vendor for using my photos I posted in my build thread on ebay to augment their business without my consent. I sent them a nice desist letter and they quickly took it down, apologized and gave me a small fee for my troubles. As a result, the information Im posting is not pieced together from some website as it is indeed first hand. There is a reason I have deleted most photos from my build thread.

Op, try placing a water mark on all your publicly uploaded photos for the future.

Great Idea... I now have 3 vendors using my photos on ebay!! the links are here

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-2015-BM...051005&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fit-For-2011...c980bb&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/11-15-BMW-F1...dd5d2f&vxp=mtr

I did contact all three and only one has responded so far. To the one that responded I explained to them it was my picture and they are asking for proof and the link to the forum I had posted the pictures which is not a problem. Looks like they are willing to take it down.

I did purchase two items from this vendor and it would of been no problem if they would have asked to use my picture to sell their product. I of course should of been compensated somehow if this were the deal. I've referred quite a few members here to their site.

[bimmer722]

Originally Posted by chrisny

Sounds to me like it's not worth the hassle of anything more than a phone call and/or email to the vendor asking them to stop using it.. If it was a picture of you or your family, different story entirely. But if it's just your car, and doesn't show enough of where it was taken (ex. to show enough that someone could see it and find your house to rob you etc), I'm not sure I'd get that worked up about it, personally. Further, like 493263 said, you posted it on an internet forum, so I don't think you have much of a case anyway unfortunately, since you put it out there… I'm no attorney though, so maybe call one just to clarify if you want to pursue it.

Out of curiosity, what were they trying to sell? Were you in any way a customer of theirs? Not sure either makes a difference, just curious.

The point I was trying to make is that they had no right using pictures that did not belong to them and now making a profit on it. To me that is a big deal. If they would have contacted me, asked for my permission and compensated me for it then that wouldn't have been a problem.

As what other people have stated and from what I have read. I own the pictures which were taken in a private setting and I did not authorize them to use my pictures. If this were a car show or out in the public somewhere then you are correct in stating I have no expectation of privacy to my car being photographed.

[bimmer722]

Originally Posted by Bmw doubles

Check out the course 'Photography and the Law: Understanding Copyright' on lynda.com. http://www.lynda.com/Design-tutorial.../160107-2.html

Good information here. Thanks!

[bimmer722]

Update...

So searching through my threads here and another BMW forum for some reason I could not find the pictures in question from my threads. A google image checked also turned up no results. Only the pictures I posted on the threads showed up.

I checked my photobucket account and my settings were set to private so there was no way that they could of gotten the pictures. They were also the last 4 pictures uploaded in my album. Now, i'm thinking somehow my pictures were hacked and i'm trying to find out where the point of the breach was. Then it occurred to me that the reason they were the last uploaded photos was because a member here, who will remain nameless for the moment, asked for the photos and questions about fitment. Without much thought and helping a fellow member out like we always do, I sent him or her the exact pictures that are now plastered all over ebay. I never posted these pictures anywhere else but through the IM message with him. I contacted him and waiting for his response... I'll keep you guys posted

[493263]

I think the chances of that member being someone who works for the vendor is much higher than the chances of being hacked.

[bimmer722]

Originally Posted by 493263

I think the chances of that member being someone who works for the vendor is much higher than the chances of being hacked.

I was thinking the same thing.

[bimmer722]

Update...

I found an additional ebay seller using my photos which makes a total of 4. 3 have gotten back to me and One has already owned up to it and want to make it right. Just waiting to hear back from the rest

[493263]

Nice! Hope you get a nice set of rims for it