My Kodak Moment

The above cell-phone shot shows one of my Chicago photographs being used for commercial purposes (without my permission) at a Kodak print shop on Hanover street, Edinburgh, UK. It was shot by Paddy Patterson, so I wanted to thank him for sending this.

Someone else put this on DIGG (thanks, btw) - you can digg it here: Kodak steals from one of Diggs favorite photographers

The shot was taken on
March 22, 2007 at 1.26pm GMT

You can see Paddy Patterson's photostream located at www.flickr.com/photos/mrpattersonsir/ .

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Comments

Stuck in Customs says:

Here is the orig:

Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

dee_r says:

if they did it w/o your permission...and you do mind...;-(

hmmmm, lawsuit?

great shot.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

tri vo says:

terrible. what are u gonna do
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Rodrigo da Cunha says:

Honestly? I would sue for damages under the copyright act... they should know better! And you maybe get a new lens or a new camera all together :D
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

-Teddy says:

Wow that is not cool. Hope Kodak is ready to pay some serious cash.

--
Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

sauvagii - [www.different-light.com] says:

Good lord - as a Scot, and a lowly rubbish hdr-er inspired by this very photo, i'm outraged! Not on at all!

Shall i hop the train over to edinburgh and give them a good ear-bashing?
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

joe5ho says:

That really sucks, hopefully you'll be compensated for it.

--
Seen on your photo stream. (?)
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

radziu says:

ROTFL! They should give you new camera + lenses etc. because of avoiding copyright etc. :D

--
Seen on my Flickr home page. (?)
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

squarerootofnine says:

Trey,

It might be just that print shop. You know how so many of those are privately owned and just do business under the umbrella of a well known brand, like Kodak or Fuji, or whatever.

If you know the name of the shop, a simple phone call might persuade them to cease using your image.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

wagsdot911 says:

I like the idea of them reinbursing you with a really expensive camera with all kinds of nice lenses too! And give you recoginition!
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

GreyGooseMartini says:

That's just not right!!!! But on the bright side... there is something remarkable to be said about your work being recognized by a random person, in a random window, in a random part of the world. That is a testament to your photographs and your signature style!!!
I hope this infringment works out to your advantage!!!!
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Nick Alpin says:

Shame on them. This seems to be an
increasing issue for flickr photogs :(
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

crowjay says:

wow thats crazy!
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

dhania_ says:

sue the hell outta them!
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

secretsamba says:

It's nice to see that people are looking out out for each other here on Flickr. The person who did this picked the wrong guy, he had no clue of how many people are familiare with your work.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Stuck in Customs says:

Hehe thanks - yes it is nice to have a big group of global IP police out there! :) Thanks again! :)
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Alex Cejka Photography says:

That is the best advertising of your work! Unfortunately nobody knows that you are the author and therefore it is considered a theft in our end of the world.
I hope Kodak will want do something about it as it could damage their name - something to your benefit. Providing that something like this can actually still damage their name...
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

H2O Alchemist says:

You seem to have one hell of a debate going on on Digg over this; as they say no publicity is bad publicity, however manners and a little credit go a long way to softening the blow.

It goes too show what a shrinking world we live in - I suspect this is a small franchise in scotland who never dreamed a photographer from Austin, USA would get wind they where using his picture for an instore promotion, especially a photographer with your following!

Hopefully you'll both work things out too each others advantage, keep up the great work!
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Sbocaj says:

Speaking as an artist, it's been my experience that most people are seriously undereducated about copyright laws, specifically "fair use" or other provisions that allow for unpaid usages.

While this one is probably a clear case (from the sidewalk) of infringement, I'd doubt it's worth the time/money.....and honestly, what could you recover from them?

My approach (as if you're listening) would be simply to contact them and say "Hi, you've got one of my photos in your window. I'm glad you're a fan, but could you at the very least credit me as the photog? Could I get one of your prints of my HDR images in return?"

Again, Trey, I stress they probably have no idea they're actually breaking the law.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Alison Chains says:

Wow, keep us update on what happens about this situation.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

[sofia] says:

that is terrible!
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

glucozze says:

if it's only this shop i'm agree with sbocaj....but if it's more than this shop, contacting kodak and asking for money or photo stuff could be better.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

NoNo Joe says:

now i won't be posting photos of hot bikini-clad women on here.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

sonykus says:

Hey man, they'll cry you a river. A river of dollars, or pounds for that matter! ;)
Just send some of your company lawyers over, and let's play the copyright infringement song right back at them, this time!
Rules should work both ways! :D
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

CARNIVAL OF LIGHT says:

what a shame!!!! for that reason I was really thinking about curtailing the images I put up. People suck.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

DigitalHeMan says:

you could ask them for some film. Ha Ha Ha ;)
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Eric Paul Owens says:

I hope you are able to get it sorted out...
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Unique_Snowflake says:

Yes. Sue them. Slash kill them. Whatever works....
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Stuck in Customs says:

Hey thanks all :)

I handed it over to my 800-lb gorilla law firm to handle...
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Ivan Makarov says:

That's unfortunate and very unprofessional of whoever owns the store or printed the poster.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Johny Day says:

Sad , I used to post mine in full rez , then in 72 dpi , and now just my contacts can see large and in low rez ,

--
Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Miss Aniela says:

what f*cking cheek!!
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Take the A train says:

You should go to the shop and ask if is possible to buy the photo...maybe they're selling it...and that could be a bad situation...
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Scott Ingram Photography says:

This is such a double edged sword here.
It's nice to see that your work is recognized as quality around the world, but without accreditation it is awfully rude and illegal.

Curious to see how this pans out..
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Fanis says:

Oh wow, it's probably the store and not Kodak that infringed on the picture... so someone at the store should be fired and you should be compensated some how
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

wmmk says:

Could you send me some of the lenses you get? I live in Chicago, and just decided that I own the whole city. You have infringed on my IP by taking the shot. I shoot pentax, and would like the 31mm, 43mm, and 77mm FA limiteds.
Thanks much ;)
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Kuby! says:

Boycott Kodak :o) . . . big corporations stealing from their patrons in the name of profits, now taking it to a whole new level.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Chris1051 says:

good deal.

Really cool web 2.0 network allowing stuff like this.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Corey Ann says:

Hopefully you are able to come to some sort of agreement about your photograph by crediting you or something. Keep us updated...

--
Seen in my contacts page
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

_ena_ says:

what the hell. I'd be so pissed off.

Good luck yeah.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

the_matt says:

you know, if folks are getting the images off of flickr, you could restrict downloads - supposedly they put a transparent image over yours to try to stop that, in addition to removing links to the original size and download options; dunno if that'd result in way too much flickr mail from folks wanting a free image, if you're even ok with giving them away to individuals for use as desktops or whatever...
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Panorama Paul says:

Bloody cheek... I'll never use Kodak film again!!
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

susan_r4 says:

So strange that they would do that! Let me know the outcome!
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Pipall says:

You're all getting a bit carried i think...

One of the employee maybe asked someone who came to print that picture of urs if he minded in him putting it up in the store, and the guy didn't think and said yes... these kinda things happen...

Why is everyone so negative i really don't get it! Get in contact with the store ask them what happen and tell them to aknowledge you or ask them to put the picture down. Is everyone in America soooo in love with their lawyers that everything turns into lawsuits?

Trey you also said yourself on one of the picture of the cathedral further up in your stream (think was the one in Amsterdam) that some guy said u weren't allowed to take pictures but somehow took one anyway... now should they sue you?
From what i know you are normally not allowed to take pictures in cathedrals and churches anyway unless having requested permission prime (as far as i know anyway). I still do it anyway, so do you and so do million of others. You don't however get sued for taking all those photos of insides of cathedrals!

Anyway, if worst this just brings a little more attention on you and your work.
Let us know what happens.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Dinnovation says:

You should write to the shop and to Kodak generally about this (the same image could be used in other shops). This is an enfringment of your rights, this is a commercial use not covered by creative commons. Of course it could be that the rip-off is not Kodak's at all. They might have put out a call for photographs and someone else may have ripped this off and sold it to them. WIthout writing to them and asking you can only speculate. I think you should resize your pics before uploading them, with an easily downloaded version at 4000+ pixels you have made it easy for someone to do this.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

...Ashish.. says:

shame :-( !! i guess a free trip to Edinburgh will be a fair bargain. That place is awesome.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

pikelettationuk says:

Uh Oh, someones gonna get in the shit.............. Nail em, thats well cheeky.........
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

Randy Knox says:

I just saw this for the first time, after being told about it by "beforethecoffee."

I'm wondering how it all turned out, if it's okay to ask.

I often recommend that people view my photos at large size. But I keep hearing more and more about theft from Flickr that I'm getting leary. If I work on a photo for an hour or two, I don't post it.

Your photo of Chicago is absolutely excellent!
And I appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge. Thank you.
Posted 19 months ago. ( permalink )

Rea Family says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Stolen Flickr, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Posted 10 days ago. ( permalink )

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My Kodak Moment

Comments

Stuck in Customs says:

dee_r says:

tri vo says:

Rodrigo da Cunha says:

-Teddy says:

sauvagii - [www.different-light.com] says:

joe5ho says:

radziu says:

squarerootofnine says:

wagsdot911 says:

GreyGooseMartini says:

Nick Alpin says:

crowjay says:

dhania_ says:

secretsamba says:

Stuck in Customs says:

Alex Cejka Photography says:

H2O Alchemist says:

Sbocaj says:

Alison Chains says:

[sofia] says:

glucozze says:

NoNo Joe says:

sonykus says:

CARNIVAL OF LIGHT says:

DigitalHeMan says:

Eric Paul Owens says:

Unique_Snowflake says:

Stuck in Customs says:

Ivan Makarov says:

Johny Day says:

Miss Aniela says:

Take the A train says:

Scott Ingram Photography says:

Fanis says:

wmmk says:

Kuby! says:

Chris1051 says:

Corey Ann says:

_ena_ says:

the_matt says:

Panorama Paul says:

susan_r4 says:

Pipall says:

Dinnovation says:

...Ashish.. says:

pikelettationuk says:

Randy Knox says:

Rea Family says:

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