My Bucket is Copyrighted
There's an LJ community,

gothic_babes, for fashion/modelling/photography/camwhoring. A recent post was made in which the OP generally looks for constructive criticism about her modelling. Comments are fairly tame. Someone, apparently, makes a less-than-constructivecomment about the OP's weight, and is banned. The OP reacts quite graciously and doesn't let it ruffle her feathers.

Meanwhile, the now-banned commenter feels the need to vent. The response, initially, is mainly, "GTFO and stop failing."

That is, until the OP from gothic_babes appears and, in a sudden feather ruffling, feels the need to educate the community about copyright.

The community makes varying attempts at reason. The OP is not interested.

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pocketfox
2008-04-28 09:43 pm UTC (link)

The answer is: No. Not in any country that's a signatory to the Berne Convention.

The thing is, you can't get actual damages if there aren't actual damages, and in the US, you can't get statutory damages unless the work in question was registered with the US copyright office. So she can't get money out of the macro guy, but she can force him not to put it on the internet. If she registers copyright on the pictures within three months of publication, then she can get between $750 and $150,000 for each infringement.

Oh, and copyright doesn't have any backsies. If someone sent you a copy of their novel, even if they want it back, you don't have to give it back. If you publish it, then you run into problems.

The more you know!

And knowing is-- wait.

Thanks for the clarification, and if she actually goes out and registers copyright for those pics, I will laugh until my sandwich comes out of my nose. Then I will call my Internet Lawyer and sue her for pain and suffering.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people assume "creation" (like this girl's photos) = "legal, sue-able copyright". I really should stop being so surprised by people.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	chibikaijuu 2008-04-28 10:58 pm UTC (link)
	Er, well, it does. You might not be able to get monetary compensation, but you can use a court to force someone to cease use of your material. Copyright is conferred upon creation. Registering your copyright confers extra protection and confirmation of ownership. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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