Sueing somebody for Copyright Images? WHO TO SUE ?

by entry
19 replies
If a person, Jason Smith

- Jason D smith markets onlinne under the pen name John Hogan, for example

and he uses an Image without permission, who would get sued?

as John Hogan is a pen name,so how can you sue a pen name fictitious charector?

-and lets say he uses no address?
-His aweber address is a pobox one?
and his Domain name has WHOIS Protection {hiding the address}

how would they get sued?
and who would get sued? - the graphic designer? or the marketer?
#copyright #images #sue #sueing
  • Profile picture of the author Autowriter1
    The person's actual name would be the one who gets sued, not the pen name.
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    • Profile picture of the author entry
      Originally Posted by Autowriter1 View Post

      The person's actual name would be the one who gets sued, not the pen name.
      How would they catch him, if they are so discrete?
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      • Profile picture of the author Kay King
        His real name d/b/a (doing business as) pen name

        Should add - IANAL but that would seem to be the best way
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      • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
        Originally Posted by entry View Post

        How would they catch him, if they are so discrete?
        There are lots of ways.

        Once you get proper advice and it becomes a legal matter there are plenty of ways to track down people that use fake online details.

        At some point they will be taking payments - whether it's paypal, a po box, whatever - they can be tracked down.

        There are cctv camera's everywhere, so as soon as they start collecting any money it'll be visible online or offline in some way.

        Sure, it's not as easy as if they left a trail but it's not impossible.

        If you're going through this yourself and someone is using your images - you could talk to them first, often people just don't understand that because it's in use online it's not open for others to use. I know ignorance is not a defence, but I wouldn't use the legal system as a first step.

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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
    Originally Posted by entry View Post

    If a person, Jason Smith

    - Jason D smith markets onlinne under the pen name John Hogan, for example

    and he uses an Image without permission, who would get sued?

    as John Hogan is a pen name,so how can you sue a pen name fictitious charector?

    -and lets say he uses no address?
    -His aweber address is a pobox one?
    and his Domain name has WHOIS Protection {hiding the address}

    how would they get sued?
    and who would get sued? - the graphic designer? or the marketer?
    My understanding is that you would get a lawyer to disclose the actual WHOIS information. As far as I know, that information is hidden only from the public, and not hidden from the law. That being said, it may require a court order to get that information...so, again, you would need to get a lawyer.

    All the best,
    Michael
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  • Profile picture of the author Samrath Gupta
    As much i know FBI is pretty fast in these things and if you take things legally then anything can be done !!

    If FBI can track Osama Bin Laden then they can do anything

    But first talk with the person yourself and ask him to remove your stuffs

    If he isnt listening you or ignoring your mails then do things legally

    Regards
    ~Sam~
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  • Profile picture of the author jacktackett
    First, IANAL - with that out of the way you need to know a few things. First, if you do not have the bar code that gets registered with your copyright you can not sue for anything but actual damages - which you have to prove in court. If you have the registration then you can sue for up to the maximum (check U.S. Copyright Office for more information).

    Also - after sueing - good luck collecting. I've not sued for copyright infringment, but have sued several people in small claims court for breaking rental agreements. I've won every case but 1. I've spent over 1,000 on court fees etc and I've collected -$0- yep -0- for my efforts.

    Just because you win a court case does not mean you'll get the money.

    You are much better off filing a DMCA take down notice to have the offender's site take down the image or have their hosting provider suspend their account.

    Good luck.
    --Jack
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  • Profile picture of the author Top Dog Marketer
    The easiest way to get this taken care of is to contact his email marketing prodiver and his hosting provider as well. Shoot them a DMCA and let them know that he's using material he's not allowed to.

    Most companies will take down his stuff or freezer his account very quickly even without detailed proof like you would think.
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    • Profile picture of the author Azarna
      And in both the USA and the UK you have to declare the name under which you do business, so if this person was being very 'discreet' they would also be facing trouble from this. And yes, the law can demand the details of who owns a site.
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    If they had a site it would be easy enough to find out their hosting provider and even go through their hosting provider, if nothing else.

    On second thought, if they had a site and even if their Whois details were private, their Whois privacy still lists a contact from the company who gave them their privacy, so you could contact them through that, as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
    There is a form to send to the US Post Office that requires the USPS to divulge the real name and address of the person renting the box.

    Here is a link to one form:

    http://www.tcpalaw.com/free/pobox.pdf

    It's been a few years since I had to do this, so you will want to check with the USPS for any updated forms.

    .
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  • Profile picture of the author jossk
    when using copyright images you have to understand that an image must be identical to be copyright infrindgment. In addition 90% of people do not copyright their material. Even custom made artwork. It is just to costly to do so. This is not including large corporations of course. But you can always get royalty free images and not have to worry. Try imageshack.com and you can also search in google images just look for the images stored in royal free sites.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by jossk View Post

      90% of people do not copyright their material.
      They don't need to do anything to copyright it. They own the copyright just by producing the material.

      Originally Posted by jossk View Post

      Even custom made artwork. It is just to costly to do so.
      The process you're thinking of isn't the one that results in their owning the copyright. They own that anyway. It results in their being able to adduce evidence of the registration of the copyright, not "the copyright itself". Respectfully, you're confusing the existence of the copyright with the existence of the copyright's registration. These are actually two different things.
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  • Profile picture of the author E. Brian Rose
    Why are you suing? Are you looking to get money? Have you been financially harmed? If so, can you prove it? You would need to if you want to recover damages.

    Is your photo registered with government or are you just using a copyright on creation? If the later, then you cannot get punitive damages (you can, but very rarely happens).

    If you are just wanting the offending material taken down, then start with a DMCA take down notice to his server host. Also, send a cease and desist letter to the offending party.

    I'm just a pretend lawyer. A real lawyer will be able to give you better advise.
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    • Profile picture of the author GarrieWilson
      Originally Posted by E. Brian Rose View Post

      Why are you suing? Are you looking to get money? Have you been financially harmed? If so, can you prove it? You would need to if you want to recover damages.

      Is your photo registered with government or are you just using a copyright on creation? If the later, then you cannot get punitive damages (you can, but very rarely happens).

      If you are just wanting the offending material taken down, then start with a DMCA take down notice to his server host. Also, send a cease and desist letter to the offending party.

      I'm just a pretend lawyer. A real lawyer will be able to give you better advise.
      I'd bet no one.

      Entry is always asking questions. Most, I'd assume, to just ask.


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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    Originally Posted by entry View Post

    If a person, Jason Smith

    - Jason D smith markets onlinne under the pen name John Hogan, for example

    and he uses an Image without permission, who would get sued?

    Welcome to my club. You are now "part of the problem".

    You are now in the "club of evil people, who seek to enforce their copyrights or trademarks," because it is our right and responsibility to do so.

    There are several threads started in these parts claiming that people like you and I, people who try to enforce are copyrights and trademarks, are pure evil people who must be stopped!! :rolleyes:
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  • Profile picture of the author DogScout
    Don't know about Entry, but, yes, Bill, you should be stopped!!
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    Using a different name is not the same as trying to hide behind a different name.

    Hey, it's our privacy.
    In this case its

    "Hey, it's our piracy"
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