Stolen Photo

I just discovered that one of my photos (the one on the left) was taken from NSMB.com and put up on an anti-mountain bike web site. At first, I found it kind of amusing and a bit flattering, but then I realized how badly misrepresented the photo was.

Coincidentally, one of my friends is going though the process to go after a British magazine who actually published, on paper, one of his photos without asking. Lee is actually a lawyer specializing in copyright and licensing issues and is using his procedure as a test case to publish a self help paper for photographers. Here's some background on Lee's case if anyone is bored and wants to read it.

Yesterday, while we were out doing some trail maintenance, he gave me some great advice on how to get my photo removed from the offending site. Here's the letter that I sent to the guy that is using my photo:

Mr. Vandeman,

It has come to my attention that one of your web pages contains a photo taken by me. The photo in question is on this page: http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande/overview.htm . The specific photo is http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande/nsmb.jpg.

By putting this photo on your website I believe that you have violated, at the very least, the following items:

1) My copyright on the picture. I have never given you permission to use the photo. I feel that you're not engaging in "fair dealing". You are not saving a copy of my photo for your own personal use. You're actually broadcasting my watermarked picture.

2) My right to have my pictures shown in a certain context. The context of this photo was sustainable trail building practices and I object to my picture shown in the context of your website.

I would appreciate it if you would remove that photo from your website. I will check periodically to see if you have complied with my request. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Doug Chinnery