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  • From: JS Hatcher <s0456260 AT sms.ed.ac.uk>
  • To: cc-uk AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Cc-uk] Granting commercial rights you don't possess
  • Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 10:12:41 -0500


On 24 Oct, 2005, at 9:57 AM, Paul Dixon wrote:

There are some public places in the UK where professional photography
requires a permit, such as Trafalgar Square (source [1]). What happens
when someone publishes one of their amateur snaps under a CC licence
allowing commercial activity (see [2] for example)

This raises a number of questions I'd be interested in hearing opinion on...

1) If a photographer is aware of the prohibition, can they actually
grant commercial terms? Is the licence void as a result?


You can't grant what you don't own. The photographer owns a copyright in the photograph no matter if it infringes or not. The license applies to that photograph, but doesn't mean that the photo doesn't infringe someone else's copyright. It might help to think of a photo of a painting.

2) In most cases like this, I would imagine the photographer is unaware
of the prohibition. Who is exposing themselves to potential legal
action? Someone using the image commercially? The original photographer?
A site like Geograph distributing the image for free?

The answer here is that if the photograph infringes, then everyone is exposed. State of mind is not a factor in copyright infringement, nor is commercial use. These factors may play into the damages aspect of a suit.

3) there's no mechanism for "recall" with a CC licence, once the subject
matter is "out there" and someone has exercised the licence there's no
way to put the genie back in the bottle. How do we deal with situations
where a photographer or third party discovers a potental licence
problems months or years after a work was licenced?


I'm not so sure that the "genie is out of the bottle" any more than any other infringing use on the internet, such as music. The difficulties policing copyright on the internet are the same.

Thanks!

--Jordan
http://twitchgamer.net





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