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A Facebook Warning

Daddio

Daddio

Moderator
Staff member
There are many of you who remember my request for your magnets to give to a customer of mine. Your response was amazing and over 40 square feet of magnets were received. There was so much excitement about the generosity shown that the customer took pictures and emailed them to me. There was a verbal understanding these pictures would be placed in an album on Facebook.

Fast forward 3 years. One of the pictures from the album finds its way into a book written and published by a first time author without the permission of the subjects in the picture (the customer AND me). I get an email from the customer indicating they are “not comfortable” with the picture being used. I respond with “the pictures are on Facebook which is public and I had no knowledge of them being used.” I then received an email demanding the photos be removed and confirmation of their removal must be sent to the customers lawyer.

This customer was a weekly customer for over 5 years and has not ordered in the past month. This whole incident has cost me a customer who had ordered an average of $50 a week. The only part I played in this was to post the pictures (with permission of the customer) on Facebook so the people who gave magnets and the friends and family of the customer could see the generosity that was extended.

The moral of this story is don’t post pictures of customers or staff on Facebook. Stick to things that are 100% your property.
 
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Well, you (or whoever posted the pics of the magnets) still has ownership of the images put on facebook. The author has no legal right to use that image. It’s a use of image without permission, which is against US law. I’m no lawyer, don’t work for fb, and can hardly sit up straight this morning (out, damned cold) but it should be pretty clear to any legal stiff.
 
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When you upload an image to Facebook, you give them some kind of rights to that image…

For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.
 
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As a photographer in a previous life, copyright and rights ownership of images is a big thing. Don’t forget that buildings as well as people can hold rights over images.

I would advice that if you ever want to use a picture of a person or a building then something along these lines should be used. Nescafe used a picture of a guy on their coffee jars for years without a model release, they had to to pay the model over $6m in back fees.

Permission To Use Pictures

In consideration for value received, receipt whereof is acknowledged, I hereby give BUSINESS NAME the absolute right and permission to publish, copyright and use pictures of MODELS NAME HERE/Building which may be included in whole or in part, composite or retouched in character or form, in conjunction with the promotion of YOUR Business Name.

Photographs will always show MODELS NAME HERE in a positive role and will not be given, sold or exchanged to any organisation out side ofBusiness Name (optional, but advisable)

If the person photographed is under 18, I certify that I am his or her parent or legal guardian and I give my consent without reservation to the foregoing on his or her behalf.

Date:____________________________________
Name:____________________________________
Address:_________________________________
Phone: __________________________________
Signature:_______________________________

NOTE: I makes no warranties or representations in connections with this document. Independent legal advice should always be sought.
 
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