Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

On May 23, 2009, I posted a series of my Hipepastrum Cybister 'Bogota' photos at photobucket.com and shared the links and the photos at a Gardenweb discussion forum.

The URL of the discussion thread is as follows : http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/amaryllishippeastrum/msg0510535525659.html

However, yesterday, when browsing two on-line retailers, one of my photos is used for their online catalogue, ie the two on-line retailers are using my photo to for their on-line business with a view to make profit and obtain financial gains. They do this without obtaining my permission.

The link to the site is as follows :

Easy to Grow bulbs. com : http://www.willowcreekgardens.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1298

Willow Creek Gardens : http://www.easytogrowbulbs.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1713

Can you advise me on the proper legal procure and my legal stand on this? Please advise me on the compensation that I should demand from the site-owners.

Thank you.


Asked on 8/30/09, 11:32 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Gordon Firemark Law Offices of Gordon P. Firemark

Sounds like infringement of copyright.

You can issue DMCA takedown notices to the hosting companies on which these websites are hosted, AND you can sue these companies for infringing the copyrights in your photos.

Unfortunately, unless you registered your copyright in the images within 90 days of their first publication, you probably cannot get your attorney's fees or statutory damages. You'll likely be limited to your ACTUAL damages.

My guess is that those damages don't amount to much.

So, the DMCA takedown notice is your best bet. At least it will get the images DOWN off the 'net.

DMCA takedowns are not complicated, but CAN be a bit technical.; You'll do best to hire a lawyer who's done them before.

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Answered on 8/31/09, 1:05 am


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