All Things Bubba: Somebody call the copyright police!

Monday, July 11, 2011

So, last year I took some photos of a game at PNC Field in Scranton, PA. Including this photo of Rick Sweet, the Louisville Bats manager:

It's now one of the first images that comes up when you Google for images of Rick Sweet. Apparently, not a lot of people take his picture.

The Louisville Bats have an official blog now, and lo and behold...they're using my photo on it.

Here are the images side by side, resized so they're the same size:

And here's an overlay, with the Bats banner image at 50% transparency directly over my image:

Someone call the copyright police! My intellectual property has been stolen! I demand $500,000 in penalties and damages, in accordance with the DMCA!

Or a Paul Janish game-used jersey. That would be good, too.

Actually, if they'd just asked, I'd have said yes. It's kind of lame that they swipe pics off the net like they're a 12-year-old on MySpace.

I suppose I'm living in a bit of a glass house here, since I've been known to...er...borrow wire service images from time to time. But I'm just a fan. I'm not making a cent off my blog or web site. The Louisville Bats are a for-profit corporation. It's surprising they would just Google for images and help themselves to whatever they like, without acquiring the rights legitimately.

And they're lucky I'm just a hobbyist photographer who doesn't really care if people "borrow" my pics. If they'd swiped the image of a pro photographer, they'd likely get a takedown notice, if not a lawsuit. Pro photographers tend to be very protective of their work, since it is their livelihood.