Hi there,
I need advice. One company (letter box) company took a picture of my house without my consent and they stick it on the retail box , you may see it at Bunnings Warehouse. What can i do about it ?
This is my house
http://i.imgur.com/vaJ21S1.jpg
Thanks to Thrift for the pic
They were photoshopped out just in case someone was thinking of filing a lawsuit.
*there're?
(just curious; grammarnazi unintended)
I dont see the floating features box at your house also? "Key lockable", "Suits A4 Mail" and "Newspaper Holder"
Sandlefords house has these features.
Awesome
Kick and scream all you'd like - wont get you anything but a headache. Take some advice from Frozen's Elsa - let it go.
go take a picture of their office and start using it to advertise something
CALL BIKIES.
That's not your house. They are all the same when you buy a house off the plan. There are probably 1000's of them built by the same builder.
i didnt buy house off the plan. that is why i know 1000000% is my house.
The wood grain is different as ate heaps of other things
The product shot (taken from a slightly different angle and with a longer lens than OP's shot) has been photoshopped and printed onto the box (takes on a new texture). They are the same location, here's some identical features: http://i.imgur.com/vaJ21S1.jpg
@Thrift: you have something wrong with your eyes. Identical means just that and not kinda similar. There is only one spot in the circles you have drawn that could be considered identical.
There is more spots to add.
But the one that proves it the most is on the left side of the fence, 2nd visible wood panel from the floor.
It has the an Identical 3 spot pattern on the wood.
Your house / garden look like 50 houses I walk past when I walk the dog.
take a picture and show it to us..
please take at least ~40-ish pics for good comparison. Please and thank you ;P
No picture no proof
write them a letter or call them. the company themselves might not be aware if it too. they probably hired some guy off the street to do it for them
the photographer should be someone who lives nearby/in the neighbourhood and really like his place.
Yeh good point - the company probably hired some graphic designer to do it, and might not even be aware.
i saw on the website. they are not a small company. i still dont believe they do something like that… well.. it doesnt hurt to ask permission doesnt it ?
What are you wanting from this anyway? Compensation or something?
It sounds like a ridiculous topic you hear coming from America. I think I saw this same topic on an episode of Judge Judy or Jerry Springer once.
My advice, grow a pair and deal with it.
thanks :)
… And miss out on a free letterbox upgrade, or fame & fortune (unlikely, even ACA wouldn't pay much), or at the very least… A letter from the company =)
There's so much to lose by just growing "a pair"…
Ha ha. ACA would love this story. I mean they took a picture of his whole house and used it……oh wait sorry. They only took a picture of some grass and a bush. I take that back.
Nice job on the landscaping OP.
I would be honoured if my garden/house/letterbox got featured in Bunnings.
i would too.. it would be nice though with my permission first. dont you think ?
Are you just looking for "honour" or $$$ ?
Perhaps not that much honour in asking for money in this situation…
Its like copying a book without referencing it.
@zolinger: Don't joke about that stuff. I've lost so many marks in referencing. Had a very harsh marking lecturer. Got docked marks for incorrect comma placements, incorrect capitalizing, etc. True story.
I did graphic design for many years and you only have to change something 20% which has more than happened in this case. Sure, it might be your house but no one cares.
There is no "20% changed" value, that's just as wrong as "you're allowed to copy 10% of a book".
I'm more interested in the idea that it could be a pic belonging to the OP or friends/family posted online and then used by someone else…..
The lens choice and framing look like it was specifically shot as a background for the letterbox. I'd think OP would be more interested in showing the front yard rather than lining things up for the letterbox.
(I know a few photographers that take these sort of shots for commercial work - product shots, band photos (mansion gates with lion statues are popular) sort of thing. Location releases aren't required as it's photographed from public property and there's no protected rights infringed.)
@Thrift: Thanks for a well versed comment instead of a "you are wrong!!!!" type of reply :) That's a fair enough point….
@Forfiet: You raise a valid point - it would be infringing if it were OP's photo (no matter how much it was modified), or even if they took a very similar shot that OP had published on the web. However there would be little penalty unless OP actually suffered loss - it would probably amount to an equivalent stock photo fee.
The 10% rule is being taught in universities. May I ask how it's wrong? (Aspiring law student here).
Up to 10% of the number of pages (or an entire chapter) is allowed under the Copyright Act only for research or study, but not for commercial use, criticism, parody, etc. Ie, there's generally no blanket 10% allowance if you're republishing. Also, while a student is allowed to copy part of a work for research/study, a business couldn't do it for them - the student can operate the photocopier, but a Kinko's visual-replication-engineer couldn't do it for them.
Cheers. I dug out my textbook and this is taken directly (with snips) from it:
'fair dealing' - for the purpose of research and study, or for criticism or reviews, or for parody or satire is not an infringement.
So parody and satire are allowed in that 10% rule too. Has this changed in recent history?
@Dagmar: the law isn't as vague as that snippet. 'Fair dealing' isn't 10%, there are specific circumstances and conditions and it's different for different types of works (e.g. 10% for study/research applies only to written works, not audio or video).
The Copyright Council have a few handy factsheets explaining what is allowed under 'fair dealing':
Fair Dealing: What Can I Use Without Permission
Permission: Do I Need it?
Quotes & Extracts explains how it's not about how much you copy, rather how important/essential/distinctive the part you copy is.
These allowances are still quite restrictive. In most cases you can't take someone's photo or design, change 20% or 90% of it and claim 'fair use'. You can't post a music video or movie to YouTube and claim it's allowed for "educational use". There are a specific set of conditions that have to be met.
You should start a tour using the burnings advertisement in your marketing for the tour. It would be like the real Kramer tour. That will show them.
Yeah. I don't know. It looks different enough that the average person probably wouldn't even notice it. If people start knocking on your door trying to lodge complaints about the product or something then I would be angry.
Hi, I find locations for a job, and there's nothing you can do. If the image was taken on your peppery it would be a different thing
A tad more spicy?
There are a lot of comments on here, so I'm sorry if its already been said; but what's the problem with them having an image of your house? Especially if its not clearly visible that's its yours? And do you plan to take action or are you just wondering if there is anything you can do about this?
… Or gain from it.
Or maybe his reputation is in tatters? I mean this is a bigger offence than a company not accepting your pizza vouchers!
But seriously, I would be upset too, but there's no law that was broken here…
I still don't get why, but anyway.
wtf would this bother you….
the UBD had my car on the front of it one year (1990s), the number plate wasnt even blurred out…. do you think i cared…. i was actually flattered, i was famous in my mind…
Haha. Cool story.
No doubt you've won a number of "who's car is the more famous?" contests. =)
well i lied, was actually my dads car… but was pretty funny.. was on riverside express way brisbane…
sue for 8 billion dollars in mental stress it has caused you
And share it around to your ozbargain friends.
Tell me about it. The news used one of my YouTube videos for self gain and I can't do shit about it!
I think that you can do something about… Though doubtful it will result in any monetary gain…
They take the photo from a street, which is a public area. So they have all the rights to do that. Its like taking a photo of the city and sticking it on your website. Its impossible to get permission from all the buildings owner, isn't it? Unless there is a personal information being compromised then I don't think they have done anything wrong here.
Contact them and say how you appreciate the photos being used rather than throwing some complaints. Maybe they will send you a free letterbox.
Could be worse. They could have taken photos of your wife..
Could be worse. You could have a pee stained letterbox … oh.
The reason they didn't ask for your permission is because they didn't need to lol
Such a nice place and you leave your bins out in front of your door?
thanks. nah.. my little one was sleeping at the front room, so i cant wheel them yet, otherwise it will make alot of noise. he is a light sleeper..
Have a +
:)
What goes around, comes around.
You keep your outside bins in your front room?
i think it's normal, how much you want from them?
i dont want anything, again, its my property, so it would be nice if they ask me first, well,,, if they dont use it for commercial purposes thats a different story…
it's different looking, it's legit
if you said so…
Fwp fakeer
is it a photo (without their edit) that you posted somewhere, say Flikr, etc without saying no copies?
Not enough looks the same
Looks like any display home
The skeptic in me says OP is the graphic designer who was contracted by Sandleford. Or this is a guerrilla marketing ploy.
check with builders they would have created 100s of homes similar to that.
Calm down Nillionare, we heard you the first time. Are you Hippies Wife or something?
Can a mod please add Thrift's side-by-side photo comparison into the OP?
See this: Link
There are no laws that stop someone posting photos/ videos of you taken from a public location, even when you are on private property. So someone can post a photo of you in your home or garden as long as it was taken from the public footpath. Similarly, there are no laws that stop people posting photos of you taken from property they have permission to be on (such as their private property), even when you are on private property.
Hope it helps.
Cheers, gonna take photos of the hot chick across the street!
Depends if you want to be greedy or not. Ask them to remove it thru an email.. or if you want, you can attempt to "demand" money from them or you will threaten to take action.
Is that cat piss on your letter box =|
lol what a non thread.
OP just wants money, its the society we live in.
sorry but u're wrong… I dont need the money. Simple explanation from the company will do, or maybe apologize using the image without my consent ( for commercial purposes ) I dont mind ppl coming take a picture and share it everywhere, but not for commercial use.
Doesn't look similar at all.
So some other guys also said it's not the same. And then?
Stand outside your house with the product in question saying "Well, hello there, children!" That'll show 'em
Nice letter box. I made mine out of spare bits and pieces of wood and aluminium.
Are you certain that this house design is not generic? I mean there could be more houses with this design if you got it built from a builder that provides certain generic designs.
If u dont know, u better not to comment , i designed every bit of it myself, so i know 100% its mine. So just look away mate…
this is the lamest thread i've seen from ozbargain yet
Really? Haven't read many then…
If your house is a package house from a builder theres probably a few houses that look pretty similar, so it could be someone elses house.
Are you legitimately affected by this? Or are you merely wanting compensation because something of yours was used for financial gain?
You have stated several times that if asked, you wouldn't have minded. If there is nothing to give away your location in the picture, I'd just let it slide. Not worth the effort if you are unsure as to what outcome you want by taking it further.
Is that a serious comment or a joke? Bins get moved on trash day and other occasions as they are inherently a moveable object……