vn2009
Posts: 263
Location: duluth mn, United States
Registered: 24 Sep 2009
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copyrights again
Posted: 9 May 2011 at 17:46 GMT
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someoen please let me know if i am right. i sold some tours to a vacation home owner over 2 years ago. he now insists that I provide him all the source images used to create the tours and the source files that actually make up the tour itself. I am understanding that I own the copyrights to MY tours. The cleint has lifetime access the tours i created. His initial hosting agreement is over which is why this is happening. They now have to host the tours themselves. They are insisting on editable versions so they can change photos or text to suit his needs. They are not allowed to do that correct? Here is a snipet from the last email I received from one of his assistants.
"Copyright means you have the right to make copies and sell your works. However, when you sell a license to someone, they own that license to use the copy you sold to them. You don't get to tell them they cannot alter it over a year later. That would have needed to be explicitly stipulated in the license before the license was transferred, which it was not. And you cannot use the word "images" to mean "tours." They are not interchangeable.
Just because you have copyright, that does not mean you own the license you sold. They are separate things. When Bill paid you, he received a license to use his tours. There was no explicit prohibition from editing the tours at the time he received the license. Therefore, Bill has the right to use and edit his licensed copy of the tours. Just because you were hosting them, it doesn't mean you get to alter them before you give him his files.
If this doesn't make sense to you, I would suggest you consult an attorney, which I am not. The link you sent reflects what I am explaining."
At one point I told him he could use my still images in other forms of media at no charge. somehow they seemed to have thought that still images means virtual tours. am i correct in insisting that they do not own the tours and have no right to modify them without my consent?
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Tactus 360
Posts: 1245
Location: Tynset, Norway
Registered: 2 Sep 2010
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Re: copyrights again
Posted: 9 May 2011 at 18:06 GMT
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If you sold him the copyright, then he has the rights. Corrupt the files and give him those, deleting the originals. PLEASE PEOPLE... don't give away your copyright unless you have nothing to gain in the future.
Everything we do, as panographers, is our intellectual copyright unless you do something dumb, which is sign your rights away.
Jon
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vn2009
Posts: 263
Location: duluth mn, United States
Registered: 24 Sep 2009
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Re: copyrights again
Posted: 9 May 2011 at 18:12 GMT
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i have never once implied or given written release of my copyrights. i told him he could use some of the images in other brochures that is all.
he is assuming that since i did not explicitly tell him "you cannot edit the tours" he has the right to do what ever he wants with them. does my holding the copyright and him having a lisense to USE the product give him the right to modify the tours?
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Clay
Posts: 251
Location: Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada
Registered: 23 Aug 2004
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Re: copyrights again
Posted: 10 May 2011 at 1:15 GMT
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I think your customer has the right to use and perhaps even deconstruct the tours you gave him. (if that's even possible) However common sense says he doesn't have the rights to the project files from your stitching or tour creation software. I've faced this issue with parametric CAD files, and I've given the customer dumb solid models instead.
But I usually state this when I quote the project. Otherwise, what's to keep the client from shopping the job around whenever he feels like it and leaving you out in the cold?
In one case, I did give all the project files to the customer knowing that they were so hard to drive he'd come back to me anyway, which he did.
Perhaps a compromise might be ... "here's the equrectangular jpeg image with my company's lens cap. Here are the image files for the buttons, maps, etc. Call me if you want me to put it all together for you."
Tricky situation, though, best of luck,
Regards,
Clay
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Marco W
Posts: 111
Location: Bali, Indonesia
Registered: 12 Feb 2010
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Re: copyrights again
Posted: 10 May 2011 at 2:57 GMT
updated: 10 May 2011 at 3:06 GMT
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Legally the Photographer owns all copyright when not sign off clearly to the customer. That you gave him the files for publishing don't mean he owns those files, it is a copy of Your original files and you (the photographer) are the legal owner. As the "tour's" basic ingredient are "images" which are stitched resulting in an image for the equirectangular one could say that a "tour is images" I think.
As a professional shoots in raw format and doesn't provide those raw files to the client it should be clear who made the photos.
For myself, I will include this in my terms & conditions "contract" which we (me and customer) both sign before starting the photo shoot, it is clear then and signed.
You sure got a diffecult "client" here, but it looks like he doesn't have full information about the copyright subject and I am sure you are in a strong legal position when he cannot proof you signed off the copyright to him.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography_and_the_law
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Pedro
Posts: 35
Location: European Union
Registered: 10 May 2010
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Re: copyrights again
Posted: 10 May 2011 at 4:15 GMT
updated: 10 May 2011 at 4:16 GMT
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vn2009: Unless you explicitly signed away your rights over the production files, all the client is entitled to is to a copyright of your final product.
You never give away intermediate files, scene files, etc, just the final 360 VR in flash, quicktime or html5.
This email from the client assistant is b..s..
Try to edit or reverse engineering any "licensed" software you have and you will find yourself in trouble for sure.
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vn2009
Posts: 263
Location: duluth mn, United States
Registered: 24 Sep 2009
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Re: copyrights again
Posted: 10 May 2011 at 20:55 GMT
updated: 10 May 2011 at 20:56 GMT
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Thank you guys that is what I thought. When I hosted the files he did not have anything, when it got to the point where I had to provide him with files for him to host on his own I used Krpano's Protect tool. Which embeds my license file and the xmls into a single encrypted swf. I also encrypted all the icons and jpegs so if they try to open them outside of the tour they do not open. He wants to be able to edit the text and replace jpegs if he remodels his vacation homes i think, cutting me out of the loop.
I had a good feeling his requests were incorrect I just wanted to make sure.
I found alot of good info from this website. www.photolaw.net/faq.html
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mediavets
Posts: 1980
Location: Isleham, Cambs., United Kingdom
Registered: 8 Feb 2008
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Re: copyrights again
Posted: 10 May 2011 at 22:25 GMT
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If your difficult and vexatious client has the opportunity to damage your reputation and business by foul mouthing you to other potential clients - however unreasonably - then it may be a better bet to concede to his key wishes this time and then make sure you have more complete written and agreed T&Cs in place when dealing with new clients which spell out more precisely what they are and are not getting.
Andrew
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