Recent Legal Articles

Think You're Being Spied On? Here's How to Find Hidden Cameras

Have you ever had the feeling that something in your hotel room wasn't quite right? Or that someone, somehow was watching you? This will help guide you through the process of finding hidden cameras if they've been planted in your room.

Man Steals Image, Gets Sued, Calls Photographer 'Malicious'

You may or may not know that I occasionally write satirical articles for Fstoppers. This is not one of those articles. An Internet "entrepreneur" was sued for using a copyrighted image, and he now claims the photographer who sued him was "malicious" for doing so.

Man Pushes Photographer Into Lake in Unprovoked Attack, Damages $3,000 of Gear

Video footage shows the moment an unprovoked man decides to push a photographer into a nearby pond, injuring her and submerging her $3,000 worth of gear into the water. The clip sees members of the public rally around to support the woman, while the attacker tries to downplay his actions.

Bay Area Photographer Facing Action After Taking Photo of Golden Gate Bridge From 'Illegal Angle'

A Bay Area photographer is facing legal trouble for posting a composited picture of the Golden Gate Bridge with the blood moon, which was taken from an “illegal angle.” The Bridge District claims the angle shows that the photographer must have trespassed into a restricted area in order to get the shot and wants the photo removed from his website — something he refuses to do.

Instagram Freebooting Is Out of Control and the Company Is Letting It Happen

As Instagram evolves, copyright violations don't seem to be an issue for this social media giant. More images mean more views which mean more ad revenue, and there is zero incentive for Instagram to take any serious action against reposters, lost as it is in this huge gray area of what constitutes a breach of intellectual property.

Court Rules Images That Are Found and Used From the Internet Are 'Fair Use'

A legal battle that erupted between a photographer and a Film Festival after the latter used a copyrighted photo has concluded with a federal court in Virginia, which ruled that taking an image from the Internet without permission for a commercial website can be considered fair use.

Sweet, Sweet Justice: How a Stolen Photo Cost the Thief $60,000

It's no secret that photographers often have to deal with people stealing their photos and showing little respect for the hard work that goes into creating a quality image. So, it's always nice to see when a bit of justice is handed out and the photographer's rights are upheld.

Well If This Isn't the Pot Calling The Kettle 'Fade To Black'

I'll admit, I was a little shocked when I came across Henri Kack's Reddit post last week. That's right, the band notorious for taking down Napster in the Northern California Lawsuit filed in December of 1999, is now being accused of using an image from a concert photographer/fan without permission. Released on the band's official Metallica YouTube page on November 17, 2016, in the latest video for their song "Murder One" you can see at 5:33 the image in question. Although altered and animated, it's clear that this is indeed the same image that can be found on Kack's DeviantArt page.

When Viral Wedding Photos Attack

If you spent even a moderate amount of time on Facebook back in late September, you likely saw a viral video and photo about a wedding photographer who captured a genuinely heartwarming moment in which a bride's biological father stopped the wedding procession to grab the step-father from his seat so they could both walk her down the aisle. While millions of collective "awws" were emitted then, fast forward six weeks and now the situation has resulted in lawsuits and death threats involving the photographer.

Canon Italy Responds and the Locardi Landscape Saga Continues

This week I wrote an article pointing out that Canon Italy (among other Canon EU pages and Instagram accounts) had posted a composite landscape that had a large amount of the image stolen from Elia Locardi. There was an enormous response to this and so I decided to dig for more information and between my research, the community, and Locardi himself, there's rather a lot more to unpack.

After Banning Some Third-Party Lenses, What Does Canon's RF Future Look Like?

Recently, Canon banned the production and sales of some third-party lenses for its RF mount cameras. Many photography enthusiasts bemoaned the decision and claimed Canon would lose out because of it. Now that Canon has confirmed the prohibition, what does the future look like for its RF mount cameras and lenses?

NTSB Issues Final Report on Collision Between Drone and Army Helicopter

The National Transportation Safety Board has issued its final report on a midair collision between a DJI Phantom drone and a Black Hawk helicopter in September of 2017 that damaged one of the rotor blades of the helicopter, becoming one of the first confirmed and fully investigated incidents between a drone and a manned aircraft.

Hotel Chain Attempts to Trick Photographer Into Granting Rights to Use, Sell and License His Images

A photographer is warning others after an encounter with a Hilton-owned hotel recently, which saw the company try to deceptively obtain the rights to use his images freely, including to sell. The company tried to entice him to allow them to "share" the image, but the fine print revealed it would allow the hotel to use the images for profit any way they wished.