robr
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I'm looking for some advice for a friend, if you have some practical experience in these matters, I'd appreciate any advice I might pass along.
My friend is a professional photographer and one of the things he does is sells his photos through one of the online websites where anyone can license his photos for use and is limited in the number of times they can use the photo based on the license they purchase.
Recently he saw his photo in a print ad campaign for a major chain store, the picture however was being used on a product manufactured by a major electronics company that was being advertised by this chain store. He went to the major electronics company's website and it's shown on their product there as well. He's trying to find the product in a store to see if the photo is being used on product packaging as well. The picture in question was not purchased with this sort of license (I have asked him to get documented specifics about exactly what sort of license was purchased).
Now, this guy is upset at the moment and his first instinct was to pick up the phone and call the electronics company. I explained this isn't the way that things are done and that's the last thing he wants to do until he gets the advice of an attorney. They'll just sick their legal department on him and those guys are experts at shutting down the layman. I guess I'm wondering what the next step should be. Has anyone here dealt with this sort of situation before and if so, any recommendations on an experienced intellectual property attorney that would take this kind of case on contingency? Given the size of this company, there is potential money if a suit was successful, it's not like he'd be suing "Joe's website". For purposes of where the suit would be brought and where he'd likely need representation, the electronics company's USA headquarters is in NY and the photographer is located in CT.
Thanks, Rob
My friend is a professional photographer and one of the things he does is sells his photos through one of the online websites where anyone can license his photos for use and is limited in the number of times they can use the photo based on the license they purchase.
Recently he saw his photo in a print ad campaign for a major chain store, the picture however was being used on a product manufactured by a major electronics company that was being advertised by this chain store. He went to the major electronics company's website and it's shown on their product there as well. He's trying to find the product in a store to see if the photo is being used on product packaging as well. The picture in question was not purchased with this sort of license (I have asked him to get documented specifics about exactly what sort of license was purchased).
Now, this guy is upset at the moment and his first instinct was to pick up the phone and call the electronics company. I explained this isn't the way that things are done and that's the last thing he wants to do until he gets the advice of an attorney. They'll just sick their legal department on him and those guys are experts at shutting down the layman. I guess I'm wondering what the next step should be. Has anyone here dealt with this sort of situation before and if so, any recommendations on an experienced intellectual property attorney that would take this kind of case on contingency? Given the size of this company, there is potential money if a suit was successful, it's not like he'd be suing "Joe's website". For purposes of where the suit would be brought and where he'd likely need representation, the electronics company's USA headquarters is in NY and the photographer is located in CT.
Thanks, Rob
