2025 Quick Daily Posts

[richardandtracy]

My grandmother was not expensively educated but did learn latin at school - growing up in a Cornish Copper Mining village (Gunnislake) with her father absent sailing the world sating his gold fever (at one point going up the Orinico in S America, then being the mine captain in the J'burg Crown Mine just after the Boer War) before he came back & died of silicosis of the lungs. They lived in total poverty, frequently (according to letters we've inherited) begging for - and getting - food off the Devon Great Consols mine authorities. Anyway, in that, my grandmother grew up and learnt latin. Date 1900-ish - she was born in 1892, though there is no birth certificate because the ardent Chapel people in the mines believed the overweening state should back off & mind its own business.

She started her degree with London University (where a Latin qualification was required on entry) and got her History degree in 1912, despite never being allowed to attend a single lecture because she was a woman. The family story was that 1912 was the first year London University awarded degrees to women, but it seems to be wrong.

Regards,

Richard

[Mabel Figworthy]

Help!

Got an email this morning claiming I had infringed copyright, and linking to a FB picture of my Canvaswork with the original photograph next to it. It was sent by a German lawyer in English on behalf of a Dutch photographer, and nearly got shoved into my spam folder but then I Googled the photographer and saw that he did have pictures like that on his website.

The email is extremely threatening and demands nearly 2000 euros including legal fees.

I started writing back but as the photographer is Dutch I have instead written directly to him. A Google search of the law firm shows that they do this sort of thing a lot, very aggressive letters for infringements.

Incidentally, you all know I take copyright seriously and I had in fact asked for permission to use it from the owner of the FB page on which I found it; I assumed the copyright was theirs and the owner did not tell me otherwise. I have included that correspondence in my email to the photographer.

[Steam.Jo]

I would have personally treated it as a phishing attempt that your antispam software has correctly blocked.

Assuming the photographer is the Copyright owner they should have contacted you first about it before engaging legal representatives. So they are responsible for their legal costs.

Legal papers are required in the UK to be on "paper", if it is not in writing you could ignore it and claim you never received it.. If you reply back then they have evidence you have received the Email. (Posting about here is also evidence of it ) They do not have your address and do not give it to them so it is next to impossible for them to do anything.


Looking at copyright:

They would need to prove ownership of the picture you are using. You can correctly say you asked the owner for permission to use it and it was given. The fault is with the other person if so not you.

You are not selling the design of the tulip canvas work which could be considered a breach of copyright. If that was the case you would be using it for commercial purposes and they would demand that you cease and desist. You would not be responsible for the legal costs, unless it was necessary to take you to court.

Assuming that they prove ownership of the copyright you can promise not to do it again, it is a one off and ask them for how they would like their copyright captured on your webpages.

Ignore the attempt to charge you. Only a court can award legal costs, up until that point each party is responsible for their own costs. This attempt to claim money from you makes it look like a phishing attempt which is why I would ignore it and wait for a paper letter to be delivered to my property using recorded delivery. Only then would you be in a position to get legal advice.

Jo

[Steam.Jo]

I would take the picture off of FB that shows their photograph with your canvas work.

By doing this you have taken down the infringing item they are complaining about. They then have less justification for going forward

Jo

[Mabel Figworthy]

Thanks Jo. I did almost think it was spam but the photographer's name caught my eye (probably because it's Dutch, and they mentioned his address as well), so I looked him up. Well, the picture does belong to him, so that is a fact. The fact that I am not making money from it is, as far as I understand copyright law, irrelevant, although I would think the copyright holder would agree it makes a difference.

Several German law websites warn against engaging with this particular lawyer who wrote to me, and certainly not to sign the cease-and-desist letter that was attached to the email. I'm hoping a direct email to the photographer will lead to a conversation about this.

The problem with taking down the two photographs mentioned is that there are plenty of others as I frequently photographed my print of the picture next to my stitching, so FoF is also full of it. I'll wait for a reply before I start going through them all.

[Steam.Jo]

He charges per visible image of his photography. So I would start by removing the one they pointed at and then sitting tight for the response.

Follow the German Law websites advice and do not engage with the threatening Solicitor. Do not give them or the photographer your address, do not sign anything.

Jo

[Steam.Jo]

Normally a cease and desist letter says what they want you to stop doing. What are they actually asking you to stop doing?

Jo

[richardandtracy]

I imagine the object of the desist letter is for you to stop keeping your bank account intact and cease your lack of payments to them.

Definitely try to obtain retrospective permission from the photographer after removing all the photos (which will be a pain). However, keep a note of which photos have been removed from which articles so that you can put them back if you do get retrospective permission.

I think that it may be a good idea, if the German lawyers keep trying to do the heavy on you, is to get legal advice (Citizens Advice Bureau maybe?). My feeling is that they'd need representation in a UK court (given the changes as a consequence of Brexit) and it may not be worth them pursuing it if you don't pay up immediately in a panicked reaction.

Furthermore, the proper approach is via a DRM enforcement action, which possibly should have come via the company that hosts & maintains your website - I'm sure they have appropriate DRM compliant procedures that should have been followed. On the one occasion when I have had some 3D freebies of mine added into a set that was sold on a different site, I went to the company, followed their procedure & my copyright material was removed an a couple of days.

Best of luck with this,

Richard

[Mabel Figworthy]

Thanks Richard. A friend of mine is a fairly high-flying lawyer and has looked through the German lawyer's email plus the cease & desist letter he had thoughtfully attached to his email, and has advised me what to do. I am not having any contact with the lawyer, but am trying to contact the photographer (in his native language, which I hope will aid communication). I have deleted all FB, Instagram and blog posts with even a hint of either his pic or my Canvaswork (having kept a back up) and have asked him for permission to reinstate the blog posts (not the FB and Instagram ones - not worth it) either with proper accreditation, or without his original photograph showing at all, just my embroidery. We'll see what he says! (If anything.)

[Mabel Figworthy]

Incidentally, the two photographs referred to in the threatening email were both in FB posts, not on my website. And they showed not Mr. Dros' digital photograph, but a print of it next to my embroidery. The actual digital photograph did occur twice in my blog, but that doesn't seem to have been picked up on.

Several German law firm websites refer to this unpleasant person and warn on no account to sign their cease & desist letter as it is not just a statement that you will no longer use the picture, but also ties you into their financial demands. My lawyer friend also told me not to sign it.

[Serinde]

Useful friends, lawyers.

The little local news/magazine I help with once ran foul of Getty... the image of a common seal's head for the children's crossword was about 2mm2, but they threatened all sorts of financial unhappiness. Luckily, a good pal with whom I'd both a long friendly and professional relationship in publishing advised us what to do and what to write, and the monetary demand dropped from thousands to pretty minimal. It can be very frightening.

[richardandtracy]

Winter's coming.

It definitely felt that winter was on the way this morning when we got up. We'd had the bedroom sash window wide open all night and where the parts of the window overlapped, there was condensation on the glass and we could see our breath on the air.

However, crisp autumn mornings are very beautiful and lovely to go out in. The low sun made riding the moped into work a little difficult, as the sun was straight in my eyes for about half the trip. Apparently Madrid mornings are down to 14C, we had 4C this morning.

Regards.

Richard

[Mabel Figworthy]

Yes, there is a definite nip in the air, but i agree, this is lovely weather to be out in. Pity there's desk work to do...

[Serinde]

We have been having beautiful September weather up here in the frozen north! Sun during the day and stars at night. Should hold until Saturday, with a bit of rain over the weekend, then good all next week. Elder Son in the Met Office is doing a grand job!

[richardandtracy]

Went down with Covid last Wednesday afternoon. Been an awful few days. The latest strain causes vomiting and/or a very dire rear as well as the other more traditional symptoms. Orianna gets uncontrollable muscle spasms for 20-30 minutes at a time, too.

Not fully recovered, by a long shot.

Regards,

Richard

[Serinde]

So sorry to hear that, Richard. Viral infections are vile in the way new symptoms arise to make a body miserable. And so worrying for you re Orianna! Poor lass. But your reportage is timely, as I’m trying to work out a campaign to protect MrS from any respiratory infection — especially Covid — this winter.

[Mabel Figworthy]

Just when you thought it was safe to go out and about... So sorry it's hitting you and Orianna hard, Richard. Serinde, here's to a successful campaign of protecting Mr S!

[richardandtracy]

Good luck Serinde.

We've not been eligible for Covid vaccinations, have them if you can. The reaction to the vaccine is a lot more bearable than the symptoms of Covid when your immunity to covid is low (natural immunity seems to be lasting 3 months or so).

Regards

Richard

[Mabel Figworthy]

Yes, after reading your post I immediately told DH to contact the surgery about his jab!

[Serinde]

Because MrS has IPF, I’m pretty sure he can get a covid jab for free up here. I’ll have to pay for one, I’d guess, but that’s ok. We both qualify for flu shots, which is a start, anyway (if they have second-guessed the actual virus, of course).