GreyCrow
TheBrownDog
- Mar 21, 2016
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The only claim you can make , and which Sheila Smart is campaigning for is if you as a commercial site used another photo to promote your or another business on your siteThis is because a content creator may make money for selling their content for non-commercial use. For example, a landscape photographer may sell high-resolution digital copies of their work to everyday people who then view it for personal enjoyment (this is non-commercial use).
However, if the content creator doesn't make money for non-commercial use, eg. they already freely post their photos on another website and make no money from doing so, then there are no 'damages' to claim. It is important in any civil case for there to be measurable damages; if not, the claim is largely irrelevant and will be dismissed.
For example, if I take a photo and post it on my personal website that is ad-free and can be accessed for free, I am distributing my work for free. If another website copies this image and posts it on their website, particularly if it is clear who took the photo, there is no way I can claim damages for this other website posting my image. The reason for this is that anyone can go view the image on my personal website for free anyway, so in either case (viewed on my website, viewed on the copier's website) I don't make any gain.