Introduction

We are living in an era of planetary transition! All types of therapy, knowledge, personal development courses for all tastes, at your fingertips. The world changed! And it will continue to change.

The pandemic came to accelerate our evolution, which is always done through chaos, the big shake that moves us out of place. And now it came in a collective and worldwide way.

“Don’t you want to grow up, humans? Will you continue to disrespect this beautiful planet? So, let’s leave the comfort zone, just a little bit”.

Nature and life always find their way. Lavoisier already said, “In nature nothing is lost, everything is created, everything is transformed”.

 

Value companies!

We live in the age of technology and of startups.

Do you understand what a Startup is and why this type of company is successful? They are people who create a new business model with their own resources and who are always based on innovation, such as the Uber and Easy apps, which in addition to innovation, brought convenience and low prices to the consumer, transforming individual transportation into collective and livelihoods, which allowed work and income to countless unemployed people. It adds value to the world. If we used to live in a society with companies that only aimed at profit, today Startups come with a new concept of “Let’s improve the world! And we are going to do it quickly ”.

A Startup usually adds values ​​such as innovation, new ideas and sustainability.

With all this, I make it a point to share an experience that I have been living with for just over a week.

 

Facial recognition technology (Facebook)

We know that Facebook uses a technology called facial recognition to help tag its users in photos and videos, right? This excellent technology is used by several countries to search for people and even missing animals, in addition to looking for terrorists, criminals and protecting society from bad people, correct? Not always! It depends on who uses the technology.

 

Alert to everyone who has a website!

At least two companies and their representatives in different countries are using this technology to “supposedly” protect the copyrights of photographers worldwide.

Evolution? Yes and no! As a result, a type of industry has emerged around the world, which some are naming as something like the “Image compensation industry”.

It looks a bit like the Brazilian experience with the Fines Industry. At the beginning of the use of radars, it was evident that the government won over the fines. It is clear that a fine and a speed limit are correct, but there was a certain abuse, when the speed limits were changed in a certain place and installed radars there, without any information to the drivers. To prevent abuse, a law was created that requires the signaling of areas and information to drivers about the limits and areas with supervision.

 

Now in Brazil!

In the supposed “Image indemnity industry”, the Internet user is not informed of what may happen. There are many people, without knowledge, being approached in an intimidating way in several countries. And now this is starting in Brazil.

Let it be clear that I am in favor of Copyright. What is at issue here is a possible abuse of a Law by some of what should be in favor of art. What goes beyond the limit of common sense and harms ordinary and unsuspecting people in several countries and now in Brazil.

 

Search on Google!

After a brief search on Google, I could see the names of two companies that are often mentioned in this regard, especially in the United States, England, Scotland and France, whose reputation is questioned on several sites.

I was approached in an intimidating manner by one of the companies, which claims to protect the copyright of photographers.

So far, so good, since I am a writer and my articles are republished on various websites and magazines, with due description.

However, I have not been contacted at any time before, asking me to take the image off the air. That is, there is no consideration and common sense about how the image is being used (Literary Blog) and gains from using the image (none!). The common sense of fair use does not seem to exist!

 

Questions to think about!

Based on a law that is still malleable in Brazil, this type of company seems to feel entitled to charge high indemnities from people like me, with a non-commercial, non-commercial literary blog, with few followers and a low rate of views.

I question myself about the ethics and common sense of charging indemnities that far exceed the original value of an image, of someone who did not profit from using won nothing with the image and was not even alerted about the fact that it is protected by copyright.

I emphasize that it is these companies that determine the amount of compensation.

 

Fragile law

Even though the law, at this moment allows for an indemnity charge, the intention behind this type of “business” is doubtful, which does not seem to aim at the simple protection of the work of photographers, but what they already name as something more like “kicking” a dead dog ”.

The use of this technology is being used by some representatives via the Home Office, to approach ordinary citizens, in a way that coerces and creates fear. It pays off and nobody takes the trouble to even argue the issue before a judge.

This company is not a lawyer and does not even have the properly registered copyright of the appropriate photographers, they are representatives. Their job is to virtually search for photos, generate proofs and start a sequence of emails that work with a psychological background.

In the United States a lawyer is being sued for the exorbitant number of lawsuits like this, highlighting the abuse of the use of the Copyright Protection Act by companies of this type.

See below:

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20200626/18131744799/copyright-troll-richard-liebowitz-benchslapped-sanctioned-again-massive-filing-detailing-pages-upon-pages-him-lying-under-oath. shtml

 

Scam !!!

I had never read that word in English so much when searching the history on Google with references to these companies, known worldwide, for acting to intimidate people virtually until they pay exorbitant amounts, in an attempt to avoid a lawsuit because of the expense.

Technological progress? Much!

Advance of conscience? Not everyone, unfortunately.

I am adept at becoming a loyal customer of people and companies that make a difference in the world. A customer of those who have a definite purpose and who no longer think individually. We’re all tired, aren’t we? It is so good when a person can trust a company with eyes closed. Too bad it doesn’t represent the majority.

How many pandemics will it take to transform the human being as a whole? I don’t know, but considering my experience,  that experience, it seems to me that one will not be enough.

 

What could be the real copyright protection solutions?

Please Google, give us a little help!

My frustration in falling into this situation is the level of injustice it involves. If photographers and companies really want to protect their copyrights, why not request a breakthrough in technology as an express Google warning to the user when they download a protected image?

Some companies that sell their images put a kind of mark on the photos, such as a watermark , or leave them with watermark quality, so that everyone knows that they are for sale. And so they also curb their use. Why don’t the others do the same, for example? I am not an expert, but I believe that there must be other, more just ways to solve the problem.

 

How the alert works today. It works?

Currently, when we download any image from Google, the only information we can see is a very discreet phrase in the corner of the screen saying: Images may be copyrighted. I had never seen before. This, at a time in society when people don’t stop to read any warning, and everyone knows it. It takes a lot more to truly alert a user. What if he is a minor? The exorbitant charge goes to whom? To parents?

That is, an unsuspecting person decides to make a Blog or a cool post and uses any image. Yes, we can also be charged for using an image on social networks, stay tuned! Then, without any request to “please remove the image from the web, if you have not purchased it”, you receive an exorbitant ticket (this was the first approach), even if you did not use the photo for commercial purposes and did not receive any amount with the use of it.

 

 

Copyright. There is no way to know if there are Copyrights or not in PDF files as well as in photographs on the web. At least, not automatically. Even so, we are being punished.

 

Tutorial to find out if an image is Copyrighted or not:

 

 

Seeing the tutorial above, I realized that Google has the information that photos are copyrighted or not, but this is not explicit to the user.

Google! Please help the citizens of this planet not to have to go through the embarrassment of being charged and processed for something that you can solve by inhibiting the Download or expressly informing us, the users!!!

Google! Please help us!

Let us make this society a really better place to live!

And no longer a society full of loopholes where a few smart ones take advantage of the majority. This is incredibly sad!

Google, please speak up!

 

United States Fair Use Act

In the United States, there is a law called “Fair Use”, which means that the use of the image is considered before any claim for damages. Was the photo used for commercial purposes? Was there a monetary gain on this use? If not, the Blogger is asked to buy the photo if he wants to continue using it, or to stop using it.

See Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

 

To determine whether the use made of a job for a particular case is “fair use” the factors to be considered are as follows:

1. the purpose and type of use, including whether it is of a non-profit commercial or educational nature;
2. the nature of the copied work;
3. the quantity and proportionality of the copied in relation to the whole; and
4. the effect of use in relation to the potential market or value of the work under copyright.

…

 

The first factor questions whether the use in question is intended to enrich the general public and stimulate creativity or whether it is only intended to replace the copied object for reasons of personal promotion or profit. To justify the use as fair, the defender must demonstrate how this use promotes the advancement of knowledge or the progress of the arts through the addition of something new.

Reread the part in red and consider a Literary Blog like mine, the one you are reading now!

 

The Copyright Law in Brazil itself has its reservations.

The fair use doctrine does not exist in Brazilian law; however, Law 9,610 / 98 provides for limitations on copyright. These limitations are addressed in chapter IV of the law:

Art. 46. It is not an offense to copyright:

I – reproduction:

1. a) in the daily or periodical press, news or informational article, published in diaries or periodicals, with the mention of the author’s name, if signed, and the publication from which they were transcribed;
2. b) in diaries or periodicals, of speeches delivered at public meetings of any nature;
3. c) portraits, or other forms of representation of the image, made to order, when made by the owner of the object ordered, with no opposition from the person represented in them or their heirs;
4. d) literary, artistic or scientific works, for the exclusive use of the visually impaired, whenever the reproduction, without commercial purposes, is done through the Braille system or another procedure in any medium for these recipients;

II – the reproduction, in a single copy of small excerpts, for the copyist’s private use, provided that it is made by him, without the intention of making a profit;

III – citation in books, newspapers, magazines or any other means of communication, of passages of any work, for the purposes of study, criticism or controversy, to the extent justified for the purpose to be achieved, indicating the name of the author and the origin of the work;

IV – the collection of lessons in educational establishments by those to whom they are addressed, their publication being prohibited, in whole or in part, without prior and express authorization from those who taught them;

V – the use of literary, artistic or scientific works, phonograms and radio and television transmission in commercial establishments, exclusively for demonstration to the clientele, provided that these establishments sell the supports or equipment that allow their use;

VI – theatrical representation and musical performance, when performed in the family recess or, for exclusively didactic purposes, in educational establishments, with no intention of profit in any case;

VII – the use of literary, artistic or scientific works to produce judicial or administrative evidence;

VIII – the reproduction, in any works, of small portions of pre-existing works, of any nature, or of integral works, when of plastic arts, whenever the reproduction itself is not the main objective of the new work and does not harm the exploration normal nature of the reproduced work or cause undue harm to the legitimate interests of the authors.

Art. 47. Paraphrases and parodies that are not true reproductions of the original work or imply discredit are free.

Art. 48. Works permanently located in public places can be freely represented, through paintings, drawings, photographs and audiovisual procedures.

 

In other words: there are controversies! Cases and cases!

In the United States the law seems more just. But still, these companies have received extremely large amounts of money  high values ​​from countless users, before reaching a court. There, people have created communities on FaceBook, forums and groups of people who feel they are victims of what they themselves call Scam and support each other to protect each other.

 

See in:

PicRights Higbee And Associates Extortion Scam Reviews

https://www.facebook.com/groups/490638598098532/

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/copyright-troll-faces-disbarment-at-sdny-for-bad-behavior?fbclid=IwAR35fh1LE56qvT9ms8vb56vcuQHYg2buHEwXNoR4Nhw7jfmkn7ce9PPkkII

 

Why do you call this “business model” a scam?

Apparently, I can take some really cute pictures of my cat, register my copyright (which is very simple), post on my FaceBook and all possible media and after a while look for where they ended up. Yes. There is a great possibility that other people downloaded and used my photos and I then request my copyright and compensation!

I do not have good opinions and perceptions about this practice, as do most people who feel victims of these companies.

Technology should be used for the evolution of society, for what serves it and not a few, which creates a type of company with supposed protection for the work of a third party, but which apparently serves to make money on people simple, since the big target around the world seems to be people who have no money to pay or consult a lawyer. Example: small church event websites and Bloggers with 10 views on a protected image. (Common cases that can be found on the websites mentioned in this article).

 

Free images!

Free Stock Photos? Yes! Here is a value organization, which considers the real world and the reality that not every user has the money to pay high dollars for a post image.

See in website Unsplash.com!

As soon as I was approached by e-mail, I immediately removed all the images from my blog to make sure that they will all be free images in a free image bank going forward. I attempted a friendly conversation using the arguments cited here, but there seems to be no intention of following common sense and the concept of “fair use”.

This is not a service! In my view and that of many, it is just another disservice to society.

 

Law updates in Brazil?

My indignation sparked a request for a bill for a Senator, who has always adopted noble causes. I don’t think what project will be seen for now, but I hope it stays on your radar. Over time, it is possible that this business model will progress with unfair charges and raise the issue in the near future, as already happens in the countries mentioned.

In the end, it is possible that I may be forced to pay an unfair compensation for something I did unintentionally, based on a fragile law, which allows for a certain abuse against ordinary citizens.

Brazil gains a supportive of a cause that can foresee changes in copyright law, or in the creation of “fair use” in Brazil, in addition to the use of technology to alert internet users whenever when downloading a protected image.

 

My situation!

I have a small period, I am not famous and I will feel I have to pay a lawyer, but I am happy for the voice and discernment, which never remains silent in the face of an unfair and doubtful situation like this. The internet is there so we don’t shut up anymore.

Amid the common difficulties inherent in a woman who raises her child alone, works as a freelancer and is trying to survive a pandemic, still having to deal with this type of company is at least something that should not happen!

Take note that that the use of the image was years ago! Without any mention or warning before that.

 

Waiting for the common sense of the Law and the Judge!

To the judges and all involved in the subject, now and then, I hope that they give the maximum consideration to a law that is still fragile and open to manipulation and that they use common sense to protect ordinary people.

For the company and its representatives I do not wish the company success but for you to find a better life purpose and to be useful to society as a whole and not as it appears at the present time.

Everything is subject to improvement and transformation.

 

The internet should be a means of communication and support for each other!

I think most of us are already tired of living in such unfair situations and lacking in common sense. Nowadays it seems that the times of silence and impunity do not last any longer, thanks also to the internet that makes use of its freedom of expression and communication. Lately nothing stays under the rug.

It may take time, but justice and common sense arrive. We are living in other times. People speak out, speak up, denounce and alert, as is the case with this article.

Furthermore, let us use the example to never become this type of person or company, which does not appear to add value.

The world is changing, people are changing, work and business models are changing. It is part of the evolution of each one to choose who we are and who we associate with.

… “Do you know where you want to go? Otherwise, any path will do” … Willian Shakespeare.

We no longer live a moment of existence where thinking and behaving in an individualistic way fits and thrives.

Ethics and values ​​have never been so high! High in need, in posts (with images authorized or not) and people’s tiredness.

The urgency and need for a new world is palpable. Everyone doesn’t fit anymore!

Adapt yourself!

 

Take cover and protect your friends!

* Be careful when downloading and posting! People are waiting, just waiting!

* Inform as many people as possible, so that they become able to avoid this type of problem so unnecessary!

 

HISTORICAL CASE OF TWITTER IN JAPAN:

Below is (no comma), the historical case of a lawsuit against Twitter, where a user felt hurt by having his photo used and reposted by millions of followers. In the process, the user in question demanded data from the 45 million users, which was denied by Twitter. I wonder why???

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20200723/03240244955/japans-top-court-says-45-million-twitter-users-must-check-that-anything-they-retweet-is-not-copyright- infringement.shtml? fbclid = IwAR0nvlE9HDWTMDimbOXUEXZFHCWBUl3pfE6pP43-aSXQDvr-HkQXZT0XukQ

 

https://support.google.com/legal/answer/4558992?hl=en&ref_topic=4558877

 

And just use Google.

Unfortunately, the number of cases around the world about what this “Indemnity Industry” is becoming is frightening!

 

Important note of information about Google in 2021.
See in the photo below, that Google is able to inform when a photo is licensable or not, but apparently does not do this with all photos. And if you do it now, why not do it before, preventing thousands of people around the world from having to go through such embarrassment and losses?
In the specific photo below, you can read the word LICENSABLE!

 

Read the article in Portuguese / Leia o arquivo em Português:

 

CARTA ABERTA AO GOOGLE!