Book publisher rips off my photo – copyright infringement

I’ve been ripped off.  My photo of Anibare Bay in Nauru has been used, without my permission, as the front cover of a book entitled “Nauru Country Study Guide” (2004 edition, ISBN 0-7397-6196-X).  The book is available for sale on the Internet, including via Amazon.

See for yourself.  Here’s the book cover (I don’t think I need permission to reproduce my own photo…), and below is the original photo.  The best giveaway is that the cloud on the left hand side is in the same place – surely more than just a coincidence.

The photo could only have been lifted from an earlier incarnation of this website.  It certainly isn’t the first time someone has thought that the Internet is a copyright-free-zone, and it won’t be the last.

But real-world book pulishers should know better.  They are usually only too quick to claim copyright in their own publications.

I’ve had a book publisher approach me before asking for permission to use photos from my website, and a licence fee has been paid.  If your business is the collation of other people’s copyright works and re-using them, it’s only fair to pay for their use.

In an extraordinary statement on the inside title page, a statement reads:

“Cover Design: International Business Publications, USA“

It’s a bit galling to claim credit for someone else’s work.

And then this:

“We express our sincere appreciation to all government agencies and international organizations which provided information and other materials for this guide.”

I think that means it’s trying to thank me for ripping off my photo. 

The publisher is International Business Publications, USA.  There’s a good chance it will be hearing from me again soon.

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Tags: copyright infringement, Nauru, publisher
Posted in Nauru |