Facebook Photo Thievery

[dotwrnr]

So DH scanned in some old photos of his parents and posted them in a Facebook album.  About an hour later, two things happened.

1. His niece, "Charlotte", copied one of the pictures and posted it, along with the caption, in her own album. Charlotte did not mention that she took it from DH's Facebook album.

2. His sister, "Caroline" made one of the photos into her profile picture.

Are either of these actions rude?

About six months ago, DH created a Facebook album that included 3 or 4 pix he took of his dad.  Caroline copied the pictures into a Facebook album on her own FB page, then sent a note to their nephew saying basically, "Come check out my pictures of your Grandpa."

I'm pretty sure that is rude, but what say the eHellions?

[jais]

It's not rude.  Once you put them on facebook, they are fair game.  Sorry.

[Raintree]

I think that once you post a picture to the web it can be taken by anyone who has access to that page, and forwarded/posted/emailed anywhere, so there is no reasonable expectation of keeping it contained.

That being said, if I want to lift photos to post on my own facebook page, I always send a PM first to the person who posted them, saying, "Hey, I like that shot....do you mind if I post it on my own page?"

[Balletmom]

My 13 y/o tells me this is not a big deal regarding Facebook, because no one is going to think the Facebook copiers made the photographs in the first place.

The pictures are of a mutual relative, so taking them is not considered a rude act, per se.

However, if your DH wants to restrict the wholesale borrowing, he needs to say so in a "Please ask for permission before yout take photos from here" kind of way. I'd feel the same way he does about, but he needs to make that clear, since a large number of people have no clue otherwise.

 

[Veronica]

So DH scanned in some old photos of his parents and posted them in a Facebook album.  About an hour later, two things happened.

1. His niece, "Charlotte", copied one of the pictures and posted it, along with the caption, in her own album. Charlotte did not mention that she took it from DH's Facebook album.

2. His sister, "Caroline" made one of the photos into her profile picture.

Did he get your parents permission to post them on the internet?  Had he even taken the pictures in the first place?  I think these were fair game.

[Finduilas]

I feel that #1 is rudish.
#2 is not rude.


Charlotte should have mentioned in the caption that it was your DH's photo, but I feel that once you put a photo up on Facebook, it enters into fair territory for copying and use by others.

Which brings me to #2-- I assume that Caroline made a photo of herself into her profile picture, yes?  I have made other's photos of me into my profile picture on many occasions, and no one has censured me.  Of course, there is that possibility that I am being rude and that my friends who do the same thing are rude. But the person who thinks so would have to explain their reasoning to me because I feel that it's sort of a public use kind of thing.
Or, on a second reading of your post it says that it was old photos of his parents.  If it's not her, then I don't really think she has a place making it her profile picture... but that's me being pedantic.

Another element, however, is that I belong to the digital age wherein I have never utilized print photos EVER for Facebook.  I feel that digital may make it seem less of a property thing... I am having a hard time explaining myself.

[kandikrisp]

So DH scanned in some old photos of his parents and posted them in a Facebook album.  About an hour later, two things happened.

1. His niece, "Charlotte", copied one of the pictures and posted it, along with the caption, in her own album. Charlotte did not mention that she took it from DH's Facebook album.

2. His sister, "Caroline" made one of the photos into her profile picture.

Are either of these actions rude?

About six months ago, DH created a Facebook album that included 3 or 4 pix he took of his dad.  Caroline copied the pictures into a Facebook album on her own FB page, then sent a note to their nephew saying basically, "Come check out my pictures of your Grandpa."

I'm pretty sure that is rude, but what say the eHellions?

Facebook is a big part of my life, and I'm going to admit that I have never had a problem with any of these things. I feel almost flattered when someone makes one of my pictures their profile pictures, whether I'm credited or not.

The bolded part, I do have a minor problem with, only because of the wording itself.

I don't know if it's still the same, I stopped reading closely, but if we're going with the technical definition, there used to be a clause in the terms of posting on facebook that once you post them, Facebook owns them, actually.

But honestly? Half my albums are reposts of somethings that were posted of me by other people, or photos that I really like. I usually ask, but sometimes I save them, make them my background on my computer, ect.

Posting pictures on the internet pretty much makes them fair game for anything besides earning money.

[Aeris]

Sorry, I don't think any of these things are rude.

1) Once you post pics on facebook, they are fair game for pretty much anything

2) These are pictures of a mutual relative. You're talking about a daughter and a granddaughter snagging pics of her parents/grandparents to incorporate into her own photo album/profile. I see absolutely nothing wrong, rude, or abnormal about that. It wouldn't cause me to think twice.

There's a good reason why people snag pics and put them into their own photo album - because then they have that picture also. If your DH took the picture of their parents down, his sister would no longer have access to it. Also, by putting it in her own photo album, her friends can see it - friends who may not be friends with your DH - this seems like a normal desire. She can also organize the pictures - she might have a family album where she keeps a lot of pictures of her parents/other family members, etc.

If your DH had emailed the whole family with the picture, saying 'gee, look what I found the other day - isn't this a great pic of mom and dad?', and someone had taken it and posted it to facebook, it would be the same thing. Totally acceptable.

Honestly, the *only* time I would ever even think for a nanosecond about something like this is if it were an artistic picture a photographer friend took. A picture of my parents that my brother posted? Or a picture of my grandparents that my uncle posted? I would consider these functionally as much mine as my brother/uncle's.

[Azrail]

So DH scanned in some old photos of his parents and posted them in a Facebook album.  About an hour later, two things happened.

1. His niece, "Charlotte", copied one of the pictures and posted it, along with the caption, in her own album. Charlotte did not mention that she took it from DH's Facebook album.

2. His sister, "Caroline" made one of the photos into her profile picture.

Are either of these actions rude?

About six months ago, DH created a Facebook album that included 3 or 4 pix he took of his dad.  Caroline copied the pictures into a Facebook album on her own FB page, then sent a note to their nephew saying basically, "Come check out my pictures of your Grandpa."

I'm pretty sure that is rude, but what say the eHellions?

First of all I would have to ask whether your DH had permission from his parents to copy their photo on the internet in the first place. If the answer is yes, then i'd say:

1. No. These are pictures of her grandparents.

2. Definately no. These are pictures of her mum and dad.

[Dandy Andy's Daddy's Love]

dotwrnr, is your DH a professional photographer? Did he take these pictures?

[Animala]

If you don't want them used by people who have access to them then they need to be watermarked.  Honestly if they are pictures of her relatives too then I think she kind of has a right to them unless your husband owns the copyright on them.  It would have been nicer if she would have asked, but it's the nature of facebook.

[dotwrnr]

Regarding permission from parents, they are deceased.

Also, DH wasn't born yet when the pictures from scenario 1 and 2 were taken. So he did not take them.

I think what is rubbing the wrong way is not that the pix were borrowed, but that it was done without asking first. 

But what about the final scenario?  DH did take those pix.  And Caroline put up an album and claimed to our nephew that she had taken them.

[Azrail]

Well it's wrong for her to claim that she took them when she didn't. Did she just say this to your nephew? Are there other people she claimed to have taken the photos to? Is your DH wanting to address this is any way?

[Animala]

In the OP you said that she said check out my pictures, not check out the pictures I took.  There is a difference.  Which one did she say?

If you don't want people to take your pictures off facebook then don't put up pictures.  That's how facebook works.

[artk2002]

Rude?  Possibly.  Illegal? Yes.  Sorry folks, but posting on Facebook doesn't invalidate the photographer's copyright.