When designers use other people's images.
The following scenario: You walk unsuspectingly through a shopping mall, look at a few shirts in a store and almost fall over in shock: What is your photo doing on these shirts? How did they get the photo and… damn… who allowed them to do that?
Not quite like that, but something similar must have happened to a young woman from Steyr when she found out that a photo of her was being used as a motif on sweaters. According to the ORF, the woman was able to identify the motif as one of her pictures that she had posted online on Facebook a few years ago, but she is unsure how a fashion label could have used the photo for commercial purposes without her consent ORF a mystery.
A similar case: In November 2017, the Rheinische Post published an article about the design of a handbag:
The Spanish fashion label Zara is said to have used drawings by an art student from Cologne for a handbag design - without asking him. The 24-year-old is now taking action against the company. So far, Zara only wants to pay little compensation.
In this case, the designer of the handbag has demonstrably used the art student's drawings, which he published on his blog ( borisshmitz.tumblr.com ) and did so for several motifs.
Your own fault?
One could now hastily argue that the two people affected were to blame themselves, but that is wrong. What happened there is completely illegal. You do not agree in any way to sharing an image for commercial purposes outside of the platform. And just because someone has published an image on a blog or website does not mean that it is considered free public domain.
It is clear that no matter where I publish something, as long as I created the work, I am and remain the owner of the copyright. For example, it is a myth that you give up your copyright when you upload images to Facebook. This type of representation and understanding of copyright is simply wrong, but it still haunts the minds of many people.
Copyright was created to protect the rights of the AUTHOR, i.e. the person who created a work. You are always the author when you have created a work.
Part 1 – Copyright (§§ 1 – 69g) Section 1 – General (§ 1)
§ 1
GeneralThe authors of literary, scientific and artistic works enjoy protection for their works in accordance with this law.
With regard to Facebook, this means: The COPYRIGHT for self-created content ALWAYS remains with you. Facebook cannot take away the copyright from the user!
As the author, you also decide how your work is published, distributed or processed . Of course, this also applies to Facebook. What you can grant as an author, however, is a right of use, as lawyer Tobias Röttger from gulden röttger | lawyers :

Right of use!
As I said, the copyright always remains with you. However, Facebook secures usage rights to all the works that you share on the platform. Facebook has enshrined in its terms and conditions that (in simple terms) everything you post on Facebook can be used by others and by Facebook on the platform within the framework of your privacy settings. As a user, this is particularly important and legitimizes the “share” function.
For content protected by intellectual property rights, such as photos and videos (IP Content), you expressly grant us the following permission, subject to your privacy and app settings: You grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free , worldwide license for the use of any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP license). This IP License terminates if you delete your IP Content or your account; unless your content has been shared with others and they have not deleted the content.
The important thing is: If you upload content to Facebook (or create it there), you MUST be the author. Otherwise, you are committing a copyright violation, which could ultimately end up being expensive. However, third parties are NOT permitted to use these images commercially outside of Facebook .
In the case of the motif on the sweater, the following also applies: if it is a selfie, then the young woman is the author. Then not only the right to one's own image have been violated, but also the copyright. If someone else had photographed her, then in this case “only” her right to her own image would have been violated and the photographer in question would have to take care of the copyright. When it comes to the artist and the handbag motifs, the situation is a little easier to explain: he is the author because he created the drawings. He is and remains this and can therefore grant usage rights.
Tip: revoke Facebook’s right of use
Are you tired of Facebook having the right to use your content? Then you have to delete this content on Facebook. This means that the IP license mentioned also expires . However, there is still a funny addition: “unless your content has been shared with others and they have not deleted the content.”
At this point, Facebook seems to exempt itself from this if third parties have unlawfully passed on your content. Here the user would have to locate all Facebook users and ask them to delete the affected content. However, if it has simply been shared content up to now, it will disappear anyway when you delete it.
Info for photographers: The exclusive right!
It is not entirely unimportant for photographers to know that they lose their exclusive rights to use their own photos on Facebook. For further information, we recommend the corresponding article “Right of use – photographers lose their exclusive rights to use their own photos on Facebook” by Gulden Röttger Rechtsanwälte [ 1].
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

