walmart photo police

[_b.jaye_]

i got shut down today at walmart trying to make prints from some pics online. the policing efforts applaudable, i guess. still, it was just a couple 8X10s i found comical & was gonna hang in my bathroom. that & they were pretty much photoshopped past the point where they were passable as the same image but they dont know that, so i understand. im no less bummed.

wheres the line? what if you painted/sketched someone elses photography, took a pic of your work & tried to print it? what ive done's different. but not thaaat different.

[Dittoz7]

Usually get around that by just bringing in my monster of a camera. Usually take that as a compliment. lol

[breadbox]

So the person recognized the photo from the internet and told you they couldn't print them due to some copyright or whatever correct?

Every now and then It happens to us that lets say someone's 8x10 wedding photo got destroyed in a fire but there was a smaller copy 5x7 somewhere. Going to a camera store they want you to either already have approval of that photographer to reproduce the print or you have to sign some legal document that says I am allowed to blah blah.

Its really annoying sometimes. get your own printer for your needs then charge friends and others to print their shizz.

[_b.jaye_]

... get your own printer for your needs then charge friends and others to print their shizz.

in the works to find someone i know with one, so this is kinda plan b.

but yeah, right. it was an old ww2 photo of a plane droppin bombs. nothin i could easily talk my way into her buyin that i, myself took the pic. she did sell me the other two prints though. a dumptruck & soft serve ice cream.

[breadbox]

I would have gone the its from my grandpa route. Its weird, as long as the reason sounds legit they could care less, but once admit you didn't take or if it has a watermark its like they hate you for it.

[IBCoupe]

They do that to cover their butts on copyright. You don't get hit for copying someone else's work. They do, 'cause they did the copying.

[BusyBadger]

They do that to cover their butts on copyright. You don't get hit for copying someone else's work. They do, 'cause they did the copying.

Actually, if Jaye is the one that's accepting the agreement on the Kodak print station and hits the print button he's the one that did the copying. I've not seen a Wal-Mart yet where the employee did anything other than enter a print code to enable printing or change out the ribbon & paper, maybe things have changed since I left B'Town. Wal-Mart originally did this for professional photographs but have now "empowered" their employees to be the copy police. I'd be surprised if any of them could tell me how long a copyright is good for, for what purpose I could make a copy of a copyrighted work, or even begin to explain the concept of Fair Use.

wheres the line? what if you painted/sketched someone elses photography, took a pic of your work & tried to print it? what ive done's different. but not thaaat different.

The Fair Use line can be pretty nebulous. If you paint a picture of Superman you own your picture but you can't reprint it without permission from DC Comics as Superman is their intellectual property...you're reproducing their work. I'm a little uspet about how broad an umbrella some IP's actually have. A couple of specific examples, DC & Marvel Comics own the term "superhero" (wtf?) and the NFL owns the term "Super Sunday", and yet I doubt Bill Watterson has collected any royalties over the years from Calvin pissing on various objects.

Here's a dated, but interesting article.

Jaye, just head on over FedEx Office over in Bloomington (the Sony printers they have make better prints than the Kodaks at Wal-Mart) and make your prints. Then go over to The Irish Lion for a well deserved pint and a plate of puffballs.

[_b.jaye_]

see, thats what i got from the whole process. maybe it was just too blatant. ive got a horrible p0ker face anyway. there were a couple screens that spelled out all the copyright responsibilitys, so i was pretty surprised to see the additional check. for a wally world employee, whos day may or may not have been crap before i got there, to be the judge & jury just seems like an odd practice.

ha, im borderline ashamed to tell you i blew off a night out barring in bloomington a week or two ago. caveat being i had no idea if i was gonna get put up or not. a cousin was hanging there with some of her friends. it wouldnt have been a big deal to drive back to columbus, but i, uh. dont live there anymore. ive recently taken hiatus b-tons still not all that far though. im about 1.5 hours in the other direction now. oh, their go-to bar was "Yogi's"? columbus friends owe me a reunion tour. the lions most definitely on my to-do list.

[IBCoupe]

Actually, if Jaye is the one that's accepting the agreement on the Kodak print station and hits the print button he's the one that did the copying. I've not seen a Wal-Mart yet where the employee did anything other than enter a print code to enable printing or change out the ribbon & paper, maybe things have changed since I left B'Town. Wal-Mart originally did this for professional photographs but have now "empowered" their employees to be the copy police. I'd be surprised if any of them could tell me how long a copyright is good for, for what purpose I could make a copy of a copyrighted work, or even begin to explain the concept of Fair Use.

Ask me on Tuesday. I can answer those questions on Tuesday. Constitutional Law final is Monday. IP isn't 'til Friday. So I'm not studying IP 'til Tuesday.

[BusyBadger]

Ask me on Tuesday. I can answer those questions on Tuesday. Constitutional Law final is Monday. IP isn't 'til Friday. So I'm not studying IP 'til Tuesday.

No need, I was a corporate trainer and (among other things) taught IP & Copyright protocol. The single rule I stressed to everyone I ever had in class was "Never mess with The Mouse".

Disney ruthlessly defends their IP.

oh, their go-to bar was "Yogi's"?

Yogi's, really? Ugh. The Lion, Nick's and The Crazy Horse were my places of choice. My name is on the wall a couple of times at Crazy Horse for doing "Around the World in 80 Beers". Thought about heading up there for Little Five week, but was too busy to make it. Wow, do I miss B'town.