The photographer who took the 101 New Year's Eve fireworks was stolen from a hotel and was sued for copyright infringement. Lawyer Li Yusheng explained the relevant provisions of the Copyright Law.

The photographer who took the 101 New Year's Eve fireworks was sued for copyright infringement by a hotel photographer who stole the photos
Reporter | Photography by Zheng Huiliang | Wang Yixuan

News link:https://www.mnews.tw/story/20220317sot18016

The photographer who took the 101 New Year's Eve fireworks was sued for copyright infringement by a hotel photographer who stole the photos

A well-known five-star hotel actually stole the photographer's photos and used them as its own promotional photos! Photographer Xu Jie complained that the Taipei Marriott Hotel removed the watermark from the 101 fireworks photos he took in 2017 and then processed them into other photos. They were used for three years. In response, Marriott Hotels responded by asking all advertisements to remove relevant photos.

The Taipei 101 New Year's Eve fireworks show attracts many photographers every year just to capture this wonderful moment. After finally taking beautiful photos of the fireworks, the photographer discovered that his work had been stolen, and the person had a great background, it was a five-star hotel.

Xu Jie, the photographer of the stolen picture: "They used this photo of mine to do many different types of layouts, and then there were different styles every year. The 65 times included broadcasting on TV media news and the like. These are all done without my consent."

Putting the two photos together for comparison, the photographer added a watermark on the top of the original picture, and the tall buildings on both sides were also processed, but the Marriott Hotel removed the watermark without authorization, then put on fireworks by itself, and even added a Ferris wheel in the lower left corner. Therefore, the photographer was so angry that he wrote more than 2,000 words of complaint on Facebook because the other party not only kicked the ball around internally after the incident, but also showed no sincerity in reconciliation.

Xu Jie, the photographer of the stolen pictures: "I will pay you several times the market price as compensation, and invite me to stay at their hotel on New Year's Eve that year for cooperative publicity."

In order to seek justice, he pretended to be Conan and searched for evidence on his own. He discovered that the photos had been stolen and used for commercial purposes 65 times. However, the copyright of these photos was all taken by him with hard work.

Taipei lawyer explains legal issues related to copyright law

Taipei lawyer Li Yusheng: "If you use or reproduce this work without the consent of the copyright owner, it will constitute copyright infringement. The maximum penalty is a fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, and you will also be liable for civil damages. .”

The Marriott Hotel, which was accused of stealing the photos, issued a statement asking all media advertisements to remove the photos and stop using them. However, the two parties have not yet reached a consensus on the content of the settlement. I am afraid they will have to go to court and ask a judge to administer justice.

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