Misunderstanding? Visual China claims 80000 yuan for using photos taken by oneself! Photographer's response again: You have no right to sell my works in the starry sky | Photographer | Visual
On August 15, Dai Jianfeng, a popular science blogger and star photographer, said that his official account used his own photos and was informed of the infringement by Vision China. Later, Vision China responded that it was a "misunderstanding". This incident has attracted widespread attention from netizens.
On August 16th, Dai Jianfeng responded to this matter in another article, clearly stating, "I do not accept your views. Visual China has no right to sell my works."
The photographer claims to have been claimed compensation of over 80000 yuan by Visual China
On the afternoon of August 15, the blogger @ Jeff revealed that he had received a notice of infringement from Visual China on his Star Tour, claiming that 173 photos used in his official account violated the copyright of Visual China.
According to public information, the publisher of this Weibo account is Dai Jianfeng, from Chongqing. He is an internationally renowned starry sky photographer, the coordinator of the Astronomers Without Borders Organization in China, and one of less than 30 full-time starry sky photographers worldwide.
In the email informing Dai Jianfeng of the infringement, Visual China also provided two solutions: first, the two parties cooperate, and Dai Jianfeng's company purchases no less than the number of images already used at a unit price of 300 yuan, with a cooperation period of one year. Secondly, both parties reached a settlement, and Dai Jianfeng Company paid the usage fee for these 173 images at a price of 500 yuan per image.
Dai Jianfeng told reporters that after reviewing the email, he found that among the photos claimed by Visual China for infringement, the earliest ones were taken 10 years ago, most of which were taken by himself, and the remaining parts were also authorized by the photographer. All the photos he took did not involve cooperation with Visual China. He also found that his friend's company also used these photos and recently received a phone call from Visual China informing them of infringement.
Under Dai Jianfeng's blog post, @ China National Astronomy also commented, "We have received similar calls, such as public images released by NASA, which are considered their copyrights."
Visual China responded with a "misunderstanding"
After the incident sparked heated discussions, visual China founder Chai Jijun responded that there was a misunderstanding and has contacted the photographer.
On August 15th, the official Weibo account of Visual China responded to copyright disputes by stating that our company attaches great importance to the copyright image issue between our company and photographer @ Jeff's Star Journey on Weibo. We have learned about the situation as soon as possible and have already contacted the parties involved.
After preliminary verification, it was found that the involved images were authorized by the photographer to be sold in the image library Stocktrek Images, which in turn authorized Getty Images to sell the relevant images. As the exclusive partner of Getty Images in Chinese Mainland, Vision China has complete sales rights including related pictures, and the sales authorization chain of related pictures is clear and complete.
We will continue to communicate with the photographer and handle any misunderstandings properly.
The reporter noticed that Dai Jianfeng's related works have options for "trial download" and "purchase consultation" on the official website of Visual China. The website shows that the author of the image is Jeff Dai/Stocktrek Images/Getty Creative. Dai Jianfeng confirmed that Jeff Dai is his English name. The reporter noticed that a Getty authorization letter was also included in the email from Visual China.
Related visual works are available on the official website of Visual China
Photographer's response: Visual China does not own copyright
Regarding the response from Visual China, Dai Jianfeng posted on Weibo on August 16th, stating: I do not accept your views. I have verified with Stocktrek and they have clearly informed me that @ Visual China has no right to sell my work and does not have any copyright to my work. Getty also has no right to repost my work. There is no misunderstanding here. Even now, you are still illegally selling my work online, falsely claiming to me and others that you own the copyright of the work and claiming compensation. Please stop your infringement immediately!
Visual China was once embroiled in copyright disputes
This is not the first time that Visual China has been embroiled in copyright disputes.
In 2019, Visual China's claim of copyright to the "first black hole photo of humanity" sparked industry discussions.
Subsequently, some netizens discovered that images of the national flag and emblem also appeared in the copyright library of Visual China. Subsequently, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League questioned, "Is the copyright of the national flag and emblem also owned by your company?" Subsequently, Visual China removed the national flag and emblem photos and publicly apologized.
On April 11, 2019, in response to the dissemination of illegal and harmful information on the Visual China website, the Tianjin Municipal Cyberspace Administration interviewed the website manager in accordance with the law and ordered the website to immediately stop its illegal and irregular activities and make comprehensive and thorough rectification. The Tianjin Cyberspace Administration has established a work supervision team to enter the Visual China website for comprehensive supervision and inspection. On the early morning of April 12th that year, Vision China stated that it would accept supervision and criticism from netizens and media, and fully cooperate with regulatory authorities to thoroughly and actively rectify the situation.
