Digital Home Thoughts: WalMart Tries to be the Photograph Copyright Police - Ignoring Customers Rights

"Amateur photographer Zee Helmick encountered that problem when she went to pick up photos she had ordered at a Wal-Mart near her home in Henderson, Nev. She had taken the photos of her son that morning to use as head shots for an audition for a TV commercial. She had used her photo-editing software to add his name, information about him and even her own copyright to make the image look more polished, Helmick said. She uploaded the 8-by-10-inch photos to Walmart.com, which prints photos sent to the site at a nearby store for customers to pick up. At the store, Helmick said a clerk told her, "We can't release the pictures to you." "What's wrong?" Helmick asked. "We can't release the pictures to you without a copyright release form signed by the photographer," the clerk replied, according to Helmick. The clerk said the photos looked like a professional had taken them, Helmick said. And no matter how much Helmick protested that she, an amateur, had snapped the shots of her son, she said the clerk wouldn't budge."



Has this ever happened to you? It has with me at Walgreen's with some pictures of my wife and I on our honeymoon. There was nothing I could do to convince them that I took them as I didn't have the negatives, just the jpegs from my digital camera. What I have to wonder is why WalMart would be doing this. If they just print the photos they can say it is not their duty to enforce the copyright, but now that they are being "vigilant", they'll be liable for the times when they don't catch a "professional" photo.

What is the best way to handle something like this when you have no clear proof?