Are photos and postings on Facebook (and social media) personal property?

[LITTLEREDDOT]

If photos are personal property, then why does Facebook allow a 'Share' button?

Briton Anton Casey’s lawyer writes to TR Emeritus

January 21st, 2014 |

Author: Editorial

STOMP published Casey's story on 20 January 2014 before taking it down for unknown reasons.
​

A Briton, Anton Casey, posted a couple of Facebook photos and messages which went viral yesterday (‘Briton belittles people taking public transport‘, 20 Jan).
Mr Casey apparently was compelled to take public transportation with his son after his Porsche was sent to the workshop. He then posted a picture of his son sitting in an MRT train with the following caption on Facebook:

Daddy where is your car & who are all these poor people?
​

Later he posted another picture of his son sitting in his Porsche after he had got it back from the workshop. The picture carried this message:

Ahhhhhhhh reunited with my baby. Normal service can resume, once I have washed the stench of public transport off me FFS!
​

With regard to the above matter, Mr Casey has instructed his lawyer to write to TR Emeritus (TRE) today (21 Jan), requesting TRE to take down the 2 Facebook pictures.
His lawyer said that the pictures are Casey’s personal property and they had been taken from his Facebook account without his permission. Apparently, Mr Casey has also made a police report against threats to harm his family:

Dear Sirs
I have been instructed by my client to write to you to lodge a complaint that quite a few of his private pictures on his personal facebook account were uploaded onto your website on your Editorial bearing the caption :
“BRITION BELITTLES PEOPLE TAKING PUBLIC TRANSPORT”
Please assist to remove the pictures which are his personal properties and which have been taken off his facebook account without his permission. There are copyrights infringement issues.
Please help as our client is trying to quell the matter which has been blown out of all proportions.
There has also been threats to harm my client, his wife and young son, which is now the subject matter of a police report.
Your kind assistance will be greatly appreciated.
Yours faithfully
WILLIAM POH
WILLIAM POH & LOUIS LIM
186 Toa Payoh Central #02-426
Singapore 310186
​

TRE respects the copyrights of others. Hence, we have taken down the 2 pictures in the article, ‘Briton belittles people taking public transport‘.
As Mr Casey’s lawyer said the matter has been “blown out of all proportions”, TRE has offered Mr Casey a chance to give his side of the story i.e. to clarify the 2 offensive Facebook messages he had posted earlier:

Daddy where is your car & who are all these poor people?
​

Ahhhhhhhh reunited with my baby. Normal service can resume, once I have washed the stench of public transport off me FFS!
​

TRE promises to publish Mr Casey’s clarification unedited and in full. However, Mr Casey has not indicated if he will take up our offer to explain himself.

 

[zhihau]

what a lying twit...

 

[wendychan]

facebook like got no balls. if police ask them for your name etc, they will give...

 

[tanwahtiu]

Facebook has caused so many people to get into trouble. So wonder your facebook friends are your good friends or sabo you.

Facebook has lost the trust of the users.

Time to ban social networking Facebook.

what a lying twit...

 

[laksaboy]

Using the threat of legal action and accusations of 'copyright violation' are an often-used tactic by people attempting to censor stuff that's online. Music record companies do that all the time to uploaded personal videos on Youtube.

And if you're the fence-sitter semi-gullible type who's wondering whether to forgive Anton Casey after his so-called apology... perhaps this story should help clear any lingering doubts. He's a conceited twat and a litigious bastard. Sounds familiar?

 

[zhihau]

Time to ban social networking Facebook.

on the contrary, it's a good tool to weed out kutus of the society

 

[zhihau]

Sounds familiar?

these type of trash must be cleared. time for spring cleaning :p:p:p

 

[rusty]

If photos are personal property, then why does Facebook allow a 'Share' button?

His lawyer said that the pictures are Casey’s personal property and they had been taken from his Facebook account without his permission.

Anything posted on Facebook belongs to Facebook.
Only FB has the legitimate rights to allow or disallow copying and downloading.

 

[wendychan]

Using the threat of legal action and accusations of 'copyright violation' are an often-used tactic by people attempting to censor stuff that's online. Music record companies do that all the time to uploaded personal videos on Youtube.

And if you're the fence-sitter semi-gullible type who's wondering whether to forgive Anton Casey after his so-called apology... perhaps this story should help clear any lingering doubts. He's a conceited twat and a litigious bastard. Sounds familiar?

but when he has a lawyer, and the lawyer threaten this threaten that, most people will back down

remeber, just becuase you sue some one, dont mean u are right. bully and scare tactics, +++++

 

[Leongsam]

Copyright of photographs does not necessarily belong to the persons(s) captured in the image.

By default, the copyright belongs to the photographer unless he sells or transfers ownership of the image.

If I take a picture of LHL while he is in a public place, I own the copyright to that image.

 

[Maximuz]

Just an FYI: Google can claim ownership for anything uploaded into their servers (email, cloud storage, etc). Try to avoid using their services for important stuff.

 

[halsey02]

Copyright of photographs does not necessarily belong to the persons(s) captured in the image.

By default, the copyright belongs to the photographer unless he sells or transfers ownership of the image.

If I take a picture of LHL while he is in a public place, I own the copyright to that image.

Ok, just a curious question, if you take a photograph of me, sitting like a twit on the train & put that up on Facebook, I take offense & demand that you take that down, are you invading my privacy? or since I am in a public place...public domain?

Like you mentioned about LHL...I guess that cover under public domain right? or does he have the right to demand that you destroy that photo or any media in which it stored??

 

[wendychan]

Ok, just a curious question, if you take a photograph of me, sitting like a twit on the train & put that up on Facebook, I take offense & demand that you take that down, are you invading my privacy? or since I am in a public place...public domain?

Like you mentioned about LHL...I guess that cover under public domain right? or does he have the right to demand that you destroy that photo or any media in which it stored??

probably only in singapore court................:*: