Unauthorized use of photo

I've just discovered that a B&B in Italy has used one of my photos without permission. The reason this is a problem is that my Creative Commons license clearly states that they are available for noncommercial use. So I've sent the B&B a bill. Here's the letter I wrote them (in both Italian and English):

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Cari signori:

Vorrei informarvi che avete usato una mia foto della Abbadia di Fiastra senza permesso. Le mie foto sono disponibili da usare gratis sotto la licenza Creative Commons BY-NC-ND (la quale è chiaramente spiegato sulle mie pagine di Flickr), ma gratis sono disponibili solo per uso non-commerciale. La pagina è questa: http://www.bbvillasabrina.com/abbadia-di-fiastra.php
La foto sta su Flickr qui: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebuie/5576923212/in/set-72157626267458216

L'uso delle mie foto per motivi commerciali è possibile, a pagamento. Dalla grandezza con la quale la mia foto è mostrata sul vostro sito, vi presento il conto per 500 euro -- 250 per l'uso e altri 250 per l'uso non-autorizzato. Potete fare il pagamento tramite Paypal (più 15 euro per il servizio Paypal) a ebuie@aesthetic-images.com.

Se la togliete dal vostro sito entro mezzanotte GMT del venerdì 10/6, potrete evitare i primi 250 euro per l'uso commerciale. Nonostante quello, la tariffa di 250 euro (più 7.50 di servizio Paypal) per l'uso non-autorizzato rimane.

Fatemi sapere cosa intendete.

Grazie e a presto.

Cordiali saluti,
Elizabeth Buie

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Dear sirs:

I would like to inform you that you have used one of my photos of the Abbadia di Fiastra without permission. My photos are available for use without charge under the Creative Commons license BY-NC-ND (which is clearly explained on my Flickr pages), but at no charge they are available only for noncommercial use. The page is this: http://www.bbvillasabrina.com/abbadia-di-fiastra.php
The photo is on Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebuie/5576923212/in/set-72157626267458216

Use of my photos for commercial purposes is possible, with payment. From the sie with which my photo is shown on your site, I present my bill for 500 euros -- 250 for the use and another 250 for the unauthorized use. You can make payment via Paypal (plus 15 euros per Paypal's service charge), to ebuie@aesthetic-images.com.

If you remove the photo from your site no later than midnight GMT on Friday 10 June, you can avoid the first 250 euros for commercial use. However, the cost of 250 euros (plus 7.50 euro for Paypal service) for the unauthorized use remains.

Let me know what you intend.

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,
Elizabeth Buie

Photoblog!

On the advice of my friend Bruce, I've joined Shutterchance. My photoblog is named aestheticimags — I wish they had allowed me one more letter. <grin> Shutterchance is an interesting way to share ideas and comments with other photographers. Not sure it'll produce the kind of exposure that'll result in business, but the learning counts for something.

VR lens magic

A little over a year ago I bought a Nikon D200 digital SLR camera and a vibration-reduction (VR) lens. I've been saying that the VR feature gives me about two stops of exposure, and on a recent trip to Italy I pushed the envelope, just for fun. My friend and I rode the vaporetto down the Grand Canal at night, and I sat (sometimes stood) in the back of the boat and shot a number of pictures. Most were blurry (at least partly because of the vaporetto's movement), but several were amazingly clear. Here's the one that came out the best:



Here's a detail from the shot. There's clearly some camera shake visible in it, but an amazing amount of detail can be seen. I think it was a 1/4-second exposure. (I normally shoot with the D200 set on ISO 400.)



One thing I like about digital is that I can experiment without worrying about wasting film.

Aha.

Well, they've progressed enough that I've converted my old blogs to this format. I have two others: UserWorks (my work) and Design Musings (which I may just merge with this one).

First post - testing

This is a test post, lorem ipsum and all that. Trying out the beta of the new Blogger. Wish I could edit my old blogs in this space. :-(