• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Should I have Copyrighted?

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

cmac18

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Tennessee

Hello:

For 16 years, I have sold items at a local flea market.
The market is owned by the local government.
Our Mayor attempted to take the property the flea market sits on and turn it into mixed use property. Since this time, I have seen the buyer base change and decrease. Many who used to travel to the Market no longer knows that is still open. Likewise the buyer base has changed throughout the years to more tech savvy patrons.
Many of us (vendors) suggested that the market put more emphasis on a marketing campaign to bring our flea market back up in status, and spoke with the woman in the office unofficially. For about a year and a half I talked to others about starting our own campaign. Many were approving of this but I personally did not have the time to devote to the project. Finally I took the time, money, and effort to start a website dedicated solely to the flea market vendors. A place where vendors could upload photos and contact information for the tech savvy buyer to preview before coming to the market, hoping to bring more people out to the market. I build a web page within my website for vendors and have signed about 27 so far since September. Many of the vendors do not own a computer so I take fresh photos monthly and then post ads on social media and was going to start print and radio media in the spring. I posted to Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. I’ve paid for adds on Google and Facebook. I charge the vendors $100.00 a year, or $10.00 a month.
In November, the Flea Market Manager decided to start a social media campaign. He/She hired someone to take pictures of items and post to their Facebook page. The Facebook page was not utilized until this time. They opened a twitter account and contacted me on my on Twitter asking that I only post to their “Official” twitter account. They contacted the vendor’s to let them know that for $120.00, they, the Flea Market will do social media for them. I feel this was done out of greed, there are 800 vendors on site.
I have a contractual agreement with my customers to take photos and post to social media for them. If the Flea Market shuts me down, do I have any recourse?
Thank you in advice for your advice.
 


quincy

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Tennessee

Hello:

For 16 years, I have sold items at a local flea market.
The market is owned by the local government.
Our Mayor attempted to take the property the flea market sits on and turn it into mixed use property. Since this time, I have seen the buyer base change and decrease. Many who used to travel to the Market no longer knows that is still open. Likewise the buyer base has changed throughout the years to more tech savvy patrons.
Many of us (vendors) suggested that the market put more emphasis on a marketing campaign to bring our flea market back up in status, and spoke with the woman in the office unofficially. For about a year and a half I talked to others about starting our own campaign. Many were approving of this but I personally did not have the time to devote to the project. Finally I took the time, money, and effort to start a website dedicated solely to the flea market vendors. A place where vendors could upload photos and contact information for the tech savvy buyer to preview before coming to the market, hoping to bring more people out to the market. I build a web page within my website for vendors and have signed about 27 so far since September. Many of the vendors do not own a computer so I take fresh photos monthly and then post ads on social media and was going to start print and radio media in the spring. I posted to Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. I’ve paid for adds on Google and Facebook. I charge the vendors $100.00 a year, or $10.00 a month.
In November, the Flea Market Manager decided to start a social media campaign. He/She hired someone to take pictures of items and post to their Facebook page. The Facebook page was not utilized until this time. They opened a twitter account and contacted me on my on Twitter asking that I only post to their “Official” twitter account. They contacted the vendor’s to let them know that for $120.00, they, the Flea Market will do social media for them. I feel this was done out of greed, there are 800 vendors on site.
I have a contractual agreement with my customers to take photos and post to social media for them. If the Flea Market shuts me down, do I have any recourse?
Thank you in advice for your advice.
The Flea Market cannot really "shut you down," although the Flea Market might be able to put up a fuss over your use of their trademark for your site.

But you can continue to operate your site and post the photos you take to your site.

The problems I see that you may have are that you might find you have nothing to post on your site if the majority of the vendors decide to advertise only on the Flea Market's site and not on yours, or if the Flea Market decides you are no longer welcome to vend your wares at the Flea Market, or if the Flea Market decides to enforce their trademark and fight over your use of it on your site.

But you own the copyrights in the photos you take and you can post them to your site if the vendors whose pictures you have taken allow for it. So this is less a copyright issue and more a potential contract or trademark matter.

You should look to the contractual agreement you have with the Flea Market vendors and any of your advertisers, and you can have your site reviewed by an attorney in your area to see if the way you are using the Flea Market trademark infringes on any rights.

Good luck.
 
Last edited:

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top