It has been brought to my attention by someone who used to go to my school that a school report of mine (from 1962!), which I featured on my blog last year, has been used in a book on Family History, which was published in June 2010 and which is currently available for sale on Amazon.
I have not given permission for this and am wondering what the situation is? I have not seen the book but understand that it is my image that has been used. It gives personal albeit dated information about me.
Copyright Infringement
There are two different aspects to this. Firstly, I assume that although the school report is about you, you didn't actually write any of it. If that is so, you don't have any claim to copyright in it, as although it became your property when the school sent it to you (or more likely your parents) that didn't automatically transfer the copyright, which technically speaking remains with the school concerned (as they were the employer of the teachers who wrote the individual entries).
However under the Data Protection Act (and possibly the Human Rights Act) you would have more protection, except that by publishing the report yourself in your blog, your effectively waived your rights to privacy! If you didn't publish all of the report on your blog, and this book has published extra details not previously revealed, then you may have a case. If you feel strongly about it, it might be worth speaking to a solicitor, but you need to think about what redress you are seeking. I doubt if any damages you might get would be very large given this might be at best a partial data breach, and they would probably be outweighed by your legal costs.
However under the Data Protection Act (and possibly the Human Rights Act) you would have more protection, except that by publishing the report yourself in your blog, your effectively waived your rights to privacy! If you didn't publish all of the report on your blog, and this book has published extra details not previously revealed, then you may have a case. If you feel strongly about it, it might be worth speaking to a solicitor, but you need to think about what redress you are seeking. I doubt if any damages you might get would be very large given this might be at best a partial data breach, and they would probably be outweighed by your legal costs.
Thank you very much for such a clear and detailed reply - very much appreciated. It's interesting to know the facts behind the copyright (or not!) issue and thank you for taking the time to set me right.
However, I still feel that it would have been courteous to ask my permission to publish it.
I'll let it go now!
However, I still feel that it would have been courteous to ask my permission to publish it.
I'll let it go now!