legal question

[pr1mo]

Any lawyers here?

Vic roads is using my numberplate combination extensively on their website. Not just on one page either but its their template for custom (letter only) plates.

Can they do this? Im not about to take them on in court or anything but intertested to know if they were obligated to ask me before doing that.

www.vplates.com.au

cheers

[70NYD]

im pretty sure that plates still remain the property of the DOT, but im no lawyer nor did i read the fine print.... that does suck do. if u can take them to court get as much as u can out of them ay :D

[miah87]

im pretty sure that plates still remain the property of the DOT, but im no lawyer nor did i read the fine print.... that does suck do. if u can take them to court get as much as u can out of them ay :D

LOL LOL LOL.. exactly the same post...

[Brisbane_boy]

i dont think u could sue them but if they are showing your plate woudent that make them more valuble??

[mikey_something]

are you paying any yearly fees on them?

u could try asking for those to be free because they are using your plates for advertising?
that will result in one of three...

1. Sure your plates are now free
2. We've removed your plates from our website
3. Sod off...

:D
just an idea.

[70NYD]

LOL LOL LOL.. exactly the same post...

lol i accidentaly posted it in your thread.. i have no idea how or why lol
just a glitch in the matrix i guess ;)

[pr1mo]

are you paying any yearly fees on them?

u could try asking for those to be free because they are using your plates for advertising?
that will result in one of three...

1. Sure your plates are now free
2. We've removed your plates from our website
3. Sod off...

:D
just an idea.

there are no yearly fees on Victorian plates. you pay a one off fee and to my knowledge theyre yours.

you will see vic plates up for sale and trade on ebay and at shannons auctions.

haha I wonder what they will do if i send them a letter

[Cosmo Dude]

Plates are owned by vic roads and you are required to return them when your registration is expired.

[SwarleyAUS]

unless theyre personalised/custom/custom mix...

[Cosmo Dude]

2.If you are purchasing second hand plates with the intention of putting them on a vehicle, it is important you contact us BEFORE you purchase them. We can confirm that the person selling you the physical plates also owns the RIGHTS TO DISPLAY that combination.

So yeah, you can own the metal but not the lettering.

[rodhog]

Yes in Vic and QLD - you buy the rights to and legal tender of the original combination.
in NSW you RENT the Combination. you can rent in NSW and not have to display them but can not keep them at home but the RTa will do that for you with a fee.

Effectively all Number plates combination etc are the property of the DOT of your state.

You could argue an issue of your plate but - the catch is in court.

So what you buy fancy plates but you don't want people to know your plates ?
you would get shot down in 1 minute and only a scum solicitor would take it on. Just ot rape you of at least $5K

On the other hand if they have photograph of your Plates on your bike car truck boat trailer and it's clearly your plate on that item. So basicly if like they only have say just your palte and surrounding lights it's not enough

but say you have a RX-7 FD with fancy rear bar nad your plates on it and photo of it is used as advertising then YOU HAVE A CASE. the Plate becomes Identification and it's Theft of property or image or something along them lines. the imgae of your car is the property being stolen.

I know just off hand someone who settled out of court in regard to a photo of them being used as a advertising imgae to promote a tourist attraction. Now they were lucky because No one asked or mentioned certain photo's

but for example some fun parks have right you give up entering the place to have your photo taken but at the same time they don't have the right to blow it up and use it as big poster. Many people will back you on this area - the people who are used for such Items like models - photographers - lighting etc.

This is an area fools in the IT area have been sued for using imgaes they don't have right too.

[pr1mo]

unless theyre personalised/custom/custom mix...

my plates are personalized/custom/mix :)

[SwarleyAUS]

then you have more of a case on your hands!! =D

[bourbon]

i doubt it swarley, as stated before all you buy is the right to use those letters and combination on the peice of steel and rego sticker...the combination is still the property of the place who sells the customized plates (transport)...

[SwarleyAUS]

yeah your just getting the rights to the name, however if you let it lapse, you can keep the plates, but not the rights to the name/number. time to read the fineprint i think!

do you buy or rent the plate combination for the duration of your rego?

cos if you BUY them, as youve purchased the rights to the plate, VicRoads need to have a clause saying they can use your plate on their website. if not, as you currently own the rights to your plate, what they are doing may be illegal... in some vague and borderline indictable way.

Buying them is buying them... you buy them you own them(the combination)

[bourbon]

if it is a digital image of the plates its fine as its just an example. if they have a picture of the car in full and real images they need you to allow them to have the photos on the internet...

im afraid you cant really do anything apart from jump up and down...they wont do anything i bet...

[SwarleyAUS]

hmm yeah even if it was a breach of copyright, theyd bluff and say its fine. they know your not going to waste $2000+ on lawyers to get money from them, which would be minimal as the judge would seem the case to be wasting his/her time anyway. sorry, but i think we lose out on this... =(

[Rupewrecht]

Slater and Gordon. No win, no fee :p

[SwarleyAUS]

haha cha-ching

[mussing]

Not a lawyer yet, but I will be next year when I get my PLT. Copyright law is actually something I'm looking to get into career-wise, although I don't study it until next semester. Still, I know enough to give an educated opinion.

yeah your just getting the rights to the name, however if you let it lapse, you can keep the plates, but not the rights to the name/number. time to read the fineprint i think!

do you buy or rent the plate combination for the duration of your rego?

cos if you BUY them, as youve purchased the rights to the plate, VicRoads need to have a clause saying they can use your plate on their website. if not, as you currently own the rights to your plate, what they are doing may be illegal... in some vague and borderline indictable way.

Buying them is buying them... you buy them you own them(the combination)

Even if you buy the plates outright, you still only own the physical number plates and the right to display those plates in that lettering combination on the road. You don't own the copyright in any word or combination of letters that your numberplate displays.

Copyright only protects forms of expression that are covered by the Copyright Act; that are recorded or "fixed" (eg. written down or saved to a digital file); and are the result of skill and effort and not just copied. The Act covers original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works.

With that in mind, I highly doubt a persuasive argument could be made to the effect, firstly, that there is copyright in a number plate, and secondly, that you own it. Thus I can't see any legal cause of action against VicRoads for them displaying your plate on their site. Still, you could write a letter of concern and see if they give you any options, but it's likely that they're not legally obliged to do a thing.

if it is a digital image of the plates its fine as its just an example. if they have a picture of the car in full and real images they need you to allow them to have the photos on the internet...

im afraid you cant really do anything apart from jump up and down...they wont do anything i bet...

but say you have a RX-7 FD with fancy rear bar nad your plates on it and photo of it is used as advertising then YOU HAVE A CASE. the Plate becomes Identification and it's Theft of property or image or something along them lines. the imgae of your car is the property being stolen.

Even if they displayed a full image of your car with your plates on it, as long as they took the photo (and they didn't trespass or something when they took it) they will own the copyright in the image, and be fully entitled to display that image on their site. You don't automatically own the copyright in a work if you own the subject of that work, subject to certain exceptions for artistic works etc. This is why, for instance, google maps are allowed to drive around and take photos of everything there. They have a complaints-driven take-down policy (ie. you can complain if there's a shot of you you want taken down and they most likely will) but that's their policy- they're not actually obliged to do anything at all, since they have not breached privacy by taking photos in public places.

I know just off hand someone who settled out of court in regard to a photo of them being used as a advertising imgae to promote a tourist attraction. Now they were lucky because No one asked or mentioned certain photo's

Ah, now this is different because they're using the image of a person, as opposed to the image of something a person owns. From copyright.org.au:

"A person’s image is not protected by copyright. However, in some cases, using a person’s image without permission may be prevented under other laws, such as the law of passing off, the Trade Practices Act 1974 and State and Territory fair trading laws. These areas of law concern conduct which may mislead or deceive the public and may particularly come into play if the photograph you are taking is of a well-known person, and is to be used, for example, as a poster or as a postcard or in advertising. In some cases, uses of photographs may be defamatory of people in them."