I know I am arriving to this discussion late…but better late than never. You can see the patent here. This company is actually claiming to have invented the process of uploading images to the internet and selling something from that image.
Here is a little info that I found on it:
VPS, LLC dba Virtual Photo Store LLC v. Pictage Inc. et al
| RFC Case Number: | P-V08-5172P |
| Court Case Number: | 1:08-cv-05172 |
| File Date: | Wednesday, September 10, 2008 |
| Plaintiff: | VPS, LLC dba Virtual Photo Store LLC |
| Plaintiff Counsel: | Thomas L. Duston, Jon-Thomas Bloch, Michael R. Weiner of Marshall Gerstein & Borun |
| Defendant: | Pictage Inc. Edward Fox Photographer LLC Artisan Events Inc. Pret-A-Poser Photography Inc. George Street Productions Inc. Thomas M. Slack Photography LLC Glen A. Bog Photography Inc. David Wittig Photography Inc. |
| Cause: | 35:145 Patent Infringement |
| Court: | Illinois Northern District Court |
| Judge: | Honorable Amy J. St. Eve |
Virtual Photo Store LLC doesn’t have a website that I have found(here’s one under construction), they don’t sell anything that I have found and they seem to be an entity set up to sue for profit. These guys have also sued Kodak, Sutterfly and others to get to where they are today. So who is behind this? Who benefits from the lawsuit or the settling of the lawsuit?
I have always been proud that our industry was one of the last cottage industries out there and that a mom and pop could make it with limited resources. It seems that we might have to depend on larger companies to at least host our images and sell them for us OR face Virtual Photo Store LLC and it’s lawyers. This may be a true test of our industry…do we sit on the sidelines or collectively battle for the right to sell what we produce?
I don’t have the answer…but I will continue to follow the developments and let you know what I find out.
We are having a great discussion about this over on my blog right now.
I think you’re right. With the money they’ve made from the big lawsuits they’ll be able to slowly expand after the bigger fish in the photography world and start working their way down to anybody else who technically violates their patent.