Image Copyright Action Notice

January 25, 2025

Unfortunately, we have been forced to take steps to protect our brand and image due to increased theft of our imagery. Effective the date of this notice, we have begun an intensive effort to combat and prevent future copyright infringement. This notice serves as the only warning to all current infringers of the following images that we will seek the removal of your content if it includes any of the following images or any part, including legal action in the most egregious cases.

Ed Oswald took these images for his weather station reviews and holds all copyrights, and these images were only contracted to select outlets. They are not in the public domain and are only available under license.

The only websites contracted to use these images are The Weather Station Experts, DigitalTrends, Popular Mechanics, TechHive and IDG properties, and Weather Station Advisor. No other use by any other non-listed outlet is currently permitted. All other uses of these images are considered infringement by any other outlet not listed here, and we request any services hosting infringing content to work with us to fight back against illegal use, which often is accompanied by misleading information.

Spot these images somewhere else not on this list on the web, or in a video? Please let us know.

We have already filed three separate infringement claims on YouTube regarding these images as of the date of this notice, and anticipate more. We also plan to begin advising any ISP hosting sites with these images of our claims and requests for removal beginning in February. We also will file actions on behalf of our clients as necessary, as we still retain the copyright of our work.

Steps we’re taking on our site

We have begun watermarking any of our imagery on-site in hopes that it prevents future infringement. Also, we will take steps to disable the ability to save images. We have tried to put this off, but the amount of infringement in the last few months has increased substantially and requires us to take action.

We’re also supporting the public domain

In addition to these copyright actions, TWSE also plans to release some of its weather video b-roll in the public domain in the next few months on the Pexels platform. Pexels creators have made some of our videos possible, and we’d like to give back to future creators using this public domain platform to find free content legally. We expect this to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 5-10 minutes of high-definition (1080p) footage.

Are you selectively taking action?

No. In this initial effort, any unlicensed video or website hosting the above four images is at risk, regardless of size. However, we will be taking further action against especially egregious theft. For AI-generated content, immediate takedowns are requested, while human-generated content will receive a 7-day request as a courtesy where our copyrighted content appears for less than 10 seconds.

I’d like to use some of your content. What do you consider “fair use?”

The Weather Station Experts will not file claims against all content, provided the use satisfies at least one of the following:

  • Is used to reference The Weather Station Experts;
  • Is in response to a video (i.e. a “response video”); and/or
  • follows U.S. fair use law. For example, a review video where we can easily determine you are indeed reviewing the station would likely be considered fair use. However, if the video is all stock imagery and other potentially infringing non-manufacturer media is present, we will file a claim, as it lacks original content.

Crediting and linking to TWSE is not enough to avoid an infringement claim. Some of these images are contract only. Do not use our images in any other way. If you really need an image, we may consider a la carte licensing on a case-by-case basis.

As a general policy, The Weather Station Experts does not rescind copyright actions, unless there is an error in our identification. However, following the settlement of past infringement use may be licensed on a case-by-case basis provided the infringing party:

  • Has paid a licensing fee of $300 USD, equal to the minimum fee paid by any of the above-licensed outlets;
  • The infringing content does not include content from other parties that can not be considered “fair use” under U.S. copyright law; and
  • The talent in the video is not AI-generated, and human.

Under no circumstances will copyright strikes be removed or licensing be provided to parties using AI generation to produce videos, as they provide no value to the viewer, and harm hard-working human creators. We reserve the right in these cases to seek further damages from this type of infringement, including monetary damages.

Theft of our work devalues our product and confuses the consumer. We won’t tolerate it anymore. And if you’ve let us know about someone using our work, thank you so much. Let’s work together to make the web a more trustworthy place.

Ed Oswald
Founder, TWSE