Good Ideas, ruthless greedy rivals and the law.

It is really quite extraordinary, "BRISBANE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS" is a popular phrase people use when asking search engines for Photographers from Brisbane. It is coincidental that this is also the legally registered name of my business which is being improperly used by my rivals to hi-jack my clients. 

The argument has raged for more than a year now as to whether or not a business of another name can legitimately call itself "Brisbane Wedding Photographers" as the title of it's web page. My advice is that it is illegal to impersonate a business. I'm told further that if the intention is to deceive the public into thinking the person titling their web page with my business name is in fact my business, criminal charges may be able to be laid for fraud.

Why am I telling you all this?

Because in recent times a number of individual photographers who "discovered" they could optimise their web sites to imitate my successful site, by using "Brisbane Wedding Photographers" as the title of their site have behaved with indifference when I asked them to stop using my business name to promote their web sites. There is no problem using "Brisbane Wedding Photographers" as a keyword, only describing the website - and therefore their business as being mine.

Although I pointed out other, more popular search phrases they could use, many of these rivals told me in quite blunt terms to "get stuffed", they would continue to promote their web sites using my registered business name as the title of their own website.

Legal action to protect my business from people using it's name improperly and probably illegally would be quite expensive and may not resolve the matter. In view of their lack of ethics in this area, I doubt any serious client would want to do business with them anyway.

Last year three clients who eventually phoned me when they perused a dozen or so websites using my business name as the title of their sites expecting to find me but instead found a plethora of high pressure sales people trying to get their business.

The thought occurred to me then, that  if three people who were determined enough to track me down had this much trouble, there must be others who... Searching for my business, who got hi-jacked by someone using my legal business name as the title of their website.

This page is to alert anyone confused by the large number of firms and photographers using my business name to advertise themselves that they may very well be 'wedding photographers in Brisbane' but they are NOT Brisbane Wedding Photographers BN: 21034760  

I strongly suggest to anyone contemplating hiring a photographer who is promoting the title of their website as "Brisbane Wedding Photographers" ...to ask themselves if they really want someone Involved in their wedding who is using unethical and deceptive practices to attract business? Your wedding is after all, supposed to be about you and your fiancé, is it not? 

There are some legitimate reasons for a web site to promote Brisbane Wedding Photographers in their search engine marketing. An example is when a site offers a listing of Brisbane Wedding Photographers. This is not illegal or unethical until they begin to describe their website in the 'title tag' as being "Brisbane Wedding Photographers".

When someone does this, they  are breaching Queensland's fair trading laws that control who can use a trading name. Again, I ask you if you really want to be associated with someone who flaunts the laws introduced to prevent this sort of thing going on? Honesty and Ethics have no price, they are priceless virtues beyond value.

It is quite unethical to title a web site as "Brisbane wedding Photographers" when in reality it is an entirely different name the person is trading under. To those who adjusted their website titles and gained an improved search ranking by following my alternative suggestions... Thank you.

So who can legally promote a business as "Brisbane Wedding Photographers?"

Until mid the end of January 2010, I am the only person who can legally title a business as Brisbane Wedding Photographers. I am the owner of the name : BN: 21034760. After January it will belong to Ryadia Pty Ltd, ACN: 138464472. My company.

Use the link below, provide us with your name, street address and landline phone number along with the details of your encounter with a business you thought was Brisbane Wedding Photographers  and I'll provide you with information that may result in you getting your wedding photography free.  Keep in mind if you intend to take up this offer, you may need to attend the Brisbane office of my lawyer and sign a statutory declaration and there is a small chance you might also need to appear in court. You weigh it up for yourself. $3000 for photography from an impersonator or a little effort and no cost by exposing them.

Contact Brisbane wedding photographers.