It’s the crux of every serious photographer I know. It is a serious issue that gets over looked and it has happened to every photographer I have ever known. It IS copyright infringement. Everyone of them has an opinion on it one way or another. I stand firm on my opinion and I will do what I have to protect my integrity. A few months ago I had a situation arise with a good friend who did this, and made it his profile picture on facebook. I over-reacted. He was a very close life long friend and I treated him like a dirty thief, was very rude, and damn near caused irreparable damage to our friendship. Thanks to my lovely wife playing mediator, our friendship is unharmed.
Recently I photographed an event that caused a high amount of traffic to my web page. The next day I found a contact had posted an image to facebook from the event. I sent a nicer email to this person than I did my friend, and it was seamlessly rectified right away. Yesterday, it happened a third time; and another smooth transaction rectified the situation. But these are only two people from the event who happen to be my contacts. The damage is done at this point.
This morning I awoke to a caring email from the contact that did this a few days ago. A fellow creative herself (sculptor), she wanted to apologize profusely for stepping on my toes and took the time to do a little research for me. I am grateful for her email as it caused me to do more searching and actually find a solution to cover the majority of the problem ((it’s like birth control. Nothing is 100%) embarrassed to admit I didn’t know of the solution or take care of the issue earlier).
In all three cases I’ve had to interject, I have found the problem to be, “I didn’t know.” This afternoon I took the time to exchange an email with this fellow creative as she asked for my input. I’m very pleased with my response and I think it may help others, so I will post the conversation here. Please feel free to share this link with others as maybe it will help spread the word amongst our peers that protecting ourselves starts at the beginning. I’m [obviously] redacting her name as well as a few fluff details etc.
A quick favor to ask; please take down the photo from your wall from the photo booth and in exchange post the link to that photo from my page. The image will still show up on your wall but will also direct them to my page.
I know I risk images being ripped off from my page every time I post something and there’s not much I can do about that, but I can at least police the images the best I can. I’d appreciate your cooperation. Here’s the link to the photo:
Hi Patrick, sorry about that! I though it would be OK since your watermark is on there.
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Patrick,
I was thinking this morning and thought I should drop a line. In all seriousness, I did not know it was wrong or offensive to pull images from the internet. I have two friends who are professional photographers and the images they do not want pulled are locked. Ones that are not locked (I’m told) are OK for sharing (especially since they are watermarked/stamped with their logo).
Please enlighten me on your perspective.
I sincerely hope I did not step on your toes or offend you. If so, I apologize, I did not know I was doing something wrong until my sister told me and I got your email. I respect your work.
But seriously. Thanks for thinking of me. I really do appreciate your concern and it means a lot to me when creatives look out for other creatives.
I did some research, found a plug-in that works, installed it, and viola! No longer capable of right clicking or drag/dropping my images, retro-active back to day 1! Why didn’t I know of that earlier?!?!?!?
Here comes a can of worms: The subject is actually a sensitive one and you’ll get different reactions from different owners of creative works. I lie in the camp of “nothing for free” as cold as that sounds. As a fellow creative, you know that exposure never has and never will pay a bill. I can have my name on my work all over the internet but what does that get me: a reputation that I give my stuff away and all you have to do is post it online if it has my name on it. Where you and I differ as creatives, is your work is a tangible, physical thing that cannot be reproduced digitally. An image of your work will never convey it 100%, you have to see it in person to get the message. Images of your work CAN relay that you have work out there but you need to come see it in person. for photographers, according to me, our work is our worst enemy. We need people to see our work in order to have the awareness but we cannot give it away for what becomes the point of selling it if all we’re going to do is put it on FB for free. For too many years I worked on the notion of “it’s good exposure” and now all I have to show for it, well, nothing. I am a creative, but at the same time I am trying to run a business. This is my lively hood. Photographers often get shat on and it’s quite an epidemic. I have subscribed to the notion of education. Educate the client first, then avoid the issues later. When photographers do things for free, it greatly downgrades our trade making it difficult to be sustainable. In no way am I in this to just make a buck – it’s not about the money but doing what I love. But it IS about doing what’s right and maintaining consistency. My goal in life is to not be a ‘starving artist,’ but just an ‘artist.’ This goal, for photographers, starts at the beginning.
An extreme comparison is that of the “Napster Debacle” back at the turn of the century. Bands were pissed that songs were being traded for free. It has become so common that no one ever knew they were doing something wrong. It was in fact, copyright infringement. People were educated, and now iTunes rules the world, and no one even buys CDs anymore.
Photography is going through the exact same thing. Every single time an image is right-clicked or dragged to a desk top, it is copyright infringement. The image is being stolen from the owner. It has become second nature for this to happen. No one has any idea they are doing anything wrong, it’s just “part of the program.” That’s why people put those god-awful watermarks and logos on pictures. It is distracting and can ruin a great image, but in the effect it is stolen, at least people know where to go. I’ve known people who have made an art of REMOVING watermarks and not even know they were doing something wrong.
I could go on and on about this forever. I have chosen this creative field on my own accord so it is my own battle. I will probably always be an advocate of this type of stuff and there will probably never be an end to it. Like I said before, set the precedence up front, educate the client, and avoid the issue later as the issue will never arise.
Wow, sorry about that rant. I’m sure you get the picture. Thanks again for thinking of me.
I don’t know if this post will accomplish anything, but awareness can help, maybe make you think twice about it in the future. I know where I stand – and I know my stance may make a few people angry. But, it is what it is and that’s how I am going to protect myself. I’d love to hear your opinion of it.
Pypeline.