UPDATE: ISSUE RESOLVED
Dear Editor,
My colleagues in Croatia discovered one of my copyrighted photographs in your magazine. Your photo editor stole my photo of Kesha Nichols and published it in **** without my knowledge or permission. While I am flattered you appreciate my photography, I am not pleased about the surreptitious way your corporation attained my photograph(s).
The photo was stolen from my flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amydunn/1413255806/
In addition, your magazine purposefully and blatantly cropped and deleted my logo from the bottom right-hand side of the image, further demonstrating an intent to steal. I demand credit and compensation–not only for me as the photographer, but to the model as well. You broke the law by infringing on my copyright. You had intentional access to my photo database, you did not have my express authorization to publish my image in your publication, you obtained and altered my photograph by erasing my logo, and you used the image for your commercial advantage in furtherance of a tortious act.
Do recognize the world is small, and my network is large. I have friends, family and colleagues that reside in Croatia. Even though your photo editor thought he could circumvent copyright laws by the off-chance I would never see it, he is sourly mistaken. Please respond immediately with your plan on action on how you wish you resolve this matter. For your reference, I have attached a copy of the magazine page at issue.
Sincerely,
Amy Dunn, Esq.
24 Comments
That’s insanely ridiculous. Don’t they know you’re a lawyer?!?!?!?
It hurts, Christine. It hurts.
They surely messed with the wrong chica this time…
(Wow…you indeed have a worldwide network!)
Is this a common occurrence? Not necessarily with your work but with photographs in general?
Just call them and burp in thier ear.
Cristina, this happens ALL THE TIME. I usually get paid, too. The major grievances start from flickr. As much as I love that community, there are some bad apples floating around there.
Steven, I should totally do that. It worked for me in junior high, why not now!
Just kidding.
The editor got in touch with me and agreed to comply with my demands for payment. Now I just have to figure out how. In Euros? LOL
it’s things like this that scare me the more i try to get in to photography professionally.
I used to place my copyright on all my pictures, but in the hands of the wrong person, they will unscrupulously remove the logo. It just takes a little bit of cropping/cloning.
A few things to consider:
1) The photography is marketable and therefore, clients want it (a compliment of sorts);
2) Infringement can yield a big payday if you find the source. But that’s the catch–you have to find it.
All of my professional photographer friends (Peter Yang and Stephen Eastwood quickly come to mind) have all had their photos used without permission. Peter found one of his early images in an MTV music video; I found one of my pictures mutilated with a fat logo from a major beer label. In both instances, we received a handsome paycheck because we placed a call to the right person. You don’t have to be a lawyer…but it helps.
Paul, don’t let something like that deter you from pursuing photography. There are many clients that play by the book and offer handsome rewards for talent. Flickr does seem to be a major source of infringement, though, so I will have to consider removing my photos from that community.
what a bummer of a story to find when returning to your blog! It looks like it’s going to work out for you. ever hear of TinEye?
Gah. This happens all the time, what with the popularity of photo sites like flikr. Editors get lazy. It’s easier to grab the photo and maybe have to pay if anyone ever complains. My bro is a photo editor at a magazine in Japan and his boss is always mad at him for the time he ‘wastes’ in getting permissions and paying the photographers/models. *sigh*
It’s frustrating! I guess on one side, it’s great to get all this international exposure. But it doesn’t do us any good if we are not given credit. I thought about slapping a horrendous copyright over my images, but I hate destroying pictures like that.
In the meantime, I guess I’ll keep my eyes open for copyright infringement and keep chasing these butt monkeys.
Karma Rule Number 6876989888: Things done in secret will eventually become publicly revealed. (a.k.a.) There’s no such thing a free lunch.)
You go girl, Amy
Hen bang le ba!
HA! that will teach them, it is surprising that magazines are struggling in the economic crisis and this stuff only deteriorates them!, how hard would had been to contact you and offer x quantity of money to use your photo in the magazine? that would had been 10,000x better!…
I’m glad you kicked their behinds 
The thing is, if they had simply asked, I probably would have let them run the photo and granted them permission with a smile.
Update: the editor-in-chief has agreed to pay for the photograph. There is justice in this world.
Glad it worked out! It amazes me that people don’t realize just how small the world really is now!
i found your blog through you flickr site, it’d be a shame not to have you post there anymore as i just added you as a contact.
as a fellow flickr user, and being fully aware from many sources about photo theft from ANY online source (if they want it they’ll take it from your blog, your website, your photo library…if it’s online, it’s “fair game” to the unscrupulous), i have always tried to put a small watermark on my images as well, but have the same dilemna as you…i want to protect my image, but also don’t want to distract or cover over the image itself. i’ve even had someone comment saying he like an image but thought the watermark was a shame as it destroyed the image for him. i’ve flip flopped back and forth from an non-intrusive name on the corner which is easily croppable, to my name running right across the image at a very light transparency which is still easily cloneable. in the end, i’ve resorted to uploading a maximun 600pixel long edge image and have ‘download OFF’ on my settings just in case. that way people only have access to an image that won’t yield any decent size print. your ‘view other sizes’ is off on flickr now but just out of curiosity was it on before? and were you uploading full res images before? i’m just curious what size image they got, and how they got it off flickr, to be magazine print quality?
well glad it worked out in the end. slightly humorous though that out of any photog to have something stolen, you’re probably the one they shouldn’t mess with the most!
cheers
Update: the magazine is being really annoying. They asked me to send a copy of my passport along with a Power of Attorney–but only after I followed up with him about my money. Yes, he messed with the wrong cat. I can be very annoying.
Roger, I hear ‘ya on all counts. I don’t recall how they stole the image, but it’s easy to “print screen” and delicately crop or clone out the logo. I never post anything on flickr larger than 700 px, and that’s only after arguing with Jon about that. He insists the bigger the image, the better. I agree with him, visually. But that only makes it easier for the shady bunch to steal pictures.
I’m still waiting on payment. Until then, I’m going to press on with my most irritating front. I might just go to Croatia this summer and meet them face-to-face.
sorry to hear they’ve changed their tune and decided to make it more irritating for you settle the matter. but in a way it’s slightly humourous that they’ve decided to tangle with the wrong girl…ha. “oh she’s probably some weak girly photographer trying to shake a big stick at us from the other side of the world…” i’d be curious how fast they’d change their minds if you sent them a business card from your day job
ya it’s a tough call, you want to show a bigger res file so people can see all the great details, but then you’re just offering something useful to those looking to steal it. i think if the image is strong enough it’ll still look good and people will still think it’s a fantastic photo. i’ve faved a ton of images on flickr that i can only see at 500px. whatever i like about that shot, composition, lighting, colours, pose, concept…i KNOW it’s still a good image regardless if i can actually make out the lightsource in the model’s eyes or not. maybe it’s so small that i can’t even tell their eye colour, but overall it’s not gonna stop me from thinking it’s a great shot. the images you’ve posted on your blog are perfect in size. big enough to see some subtleties in the shot, but not quite big enough for a useful print of any kind.
good luck regardless. it’ll be interesting to see how it unfolds.
Awful, Im so glad theyre busted
I am freelance copywriter and I’m facing similar situations like 1ce a month…
Well done
.
What’s the latest? A Russian mag pulled the same passport BS on me when I sent them an invoice after dealing with them professionally. I wonder if that’s the norm in Europe?
Thanks for the reminder, Ken. I have communicated with the magazine editors, and they are more than willing to settle the matter. I’ll keep you posted once I get a check!
hi…. it is very very funny that I can not save your pic….pleaze help me
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