Each time I do a Quick Six blog, I’ll make comments on six different topics. This time, I am taking a different path and focusing on one subject. Forgive me while I do some venting.
On various photo web sites and even racing web sites, the subject comes up of ownership of property and copyright issues. I am not going to get into the copyright issue as it’s a long and complex subject. But what I will talk about is ownership of photos.
As a photographer, each photo we take is our property. Even if another person buys a print, the photographer still owns the image and controls the content of that image. It gets a little trickier if a photographer sells (or even gives) an image, whether it’s full size or scaled down. Once the photographer hands over an image, folks can do what they want with it unless there is some type of agreement against that.
It is a different situation when a photographer sends images to a publication or web site. They are trusting the publisher not to sell or redistribute those images without some sort of permission. Here is complaint #1. Often times, fans will take these images off these web sites and pass them on as their own. That is dishonest and wrong. Many people, like myself, are no longer posting images on Facebook for this reason. It’s a shame some cannot respect what belongs to other people.
Now to complaint #2 and the main focus of this blog. Last weekend, a person approached several photographers needing a photo for a product line he was selling. When he told by each one he needed to buy the image, he proceeded to take to social media to blast these people.
First, it was unprofessional to take to social media to blast these people. Second, I am not sure why some people expect somebody to give them something for free so they can make money from it. That would be like a carpenter going to Lowe’s or Home Depot and asking them for a truck load of free lumber so he can build a house and sell it. Why should photographers be treated differently?
I’m not really sure why some people think photographers should just hand over their work for nothing, especially when they intend to make money for themselves off it. Some photographers make pretty decent money while others do not. In this age of cellphone cameras, people don’t buy photos like they used to. None of us do this to make a living. We do this for the love of the sport. At the same time, most of us have thousands of dollars invested in photography equipment. The last thing we want to do is spend that kind of money, spend all kinds of time taking and editing photos, and to get nothing in return for that. If some photographers are happpy to hand over their work for nothing so another person can make money using it, that is their choice. But those that choose not give their work away should not be blasted for that because that is their choice.
On a side note, people with cell phone wanting to take victory lane pictures should not block those that are there to do their job. Please, stand to the side and wait until the others are finished with their work.
