So what had happened wuz...

[Village_Idiot]

I found this cool regional site that kind of like an online magazine and I was interested in shooting/writing for them, so I sent them an e-mail telling them about how face meltingly awesome I am and showed them my kickass work.

Well right after that I checked out their article about an Earth Day festival I was at last year. Well at this festival I was commissioned one hundred and fifty American dollars to shoot the event for the production company. After reading the article twice and thinking how amazing the photos in the article were, the light bulb came on. They were my photos!

There's a foot note about the photos being copyrighted to me and a link...which goes to their flicke pool :confused: and not my website. And like an idiot I forgot to give them my name and phone number in the first e-mail I sent, so I fired off another one telling them my info and saying a quick, "Oh, hey! You're already using my work by the way..." at the end of the e-mail.

It's not a big deal right this second. I think a knee jerk reaction would kill any chance I would have working with them and I'm really trying to break into the commercial and editorial field and get away from friends having me shoot their kids, family events, etc... (not for free of course) So I'll wait to see what they say or if they mail me back at all.

I bet some of you are scratching your heads thinking, "WTF would he want to work with a company that steals a photographer's images?" Well, besides being a good opportunity to break into the field, there is always the chance to educate them on how to cover their ass in the world of copyright laws.

The photos are good though?
http://weareyep.com/it%e2%80%99s-always-a-team-effort-for-earth-vibe-productions/

[gonzogolf]

I dont know about working for them, but certainly it would be time for some education. Especially in my images ended up in their flickr stream.

[Village_Idiot]

I dont know about working for them, but certainly it would be time for some education. Especially in my images ended up in their flickr stream.

They're not in their stream, the link with my business name goes to their stream. Also, opportunities to get this type of work are limited around here and that's why I'm mainly shooting portraits for people and not doing editorial and commercial.

Good ol' West Virginia.

[gonzogolf]

Sorry I was confused. If you want to work for them you might start by saying you liked my work so much you stole it, and I could sue, but lets start fresh so you dont do that anymore :)

[JacobPhoto]

What does your contract with the production company say? Do they own the rights to the images for the purpose of distributing for promotion and publicity? Did you make them clear of the specific rights they do own, and what it does and does not entitle them to do with the photos?

Chances are, they thought they could do anything they wanted with them, and they are your culprit.

[sspellman]

How does the Client that paid you feel about another company using the same photos for free?

[stephenb49]

Sorry to say this but I think the "psuedo cool" image of yourself you are trying to create through your language, and the naivete of your "forgetfulness", and the website you linked to in your post are actually inviting people to take advantage of you in this manner.

[Village_Idiot]

Sorry to say this but I think the "psuedo cool" image of yourself you are trying to create through your language, and the naivete of your "forgetfulness", and the website you linked to in your post are actually inviting people to take advantage of you in this manner.

Who pissed in your Wheaties? Mad because I'm not angry at the world like you? :rolleyes:

What does your contract with the production company say? Do they own the rights to the images for the purpose of distributing for promotion and publicity? Did you make them clear of the specific rights they do own, and what it does and does not entitle them to do with the photos?

Chances are, they thought they could do anything they wanted with them, and they are your culprit.

I retain copyrights, the client has the right to use the photos for marketing and promotion. Client can't sell photos. I'd have the pull up the contract, but I'm pretty sure it clearly states at some point that the client can't give the photos away. After all, it's just a license and not a copyright.

I agree. I'm pretty sure that they got the photos through the client.

How does the Client that paid you feel about another company using the same photos for free?

As above, I'm pretty sure that's how the company got them. Actually, I'm 100% sure. I don't have any of those photos on Flickr or my portfolio site as they were shot for the client at an event and had no real value to me past that.

So, I'd gather that the client probably feels pretty swell about another company using the same photos for free. :mrgreen:

[golfecho]

I thought your town was spelled "Dirt Burgh" (with an H ) . . .

[Village_Idiot]

I thought your town was spelled "Dirt Burgh" (with an H ) . . .

? It's short for Durtyburg, which is a colloquialism for Martinsburg. There's no H at the end of the proper spelling of the actual name of the town.

[Jimconnerphoto]

I have had this happen more then a few times. I shoot an event for a client and it shows up on a blog or online magazine. I feel that it is promoting the company and their events/products so it is not violating the agreement.

If you desire to license your images for very specific usage you need to have a very clear release. Just noting promotion and marketing is vague.
If your agreement states the images can be used from January 1st to march 1st on website www.theirsite.com and any further usage needs to be negotiated then you have a point.

I may take assignments for magazines if the work is interesting but generally speaking they are not very profitable. It is not work I go out of my way to get.

[golfecho]

? It's short for Durtyburg, which is a colloquialism for Martinsburg. There's no H at the end of the proper spelling of the actual name of the town.
Ahh, OK. I lived in Pittsburgh for a while, and many of the folks in the region say they come from ". . . da Burgh". Thought you might have been (toungue in cheek) jumping on that bandwagon . . .

[Village_Idiot]

I have had this happen more then a few times. I shoot an event for a client and it shows up on a blog or online magazine. I feel that it is promoting the company and their events/products so it is not violating the agreement.

If you desire to license your images for very specific usage you need to have a very clear release. Just noting promotion and marketing is vague.
If your agreement states the images can be used from January 1st to march 1st on website www.theirsite.com (http://www.theirsite.com) and any further usage needs to be negotiated then you have a point.

I may take assignments for magazines if the work is interesting but generally speaking they are not very profitable. It is not work I go out of my way to get.

I wanting to use it to get my foot in the door and to help build a portfolio of actual assignments. I figure if I have something like that under my belt, it may help with other aspects.

I had the guy that ran a local magazine call me back about 15 minutes after e-mailing me saying he loved my pictures and wanted me to shoot for them. He was all about it until he found out I didn't want to work for free. I hear he's a real cheapskate though and he tried to not pay what was agreed upon with an order from my friend who runs a vinyal graphics and silk screening business.

I've already contacted ad agencies and most of the don't reply or already have in house photographers working for them.

[nathancarter]

I had the guy that ran a local magazine call me back about 15 minutes after e-mailing me saying he loved my pictures and wanted me to shoot for them. He was all about it until he found out I didn't want to work for free. I hear he's a real cheapskate though and he tried to not pay what was agreed upon with an order from my friend who runs a vinyal graphics and silk screening business.

Magazine and newspaper editors LOVE free photos. If your services are free, it's automatically "GREAT PHOTOS! Fantastic work! Can you work for us every weekend?!?"