Asking Organization For Photo Credit

Just looking for opinions here.

I recently did a session for a family who's 4 year old daughter has been fighting cancer and was just recently cleared of it. Today, I found out that an organization that sends these children jars with different gifts in them posted my image of her on their Facebook.

Is it unreasonable to ask them to give me credit for the photo in the post? I have had some people tell me I should not have since they are a non-profit who do things for kids with cancer. But I can't help but feel like all businesses/organizatio​ns should be held at the same standard to at least give credit to the photographer.

What do you think?

Ratjack wrote in post #17376411
Just looking for opinions here. . . . I can't help but feel like all businesses/organizatio​ns should be held at the same standard to at least give credit to the photographer.

That's my opinion, too. Nonprofits are businesses. In a sense, you donated your work. Although it was donated without your knowledge, you aren't asking the organization to stop using it. Giving a credit is the least they can do to acknowledge your gift.

Whether the parents accurately understood the limits on their rights to distribute the image is relevant, but it's a separate question.

I don't see any harm in sending the organization a message that you're flattered that they chose the image, and you're happy to contribute it to their cause, and then politely ask if they wouldn't mind crediting you on their FB page. But either way it goes, I wouldn't take it any further than that. It's not asking much. You might establish a relationship with the organization and offer additional images in the future from time to time.

Thank you for your responses! Definitely makes me feel a lot better about my choice. I tried to be as friendly as I could with my message. I am including my message to them below. Hopefully it sounds nice.


I am so excited to see that you enjoyed my image of NAME REMOVED and posted it to your Facebook page! When I met her and her family, it was so neat to see how much joy the jar brought to NAME REMOVED. It was very easy to see during our photo session that the jar made her happy and feel very special.

I absolutely love what you are doing with this organization and have absolutely no problem with you using the image. However, I do want to ask, could you please include an image credit in your post for me. I would really appreciate it!

Thank You!

That's a positive and reasonable message.

Did you get a response?

No response yet. It is showing that they have not even seen the message yet (I messaged them through Facebook). I am sure they only get online every so often to post things.

Do they have a regular website or just a page on Facebook?

If they have a regular website, there may be contact information there which would get you a quicker response.

Since this is related to Facebook the OP should contact them thru Facebook and not any other channels.

dkizzle wrote in post #17386065
Since this is related to Facebook the OP should contact them thru Facebook and not any other channels.

Not sure. Some photos of his are already on their site. He must have dealt with someone representing them in the past.

dkizzle wrote in post #17386065
Since this is related to Facebook the OP should contact them thru Facebook and not any other channels.

What does it matter what platform the image is on, you contact them through the most efficient method (usually telephone). Websites and facebook pages are managed by webmasters and marketing staff. Sending a message to info@website or the twitter/facebook page results in the message ending up in the wrong dept (where there is a good chance it wont get properly dealt with). The OPs issue is a business/legal issue so they need to be contacting the management/legal team. You do that by phoning and asking to speak to the legal dept, explaining calmly what they did wrong and stating that you are happy to settle this in an amicable manner in return for $x payment or a credit line (or whatever else). Unlike the marketing dept, the legal dept will know they are in the wrong and will want the matter resolved without getting sued. When they call down to marketing and tell them what to do there is a much better chance it will get done quickly than if you were to send a facebook message.

I agree that a telephone call would have been the better approach. Who knows how often they check their websites and social media sites.

Dan, did you see that this is a charitable organization? Your comments appear to be a polite response tailored to a for-profit business.

When I shoot the Special Olympics events and practices I try to remember not to watermark them, I load them all on our local S.O. facebook page. But none of these are studio shots.

I think I would let it pass if they are not profiting from them but I would respect your right to your decision either way.

PineBomb wrote in post #17387929
Dan, did you see that this is a charitable organization? Your comments appear to be a polite response tailored to a for-profit business.

Yes my mention of $ was just an example. What you ask for is whatever you want in the given situation. The OP wants credit/namecheck and that is fine. However we should also keep in mind that many charities spend a lot of money on marketing (including photoshoots) and have employees who get paid.

Dan Marchant wrote in post #17388341
However we should also keep in mind that many charities spend a lot of money on marketing (including photoshoots) and have employees who get paid.

Agreed that it's something to keep in mind, but my sense is that this is not one of them.