I first want to be very clear. I understand that hiring a professional photographer is a huge investment. You are spending a lot of money, but I honestly think it is worth it. The money I earn from each session is divided up to pay for the cost of my equipment, my studio, props, taxes, childcare and my income.
I am aware that many people do not fully understand the work that goes into professional photography. Photographers not only possess a talent for understanding lighting and composition (during the session), we also posses talents for photo editing (after the session). This isn’t something I was born with. I spent four years in art school and have spent years continuously working on perfecting my craft. A lot of time is put into making each and every photo look beautiful because that is my hard work and I want to be proud of each photo I present as my own, even if it’s not one that will be hung on a client’s wall. Professional photographer’s, contrary to popular belief, are not just people with nice cameras pointing and clicking.
It recently came to my attention that a client had copied images that were posted on Facebook, cropped out my logo, and had these copies printed.
This bothers me to the core for many reasons:
One, the pictures seriously look TERRIBLE when copied from Facebook. The pictures are at a lower resolution and Facebook makes them look icky anyway. Printing them on top of that is basically like taking an artists painting and stepping all over it with muddy shoes before hanging it on your wall. No good.
Two, I truly want people to understand that these types of actions have a direct impact on my business and my family. I spend hours and hours and HOURS sitting at my computer, working on photos and really putting my blood, sweat and tears into them (well not really blood or sweat…and rarely tears, but you get the point). Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE what I do, but I sacrifice a lot of sleep and a lot of time with my children to create works of art for many wonderful families. Whether you would like to believe it or not, copying 1 picture is taking food out of my children’s mouths. How’s that for guilt? :)
Three, this is stealing and it’s illegal. Photographer’s can and do find out about this and can prosecute if they so choose.
Because of my recent discovery, I will be changing my Facebook watermark. I understand wanting some photos on Facebook to easily show off your cutie patootie, so I will not stop posting them, but the watermark will be changing to include additional wording.
Here is something from the PPA:
“Copyright” describes the rights given to creators for their literary and artistic works.
But we often don’t consider copyright when we look at our family photos, or go to get them copied. Even though it is so easy to copy an image—with scanners, photo-quality printers, and copy stations—it is still illegal.
Things to remember about copyright:
- Copyright is a property right.
- Just because you buy a print does not mean you have purchased the copyright.
- Professional photographers are the smallest of small copyright holders.
- Under the Federal Copyright Act of 1976, photographs are protected by copyright from the moment of creation.
- Photographers have the exclusive right to reproduce their photographs (right to control the making of copies).
- Unless you have permission from the photographer, you can’t copy, distribute (no scanning and sending them to others), publicly display (no putting them online), or create derivative works from photographs.
- A photographer can easily create over 20,000 separate pieces of intellectual property annually.
- Professional photographers are dependent on their ability to control the reproduction of the photographs they create.
- It affects their income and the livelihood of their families.
- Even small levels of infringement—copying a photo without permission—can have a devastating impact on a photographer’s ability to make a living.
- Copyright infringements—reproducing photos without permission—can result in civil and criminal penalties.
Source: http://www.ppa.com/findaphotographer/copyright.php
Ok, enough with my rant. Back to working on a beautiful little girls photos :)
