I recently found out that a high school student on Facebook has a whole album full of photographs taken by other photographers and she is claiming the work as her own. Included among them is one of my shots from a wedding reception.
I sent her a note letting her know that this is not acceptable and that she needs to remove the photograph from this album, or credit me as the photographer. I wouldn't care if it was just a random album of photos that she admires but this is specifically titled "Photos By Me" and apparently she has been telling people that these are photos she's taken herself. Since she's young, don't want to get all medieval on her - I just want to let her know that this isn't OK.
Unfortunately most of the photos in this album are nature shots, especially of birds, and appear to be taken by somebody who really knows how to use a camera. My strong suspicion is that most of these are also stolen shots, being presented as her own work. I feel that the other photographers whose work has been taken should at least have a chance to tell her whether they want the work removed or credited.
Is it worth it to try to locate the photographers and alert them to this problem? She's just a kid, but on the other hand claiming somebody else's work as your own is a serious thing. What do you think about a situation like this? How's it best dealt with?
Since it's mostly nature photography being used, I thought I'd ask here. I can send a link to the album if anybody is interested in taking a look and seeing if they recognize anything - just email me at mistrettaphoto @ gmail.com and I'll send it to you.
Posted by Rick Lamb on December 10, 2007 at 7:25 PM
Well lying/theft is not something one should ignore. I agree taking a passive approach at first is the best policy. If you get no relief in talking to this person then I advise talking to the folks at Facebook and let them know this is happening.
I sure agree with Rick. The best time for learning lessons is when you're young and haven't been arrested for theft, yet. This person is probably having a lot of trouble in her life if she is resorting to this activity and is old enough to know right from wrong. I wonder if a letter about copyright infringement would have some meaning to her and/or her parents... Being served notice that you're caught with your hand deep in the cookie jar might be enough to straighten her out, but I don't think I'd leave it there, depending on the response you do or don't get.
Discussion
2 repliesI recently found out that a high school student on Facebook has a whole album full of photographs taken by other photographers and she is claiming the work as her own. Included among them is one of my shots from a wedding reception.
I sent her a note letting her know that this is not acceptable and that she needs to remove the photograph from this album, or credit me as the photographer. I wouldn't care if it was just a random album of photos that she admires but this is specifically titled "Photos By Me" and apparently she has been telling people that these are photos she's taken herself. Since she's young, don't want to get all medieval on her - I just want to let her know that this isn't OK.
Unfortunately most of the photos in this album are nature shots, especially of birds, and appear to be taken by somebody who really knows how to use a camera. My strong suspicion is that most of these are also stolen shots, being presented as her own work. I feel that the other photographers whose work has been taken should at least have a chance to tell her whether they want the work removed or credited.
Is it worth it to try to locate the photographers and alert them to this problem? She's just a kid, but on the other hand claiming somebody else's work as your own is a serious thing. What do you think about a situation like this? How's it best dealt with?
Since it's mostly nature photography being used, I thought I'd ask here. I can send a link to the album if anybody is interested in taking a look and seeing if they recognize anything - just email me at mistrettaphoto @ gmail.com and I'll send it to you.