"The freedom to think, to create, to imagine greater possibilities exists only if we provide for the creators a life that affords them the scope needed to exercise these vital powers. Ultimately, we are talking not only of the livelihood of the creators but of the quality of life of those around them and perhaps all humankind. Must we now trespass on these fields and steal the rice, or ask for free rice?"
That was the gist of a petition signed by an international network of roughly 1000 photographers, journalists, filmmakers, documentary makers, visual artists, and writers, on lightstalkers.org regarding the Orphan Works bill. I changed a couple of words to match up with my location in Cambodia, but you probably catch my drift. These thoughts were authored by Jon Anderson, a terrific photographer and writer who lives with his family in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. No fooling!
Below is a short list of entities that are missing one of life's realities; we all need to eat. The one thing all these people have in common is that they failed to list the term "photography" in their line item budgets when planning their various projects. Some have asked me for "free" photos while others have violated agreements. Astonishingly, some have gone so far as to "use" my photographs for their own benefit while I was looking the other way, hoping perhaps I would get an "ego boost" if I stumbled across them by accident (I don't). Several of them have been asked to advocate for my Ban Bumlao, Laos, Primary School Book Project (which costs NOTHING) but none have responded, completely oblivious to the spirit of reciprocity.
Most of these people or the companies they represent are located in the USA, Australia, or Europe.
What is going on here? I do not care about photo credits no one will see or complimentary copies of magazines because the impoverished Cambodian people whom I buy food from each day cannot use photo credits to buy more food to cook the next day. No fooling! All of their rice vendors require they pay for rice in cash and this system trickles down to me. Those who profess they want to "make a difference" should certainly understand this fact.
One person on the list represented a company whose annual revenue exceeds $500 million USD. The man who runs the company, Kenneth Cole, is a fellow who stated in an interview with Lauren La Rose of The Canadian Press in 2007, "So you've got to figure out how you can make a difference, and invariably, it requires bringing as many of your resources to bear on a specific initiative at a given time. There's two masters that have to be served: one's paying the bills, and the other is inspiring each other". So my question to his company's representative who wanted "free photos" is: Do you want impoverished Cambodian food sellers to have enough cash to pay their rice vendors each day? If not, WHY NOT?
Another "firm" on the list has refurbished homes for people such as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and actor Sean Connery among others.
Here is an excerpt from their email, " I was hoping to use your photos…..we're trying to develop property here and want to promote Chiang Mai (Thailand)…..thanks (we can't pay anything)".
The firm builds luxury homes and hotels…..do they do this free for the likes of the Barclay Brothers and Chris Evans? How do they stay in business??? Who gives them free wood and glass? In addition, get me one of those "free" internet connections! No fooling!
Luckily, the good folks who "get it" outnumber those who don't and most are a pleasure to be involved with, although some like you to beg for the money that they owe you. Anyway my fellow photographers, here is a partial listing of deadbeat entities and/or individuals who DO NOT respect what we do and are unwilling to compensate contributors. Paying photographers is a principled way to conduct oneself as oftentimes it isn't the number of dollars offered or paid, but rather, the respect the person doing the asking displays to us in the first place. Quite frankly, I find one request for a free photo insults us all. No fooling!
*Action to End Exploitation
www.endexploitation.org
George Reed, Director
Tien Ho, Director of Foreign Projects
*Should be named
Action to End Exploitation of EVERYBODY EXCEPT PHOTOGRAPHERS
Alison Thompson
www.peraliya.com
www.communitytsunamiwarning.com
Arcadia Love
Australia
The M.A.D. (Make a Difference) Project.
www.themadproject.com
"Carmen Siu, USA
Debra St Amand St Thomas
http://weakforcecontact.com
Dr. Stephen Gardner, Baan Safe
www.baansafe.org
(Photo theft x 7)
Dr. Stephen Gardner also owns
Paradise TEFL www.paradisetefl.com
Located in Pai, Thailand
Foxspeed.com
Golfinvestors.com
Golf Week Argentina
http://singapore.about.com
A part of a very large for-profit website (www.about.com)
ilovekrabi.com
A for-profit website violating my copyright by showing my photos (cropped and altered) without permission or compensation (Photo theft x 2)
Jerry Varney, Founder,
www.justonechild.org
Hinsdale, Illinois, USA
Jessie Schwartz, freelance photo editor and researcher
Kenneth Cole blog
Kristy Mosher, graphic designer
Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA, USA
Les Pipoles
http://www.lespipoles.com
A for-profit website violating my copyright by showing my photo without permission or compensation (Photo theft). The model this site is using is aggregation of a lot of photo content used as the basis for a site which has a for-profit objective. (Note several ads on the home page).
Michael Mertens, Luxemberg
Morgan Fitzgibbons, website developer, USA
Mustafa Bhagat, Flicker Filmworks, NY, USA
http://www.flickerfilmworks.com
PrimeTime Promo
(Photo theft)
Hacked low rez files from authorized website turned into "sports cards" and sold on Ebay, some for nearly $300 USD each.
Ryan Chapman "hunger relief representative"
USA
Tiffany Tong
Princeton, NJ, USA
http://www.princeton.edu/~ttong/Temporary/Karachi/index.html
John Fischer, Editor
http://gohawaii.about.com
A very large for-profit website (www.about.com) violating my copyright by showing my photo without permission or compensation (Photo theft)
Todd Jones, Operations Manager
Concept Project Realisation (CPR) Inc.
Chiang Mai, Thailand
www.cprthailand.com
Luxury residential and hotel development company
(Have been involved in the refurbishment of homes belonging to many famous personalities, including Dame Margaret Thatcher, Sean Connery, the Barclay Brothers and Chris Evans).
Wayne Patterson
New Seasons Christian Centre and TRANSFORM CAMBODIA
www.transformcambodia.com
KEYWORDS: Theft, Stealing, Copyright, Infringement, Free, Photography, Photojournalism, Photos, Photo, Industry, Crime, Fair, Use, Fair Trade,
1 comment:
A friend of mine suggested to take a look at your site coz of great stuff you have here. I must say your blog is very interesting.
By the way you might be interested to join DIRECT ART AUSTRALIA'S monthly photo contest. Winners will have the chance to turn their photos into hand-painted portraits. You can check out their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=70645093608
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