Well it won’t be news to any serious photographer that unlicensed use of photographs is a big issue. Some may write it off as a cost of doing business, others may pursue to the hilt. I often, but not always, write a semi-polite but serious note to the user to ask for the offending image to be removed and/or paid for.
With the improvement in tools for finding copies of images on the internet, photographers are today more readily able to find offending uses. Here is a good tool that I’ve been using lately: http://jarred.github.com/src-img/ which is supposedly for finding the creators of images you find on the web (great) but you can also use it on your own images to find where your purchased images have been put to good use. You do, however, find the unlicensed image uses too. I’d say it is time for “unlicensed user beware”. Beware that large stock agencies with large vested interest in some images may file law suits, particularly if coincidentally you are using an image already licensed to a major client. With respect to the millions more images of lesser importance, there will be more cases of photographers writing to the offenders demanding compensation or making a request to cease and desist.
Hopefully, in a move that will make more friends than enemies, I am going to start periodically posting on this blog (at least for awhile to see how it goes), incidences of unlicensed use of my images, identifying which image of mine is in use, a screen capture of the offending page and the URL of where it is found (or was found if ultimately removed). I’ll use a template for each post so as to not use inordinate amounts of my time in what may be a somewhat unproductive enterprise. Writing to individual offenders is also counterproductive and I might as well follow this course instead. The url of the offending use will be given as text only – it will not be hot-linked. The last thing I want to do is improve page rank for an offending user’s website or posting.
Many images slip under the radar particularly those where I have been successful with microstock sales. It is impractical, if not impossible, to determine if a usage is legitimate when I have had numerous sales. I’ve found my images on sites where I have been highly suspicious, but if I cannot be conclusive I have to let it ride. For those images where I am confident of the sales history and that the photo has to be a rip-off, I will expose it here.
Watch for subsequent posts Crackdown on Unlicensed Image Use – #1, Crackdown on Unlicensed Image Use – #2, etc. Click on the “Unlicensed Image Use” category in the Categories list on the right hand side for my list as it progresses.
I would encourage other photographers to consider similar actions if we are really going to reduce copyright violation. Feel free to link to your efforts in the comments below. Comments with foul or overly disrespectful language will not be approved. Remember that sometimes these are innocent violations. Some people still think that what is found on the internet is free. We are just trying to boost the learning curve.
…Rob
