Hello dgmcclint,
> Part of the problem is that internet culture in general sees
> copyright infringement and intellectual property theft as "something
> seemingly petty in the grand scheme of things" (your words). We
> perpetuate that attitude by treating these cases as an 'oops' that has
> no consequences except agreeing to put a link next to the photo.
Yes, to them it may be petty as most people are unaware as to how
serious copyright theft, etc., is - it's almost become socially
acceptable to illegally copy digital content, especially music (how many
people here have done that?)
It's a reason why I am saying to give some leeway (for their first
"offence") and to try to turn it to an advantage. I would however make
sure they are made aware that any further unauthorized use will not be
tolerated and that if they wish to use another image to ask first, and
pay where requested (or not used it).
Obviously it does depend upon where and how and to what extent the image
has been used. For example, take Maria who posted earlier about a
company making and selling a calendar with her image without permission.
In a case like that where someone is making money for themselves off the
back of stealing her image and where they really should have known
better, there's no question about diving in and taking action.
> In Josh's case, the person who posted photos of his work not only
> appropriated them for his own use, but by posting hi-res images he
> made them available (though maybe not his intent) for anyone else who might want to download and print.
The offending image was removed before I saw them, so I cannot comment
on the quality. I don't mean the quality of Josh's work, I mean the
quality of the copy. As far as I am aware, this was taken on a point and
shoot compact camera, hand held, probably not straight on, in any kind
of light that could throw out the colour balance, etc., and so on. Would
the "high res" version have been good enough for printing and hanging on
a wall?
I also know that many people are unaware that they should really resize
photos before they upload to save time and bandwidth, etc., but they
will upload the original (full sized) photos. And they may also not be
aware of the link to download the high res versions (I was unaware of
this until I noticed it recently.)
Don't get me wrong, I am not making excuses for the poster, and there is
no excuse for ignorance, but these are all things to take into
consideration - they may just wanted to show off an image they liked, on
their profile.
> If the Facebook poster wants to bad-mouth Josh for coming down hard
> on him, I hope he will at least mention why he was treated that way.
> Maybe the friends and family who hear the story will realize that
> there was a good reason and maybe it's not okay to post images that
> belong to someone else.
I've worked in the motor trade for businesses with between 3 and 120
employees, currently I help someone run a dance school and have been in
direct contact (or almost direct) with customers. If there's one thing
I've learnt is that it's very easy to annoy a customer.
When I became an apprentice mechanic, I was taught that when you do
something good the customer will tell 4 people, but if you do something
bad they will tell 40. Experience has backed that up - bad news will
travel faster and further than good news.
> Let's educate the public rather than giving them a pass on theft.
I agree with educating people, but there is more than one way to do it
and I would perhaps give them some leeway first. As I said earlier,
there is no excuse for ignorance, etc., but I would rather foster some
good will and work with someone who may become a good customer and help
promote my work, than to sever that link.
The following article about this actually happening is what changed my
mind about how I'd handle it:
http://www.jdroth.com/words/win-win-vs-lose-lose-two-approaches-to-conflict-resolution/
--
Andrew Mills
http://artshowphoto.com/support.htm
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