Smile!
Dear Visitor
Thank you for
visiting my blog and my sincere apologies. Unfortunately due to the continued
infringement, mining and exploitation of my images by individuals, spammers and
companies I can no longer show my images on this site. The images that remain
will be partially obscured.
but I thought I would post it anyway.
Do you ever feel like shouting at someone who returns a smile with a scowl or blank look
"OH go suck a prune"
Ethical question (not a legal one)
An out of town photographer has been taking photographs of local public art (including our jafagirl textile totems) and using them on cards she is selling in a local shop. The photographer has not included any information on the cards, or credited who, what or where? (The Textile Totems clearly state who did them with a name and a blog address.) I don't think it is hard to find a link to the Arts Council and asking who to credit the work to.
To me it is a matter of professional courtesy towards the artists of this small community, especially when said person is using local artists work to profit from. I also think it is important for buyers to see at the very least where the photo was taken.
Also regardless of where the art is it is still copyrighted to the person who created it and neither Nancy or I gave permission for anyone to photograph our work (whether it is in public or not) to use as a means to make a profit from. These are close up shots of the knit knot tree, the textile totems and Nancy's painted lion.
How would you feel and what would YOU do?
Comments
Just my 2 cents. When this happened to me, it was a Japaneese (sp?) company that liked one of my kitty's and used it as a logo, what a pain in the arse! I tell you, the world is a vampire sometimes. Give em bloody hell is what I say! Cheers! :)
No- she is selling your art- Period.
You should have your name go along with it. It's yours ya know!
Lil Thief.
UG
Have you contacted this artist and just asked her to put credit info on the work she does? You never know, she might not even have thought of that. Also, I know from experience that if you contact the artist, ask questions, and suggest credit, they usually are more than happy to oblige.
It might be a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. She might be so into getting the pic and not realizing that there are other artists who should be credited.
CONTACT HER. Let us know what happens.
:-)
P.S. About the smiling:
I am known as "Smiley" at work. I smile all the time when I am out in public. (It is fake. HA HA HA LOL LOL)
However I must say, it works wonders for me. Even in grocery store parking lots, very glum people will look over at me, see my big, idiotic smile, and their faces break. 9 times out of 10, they nod their heads and smile a big smile right back at me! :-)
It is always some sort of battle... isn't it?
You have a good way about you and can encourage a good resolution... if she is not an ethical person and it doesn't go well I would tell her to cease and desist and warn the shop of copyright infringement.
Let me know how this goes.....
I would also approach the stores she is selling the work in, and let them know what is going on. It sounds like she either just plain doesn't care, or is too ignorant to bother.
I also agree with Heather here about letting people know. There is a nice way to do this without looking petty. After all, this is your work and you have the right to own and protect it.
Good luck!
thanks for your comments and support. I did email the owner of the shop who was very nice and said she will remove the cards.
I am trying to earn a living from my art (as meager as it is) and if anyone should be profiting from my work it should be ME.
I agree that it is extremely unethical to make a profit by selling the images of another persons work. I remember a news article about a charity that was being taken to court because they were using a well known slogan of a comedian. I thought it sounded a bit harsh to begin with - after all it was a charity, but the point is that they didn't ask for permission. That makes all the difference. If this photographer had asked you for permission you could have stipulated that you wanted the original artists to be credited.
If you've written to the person and they haven't responded, my view is that it now becomes a legal issue.
Ignoring your letter was a terrible thing for her to do and I am sure that this will come back to her at some time in the future.
bobby