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19 Comments

  1. Good idea. We need more of this kind of thing.

  2. Wow I didn’t even know this was a problem. Ah the internet…….

    • Really?! I mean, REALLY?! This is news to you?
      My friend, for every story conveyed in these posts there are a thousand more where those with no talent steal from those who do possess unique vision and the talent to express it.

      Such stealing is the reason you must copyright register every photo you take – always. If you are talented, someone will steal from you. It is just a matter of where, when and how often.

  3. While an interesting idea, the potential for misuse, abuse, and litigation due to publicly accusing someone of theft could not be more obvious.

  4. Seems to be a wedding photographer thing.

    Anyways, public shaming is always very problematic to say the least.

  5. Thats a really good point about false accusations. Professional photographers live and die by their reputation. If there was provision to prove ownership and clear your name- then I’d say there is nothing to worry about for the honest people.

  6. Im in love with this. If you have ever had your images ripped or in todays terms “borrowed” to “inspire” you may find love too…
    Erin L. Hubbs

  7. I once knew an assistant that would bring a camera to commercial shoots, stand a few feet away from the actual capture and shoot away once the lighting was set (hot lights mostly). Then he’d take these images and place them in his portfolio and claim them as his own. It was filled with images that were slightly off angle from the actual hired photog’s.

    He was fired more than a few times and never seemed to get it. It never got him work as far as I can tell, he was a bit of a weirdo.

  8. I know a photographer that showed around a portfolio that wasn’t his, then later copied a shot from the book and ended up on the cover of PDN.

    He is now a very succe$$ful commercials director…. is there no karma?

    • You gonna call him out? Who is it? Or is this an urban legend?

      • No, unfortunately not an urban legend.

        Another antic of his directly affected a very significant professional relationship of mine and caused me a lot of grief.

        The people affected all know what’s what and we have moved on, he is moving around in rarefied air…

  9. As a litigator representing many photographers, I am looking forward to reading about some interesting libel lawsuits in the near future.

  10. haha- hacks everywhere- seems like women are brazenly doing this too.

    I knew of a hack who came to this part of the world pretending to be a director of photograpy wanting to direct. Showed us some well know international artist’s MTV.

    We did some checks when his talent didn’t add up. He couldn’t light, he couldn’t frame a shot and he couldn’t art direct for nuts.

    On his last day, he looked at me and smiled- ‘it’s been real!’ LMAO

  11. *well known

  12. I see acts of a similar nature happening all the time on the internets…although in slightly less ‘formal’ situations.

    For example, I have observed the following on an almost-daily basis on facebook: someone I know or am somehow connected with via FB –and I don’t mean just one person but many people– posts a photo that is not theirs, and yet makes no attempt to clarify who the photographer is or where the image came from. Thus, for all intents & purposes they are posting the photo(s) as if it were their own… Friends/contacts may respond with “likes” and/or comments, and often it is my impression that everyone thinks the post-er is also the take-er of the photograph. (Rarely, if ever, do people question or stop to consider authorship/ownership.) In some cases, the person who posted the photo is someone who works (in some capacity) in the photo industry. This always blows my mind, and yet I see it happening all the time.

    Isn’t this kind of the same thing? (Or is it different?) And if it’s different, why…? Because whether directly or indirectly, many people (most people?) are not merely being social on FB, but also trying to build, or at least build upon their careers. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

    • You mean Pinterest?

  13. Does copying someone’s style and subject matter count as stealing?

  14. I had someone on twitter steal an image of mine from another site and cropped off the © (bottom of the image and repost it. The image was obvious mine due to the people in the images were friends of mine. I reported it to Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). They gave the person 24 hour to remove the image and instead in 24 hours the entire account was removed.


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