🚀 go-pugleaf

Hi Hiro,

At 10:45 PM -0700 5/4/99, hiro komae wrote:
>Am I supposed to write my name and a ) mark on the back of the prints
>I sell and say, "This is for your eyes only, and you can't use it for
>any other purpose without my permission" - whether that person makes
>any money or not?


I put this on the back of prints sold for personal use:
"photo/George Gryzenia©1999. Not for publication. For personal,
non-commercial use only."

I also include my area code and phone no., so that anyone wanting
additional uses can contact me, and I can make some money.


>Is it a dangerous thought that I don't care about those particular
>photos I take and don't bother to charge any fee, and don't even care
>if they sell those particular photos to another publication, for the
>sake of other (esp. freelance) photojournalists who make money by
>selling their photos?

This type of thinking CAN be dangerous to yourself as a ;photographer and
the market in general. If you _really_ didn't care, however, you would not
have even asked the question ;^)

Any photographer worth their salt should care how their photos are used,
and who uses them. If you do not care about minor uses, then where do you
draw the line? When do you start caring, and when not? I wouldn't feel good
about my work if I truly did not care who used it and how it was used.

>Am I lowering the standard of the importance of the copy right? Or a
>LOCALLY tied photographer's business doesn't count?

You should check with other local photographers on this one. It is a good
way to start a dialog with others in your community do the same thing for a
living that you are.

I do not persue every single © situation, and at times even give away work
to certain individuals, even for publication sometimes. When I do this,
however, I also let the individual know what they are getting, so that I am
not encouraging them to make the assumption that photography is free to
all. A little education can go a long ways. ~george

______________
George Gryzenia
gryz@voyager.net

>Recently, I saw my photo of an high school athlete signing up for a
>college scholarship on another local newspaper. For the attribution,
>it says "courtesy of (my newspaper's name).

It seems that your newspaper should care quite a bit about this. If they
paid YOU to take the picture for THEM, then the other paper is getting it
for FREE. Again, if you and you paper don't care, then great, but use
without permission left unchecked can set a bad precedent for the future.

>
>Am I supposed to write my name and a ) mark on the back of the prints
>I sell and say, "This is for your eyes only, and you can't use it for
>any other purpose without my permission" - whether that person makes
>any money or not?

Well, yes. Something like Copyright 1999 Hiro Komae Personal,
non-commercial use only.

>Is it a dangerous thought that I don't care about those particular
>photos I take and don't bother to charge any fee, and don't even care
>if they sell those particular photos to another publication, for the
>sake of other (esp. freelance) photojournalists who make money by
>selling their photos?
>
>Am I lowering the standard of the importance of the copy right? Or a
>LOCALLY tied photographer's business doesn't count?

We have a few photographers here that seem to work for less just to get
business. They don't care about rights, resale, first usage, exclusive
rights and all the other things most shooters rely on to make money. I DO
get old and new clients telling me that I'm charging more than photographer
X, and whats the deal with with one time rights? By not following "normal
protocol" (for lack of a better term) they make it hard for the rest of us
to make a living.

Its not wrong to choose to give your work away. Its your choice, or your
newspapers. But the people you give the photos too need to understand what
their getting, and be told tactfully what its worth. Otherwise, when you
have a photo they want and you want to charge them, they won't understand,
and you will look like the bad guy.

Raj Chawla
Staff Photographer
The Burlington (VT) Free Press
---
Raj Chawla <rajphoto@earthlink.net>