Saturday 4 January 2014

Unauthorised use of photograph



Edit: Update One
Edit: Update Two
Edit: Update Three
Edit: Update Four

Hello everyone,

Today a friend told me one of my photos was up on the Telegraph website. I was surpised, as I had never had any contact with the Telegraph regarding the use of any of my images. I checked out the article, and, yup, it was one of the photos I took at the UBU Bust a Myth event in November.

As an unemployed student, it's not particularly nice to find that someone is using your work for free. So, I'm taking a leaf out of Michael Gakuran's book and politely requesting they reimburse me for the use of the photos:


Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to you regarding the article published on the Telegraph website entitled:
Surge in student feminism: Meet the new generation of 'bold, hilarious feminists'
Link:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10548692/Student-feminist-societies-surge-Meet-the-new-generation-of-bold-hilarious-feminists.html
While I appreciate that you have given me credit for the image, I am disappointed that you published the image without first contacting me to ask permission and without paying me for use of my work.
Below is my invoice for the use of 1 image to which I own the copyright. The rate is as recommended by the National Union of Journalists.
Link: http://www.londonfreelance.org/feesguide/index.php?&section=Photography&subsect=Online+use+of+photos
Invoice:
300px size: £90 x 1 image = £90
Preliminary total: £90
Doubled for unauthorised usage:
Total: £180
Regards,
Miss Rajitha Ratnam


I have no idea where they got the image from. As far as I know, it is only online on Flickr and is clearly marked "All Rights Reserved".

They may well remove the photo or the article itself, so I've saved a copy, which you can view online. (I tried using Versionista, which Michael Gakuran used, but it just gave me a blank page so that was not entirely helpful.)

Even though I'm not a famous photographer or anything, I'd really like to get the word out that this sort of behaviour is unacceptable. Photography might be a hobby for me, but it's a career for many people, and if news outlets think it's ok to use students' photographs for free, that damages an entire industry of hard-working people.



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