Why Do Photographers & Videographers Steal?

Good morning from Huntington Beach everyone!  I shared this back in February, but really felt that this article about photographers & videographers using copyrighted music without permission really needed to be addressed again.  Especially after bringing it up yesterday on the [ b ] School Study Hall with my friend & colleague [ b ] ecker.  I even had one of those “I shoulda said that” moments when I rode the Duc back to EPHQ & shared some additional thoughts about this in another video on You Tube.

Plus!  The awesome copyright advocates at Copyright Alliance asked the creatives of the world to make today “Copyright Friday” helping create awareness for saving our intellectual property.

So with that said, here is the article that I shared back in February.  I hope you enjoy it & helps shed some light on why we need to do everything we can to save our work –  cheers!

I’ve been giving this blog posting some very serious thought & have been holding off on dropping it because of how controversial it is.  There are very strong opinions on both sides of the fence with what I’m going to share with you – both of which feeling justified and right in their own opinion.

Please keep in mind that I’m not an expert in the topic to follow, but I think I have a basic knowledge of what is right & wrong and what is legal & illegal.

Nor, am I pointing out the grain of sand in someone else’s eye, yet having no regard for the plank of wood in mine (trust me, I fumble every day in all that I do!).  This is just me setting the table for some thoughts, discussion and perhaps a little bit of making some folks go; “hmmmm….”.

So without further ado, I’ll cut to the chase & let you navigate your way through my ramblings.

I just got done watching a promo video again for a couple that is getting married on a forum & I’m just seething right now.

Why do photographers & videographers all around the world feel it’s ok to use another artist’s intellectual property without permission for profit (aka; music on their websites, music in their slideshows, music in their videos, etc.)? I’ve had several discussions lately with photographers & videographers about this & the general thread they complain about is that either the music is too “expensive” or that it’s not “popular.” Really?? REALLY?!?!

So even though everyone that I spoke with dodged the question and whined about it, then why do photographers & videographers get all up in arms when their intellectual property (e.g.; beautiful photography and videography) is pirated for profit? I’ve even been told by a fairly well-known and popular photographer that it’s ok for this photographer to do it because the photographer I was speaking with is a “Christian” & the photographer is using a “Christian” band’s intellectual property on the photographer’s website.  Again I say… Really?? REALLY?!?!!!

With the multitudes of resources available to us from FREE music sources like; Ear Candy Digital Music, Dano Songs to the amazing & seemingly endless AND affordable library of music at Triple Scoop Music, I honestly don’t see any reasons for this illegal behaviour.  Let alone, the numerous programs on Macs, PCs & iPhones – where you can create your own soundtrack/score of music.

But to blatantly use another artist’s intellectual property, stand on a soap box with self entitlement about it & then on another soap box whining if your work was stolen doesn’t make sense. Nor does this doesn’t present our industry in a good light. It just drives home the naysayer’s/hater’s/client’s opinions that photographers are slimey. And, YES – they have the right to say that about photographers & videographers if you’re stealing for your own gain. It’s those that practice this mode of thievery that brings us and our industry down as a whole.

Similar to my tweet on Tuesday, Feb. 2nd directing attention to an Article from the Copyright Alliance about an online magazine (Pilfering) stealing photographer’s intellectual property and how a photographer should deal with & rectify the situation. My question still remains as to why & more importantly – how would a photographer or videographer feel about this?

I personally have had over a thousand pieces of my work stolen & used for profit, I know how violated it feels. I recently just found two websites this past week using my work without my permission. Which BTW, will be removed or the site turned off.

Having to deal with this & make the thieves compliant with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, not only takes time away from my day, but my client’s photos, building my business, my personal work & time with my better 1/2; Katherine.  Or just in general, my life – all of which costs money, frustration, & stress.

I would also like to add that I too was guilty of having used songs in the past when I didn’t fully understand usage of copyright for personal use. But once I had a clear understanding of it, I quickly changed my methods.

I will not call people out on it, but if you are one of the people that does this & reading this right now, my challenge to you is stop using the copyrighted works of another artist regardless of their product effective immediately & change your professional business practice. It’s not only the right thing to do, but it’s illegal to steal regardless of your “excuse.”

So I wanted to put it out there to the leaders, students, amateurs, professionals and the many many other photographers & videographers of this “new order” / “open source order” of the photography & videography industry.  Why do photographers and videographers steal another artist’s work & whine when theirs is stolen?

To quote Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran: “Will someone please explain, the reason for this strange behaviour!”

Thanks for your time reading & I’m VERY eager to hear the justification or reasonable explanation of why people in our industry behave like this.  Or your thoughts in general.  If you’d like to add a solution or have some insight to this, please leave some comments below.

Cheers!

PS, to drive my point home even further, I’ve actually considered building a website steeped in intellectual property of photographers and videographers that have stolen copyrighted works of other artists. Then using that site to sell my services for profit. I truly wonder how fast those that steal – will complain & moan about it.