Not for the first time a national paper has taken images of mine without consent. I would much rather be getting on with actual work on a morning. But sometimes people just push their luck a little too far. Ive had to write to the daily mail about copyright and image theft. I imagine they wont care. But youve got to try. Sadly with Christmas just around the corner and things getting busy I havent got the time to persue them into small claims. Below is my email to the editor. I shall post any reply should I get one.
“Hi there,
It was recently brought to my attention that you have used one of my photographs within an online article about Storm Arlene. The image was of my Beautiful home town of Whitby in North Yorkshire and features in the article linked in below.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4885660/How-Aileen-s-deluge-created-glorious-rainbows.html
I am a professional photographer, I chose this as my career as it is something I love and I am passionate about, Im am not rich or wealthy and my family which includes a 10 month old baby depends on my income to survive.
Your publication to did not seek permission to use the image, you have not credited me as the photographer and I am pretty sure, as a national publication, you are aware your actions are in breach of copyright law.
Perhaps worse still was the attitude of a member of your staff when I rang to discuss the matter. A reply of “Well thats how things are now, everything is public” is not the type of reply or level of respect I would expect from a national publication when discussing copyright and the rights of small small business owners like myself.
I am seeking an apology from your publication and payment for the image at your standard rate for online use.
I’m interested in this post myself, unfortunately, it’s the world we live in but why should we put up with images being blatantly stolen, regardless of excuses.
Kind regards
Unbelievable…no wait, it’s the Daily Mail. They are the pits. Make them pay!
Good Luck
I would send them an invoice.
You may wish to consider using the archive.is service to link to the article from here (EG http://archive.is/iYcnk ) as by following to the Mail directly, it means that the Mail gets the ad revenue from anyone clicking, and therefore profit from your work – and since it’s the Mail, I’m expecting a few more of those images are stolen too.
It also means if they remove your picture from the list, your link will still show it in place and show what they did.
Why don’t you join the National Union of Journalists?
Hi Glenn, in general it’s a good idea to speak to a lawyer *before* contacting the infringing party. That’s because the amount of money you can demand from them may be set in your very first correspondence. Here’s a detailed explanation: http://www.epuk.org/opinion/stolen-photographs-what-to-do
I would strongly suggest you contact a copyright lawyer who can advise you on how to proceed. Don’t let them get away with it.
A reply of “Well thats how things are now, everything is public”
Shocking behaviour from an organisation that should know better! Glad you got it sorted in the end, these publications really should play by the rules for the benefit of everyone.