Ok, here’s the deal:
As you may have seen from our previous blog postings the Daily Mail Online used 3 of our pictures that they took from our twitter feed on election night. (These are pictures we took at the St Vincent Polling Station in Dalston on election day where large numbers of people were unable to vote because the high turnout caught the people in charge of the polling stations unawares)
Other news publications got in touch, a few used (and paid) for the shots. From the Daily Mail, however, we heard nothing.
It was thus to our great surprise that the following day the Daily Mail Online exhibited 3 of our pictures in their story of the the polling station chaos.
So here’s what we did:
We wrote them an invoice. Obviously. Following the advice of @documentally we took the standard rate per picture recommended by the NUJ, £130, and multiplied it by 3 for use without our knowledge, consent, or permission.
Thats £390. And because they used 3 of our pictures we multipled that by 3.
So we sent them and invoice for £1170 pounds.
Here’s their reply:
Hi Emily
Thanks for the invoice.
Unfortunately we cannot pay the amount you have requested, these images were taken from twitpic and therefore placed in the public domain, also after consultation with Twitter they have always asked us to byline images by the username of the account holder.
We are more that happy to pay for the images but we’ll only be paying £40 per image.
Regards
Thats from Elliot Wagland, he’s the online picture editor for the Daily Mail, and despite his polite yet firm tone, he’s just plain wrong.
So what happened next?
We spoke to some friends, checked the terms on Twitpic (which clearly says “All images uploaded are copyright © their respective owners”), and wrote Elliot a similarly polite yet firm letter, explaining that he is wrong on the matter. Here it is:
Hi Elliot,
Thank you for your email.
I’m afraid that you are wrong about the terms of publishing on Twitpic. If you read the terms of service you will see that copyright is clearly retained by the poster:
http://twitpic.com/terms.do
Third parties who wish to reproduce posted images must contact the copyright holder and seek permission.
You should have contacted me if you wanted to use the photos, as every other news outlet did. had you done so, you might have been in a position to get the photos for £40′s each.
However you didn’t contact me, even though this would have been very easy to do, nor did you inform me that you had used them. Instead, I had to uncover that you had used them, that one of them was not credited even with the correct twitter account, and that none were credited as I would have asked them to be.
I have taken advice from a number of knowledgeable people about this matter, and all are in agreement that your paper has clearly breached my copyright, and that the amount that I have requested is perfectly reasonable.
I would appreciate your paying this invoice in full as soon as possible.
Yours,
Emily James
Project Director
Just Do It: Get Off Your Arse and Change the Worldwww.just-do-it.org.uk
www.twitter.com/justdoitfilm
www.facebook.com/getoffyourarse
And we think Emily’s got it spot on here. It’s not that we overly want the money (though it will be well welcome), its not that we’re overly possesive about intellectual property, its that Elliot Wagland & co completely failed to do the decent thing and ASK. Its just bad manners, Marina Pepper certainly wouldn’t approve. This is a classic case of the big guy not giving 2 hoots about the little guy. So now the little guy wants £1170… and an apology.
The case continues…
FOR UPDATE SEE OUR MORE RECENT POST Making a Deal with the Devil
(big thanks to @documentally – ourmaninside.com - for guidance on this matter)
You may find the advice at http://www.lightbluetouchpaper.org/2010/03/29/how-to-get-money-back-from-a-bank/ applicable to your situation?
Terrific post. Thanks.
Intellectual property is going the way of the dinosaurs. People need to get on board or get left in the dust. Yes they should have asked, and no, you shouldn’t charge them afterwards or even be mad about it. I personally think you should build up some peace in your life; they should have asked, and you should now forgive.
Not to mention, copyright infringements actually make MORE MONEY for those who were infringed upon. There is a very large amount of study material on this phenomenon. For example, imagine the hits this page and all of those involved made from this one “theft”. Hell, I “Stumbled Upon” this, and that means a lot of people. I bet you have profited more from this theft than if you hadn’t gotten them stolen in the first place – and this is the tip of an iceberg.
If you want to talk IP infringement, then ponder this: Happy Birthday is a copyrighted song, 20% of the human genome is copyrighted and owned (and you’re copying it illegally); but clothes, perfume, car design (non-technical parts), and furniture are all thriving industries without any protections – indeed they thrive more due to lack of protections (also strong evidence).
Not to mention you can’t stop IP infringement. Just last week ICE shut down 9 sites for it, but most of them came back online in 48 hours. Pirate Bay has been shut down innumerable times and it usually back up within an hour. It’s the new paradigm and we have to figure out how to roll with the punches.
We need to understand this is happening and stop focusing on resistance to it but instead focus on harnessing it. Those who realize the trends of existence and capitalize on them will flourish; but in a time of great change, those with an inability to learn will have great challenges.
“Your comment is awaiting moderation.” This is exactly what I am talking about. Free yourself and your site, and you will get more collaboration and ultimately make more money. I swear it to you.
A quick starting point for thinking about this (though again there are extensive resources out there):
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/johanna_blakley_lessons_from_fashion_s_free_culture.html
Imagine the two scenarios:
1. They do not buy or use your pictures, because they respect your copyright claim, yet are not willing to spend money on it. You get nothing, and no exposure. This post never happens, and all the people who have heard your story are left uneducated. Your site has hundreds or thousands less hits – as many of these hits are otherwise unrelated to your original purpose.
2. They copy and utilize your property without your permission. You are enabled to create all of this and get the attention you deserve based on rational morality, not legal precedent. You generate traffic which ultimately aids donations and awareness of your cause, through the law of large numbers. Your pictures are being viewed more than they otherwise would be as well, for they are on someone else’s site on top of yours.
Also, consider what happens if you demand or accept payment for immorral behavior, instead of merely focusing on social constraints:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/favorites/reviews/
Watch starting just before 7 minutes (though all of it could be valuably applied), through just after 10 mins.
Rely on the generosity of humans and the natural social constraints, even if it opens you to the nastiness we sometimes have, and you will be rewarded.
Sorry, wrong link there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu7ZpWecIS8
Es gibt nichts Neues unter der Sonne.
The best things come in small packages.
If you don’t make mistakes you don’t make anything.
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The wealth of the mind is the only wealth.
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Ruprecht-Karls—Universitat Heidelberg
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