Singer used my photo for her business card....

DGMPhotography

Been spending a lot of time on here!
Joined
Mar 23, 2012
Messages
3,160
Reaction score
718
Can others edit my Photos
Photos OK to edit
Hey guys!

First of all: it's my birthday today!! (technically, about 7 minutes ago EDT)

Second... I have a slight issue. This girl, Seva, I've been supporting for years. She's a phenomenal singer and I've been letting her use my images for years for promotion on social media.
But now she decided to get one of them printed.

She didn't ask me, didn't pay me, and I'm a little hurt. I'm guessing she just didn't know, and I know she means well, but I could use some advice how to go about this. A "happy birthday" is nice, and using my image is certainly flattering, but I know I can't just let this go.

Advice appreciated.

Screen Shot 2015-08-26 at 12.03.57 AM.jpg
 
If she asked you, how would you respond? If you would have given her permission, it's probably best just to express your feelings. Just let her know what your expectations are in this case, that you need her to run by usage with you first - and then forgive and forget. Because you'd be ok with this anyway, it's kind of a "no biggie" situation.

If you'd charge her for this usage but want/need to maintain a relationship, make that known - and give her a discount. Again, remind her that the images are your and that you need to discuss terms with her.

If you recovering your license is more important than keeping her as a client, then demand full payment. Start softly and end with an attorney.

Just remember, everything you do has consequences. It doesn't matter if you're in your legal right here or not. You have to think about the PR, too.
 
If she asked you, how would you respond? If you would have given her permission, it's probably best just to express your feelings. Just let her know what your expectations are in this case, that you need her to run by usage with you first - and then forgive and forget. Because you'd be ok with this anyway, it's kind of a "no biggie" situation.

If you'd charge her for this usage but want/need to maintain a relationship, make that known - and give her a discount. Again, remind her that the images are your and that you need to discuss terms with her.

If you recovering your license is more important than keeping her as a client, then demand full payment. Start softly and end with an attorney.

Just remember, everything you do has consequences. It doesn't matter if you're in your legal right here or not. You have to think about the PR, too.

No, totally. The relationship here is more important than compensation. We're good friends, and she may be my ticket to the big leagues... but using my photo without permission still isn't okay. I'm just trying to figure out what the right words would be for this delicate situation... I want to let her know, but in a way that doesn't make her not want to use my photos again, for fear it would upset me or something.
 
I just went to her FB page....WOW! Her promotional photos are very weak...just way too many fuzzy-looking cellphone video grabs and stuff. She's in desperate need of good promotional materials for her FB pages....no wonder she stole that image you took...it's actually decent and sharp, and it works great as business card artwork. Maybe you can convince her that she desperately NEEDS more and better promotional images?

it looks like she's not fully aware of the need to present a more-professional, sexier, and more involved level of promotional stills and videos. I'm sure she thinks she can make it on her voice alone, but she has great hair, great legs, and youth...but she's not really showing off her beauty or sex appeal. It looks like she's been giving her promotional photos VERY minimal thought or emphasis, not really thinking that image is everything.

Maybe you can be more involved...have her take more time, put more emphasis into PR images.

Oh, and Happy Birthday, man!
 
I thin the important thing here is that you permit her to use the image. I'd bring it up, along the lines of "It's not a terribly big deal, because I'd let you anyway, I just really need to know when you use my photographs". See how she responds, reassure her that you're not "angry", just that you need to have maintain your copyright - that it's "nothing personal", and compliment her card, and how professional they look.

Keep it totally casual, but make sure she knows that you have some business that you need to talk with her about.
 
I thin the important thing here is that you permit her to use the image. I'd bring it up, along the lines of "It's not a terribly big deal, because I'd let you anyway, I just really need to know when you use my photographs". See how she responds, reassure her that you're not "angry", just that you need to have maintain your copyright - that it's "nothing personal", and compliment her card, and how professional they look.

Keep it totally casual, but make sure she knows that you have some business that you need to talk with her about.

I like that, but where would I take it from there? What would "maintaining" my copyright mean?

I just went to her FB page....WOW! Her promotional photos are very weak...just way too many fuzzy-looking cellphone video grabs and stuff. She's in desperate need of good promotional materials for her FB pages....no wonder she stole that image you took...it's actually decent and sharp, and it works great as business card artwork. Maybe you can convince her that she desperately NEEDS more and better promotional images?

it looks like she's not fully aware of the need to present a more-professional, sexier, and more involved level of promotional stills and videos. I'm sure she thinks she can make it on her voice alone, but she has great hair, great legs, and youth...but she's not really showing off her beauty or sex appeal. It looks like she's been giving her promotional photos VERY minimal thought or emphasis, not really thinking that image is everything.

Maybe you can be more involved...have her take more time, put more emphasis into PR images.

Oh, and Happy Birthday, man!

Thanks, Derrel! And I agree.. I think the reason she's been holding back in that area is that she is still very self conscious. She comes from a very traditional family and is afraid of what her family would think if she tried exploiting her sex appeal.
 
Well. Legally "maintain" isn't the right word. I just think it has the same kind of implication as "protect" but "protect" would imply that she maliciously "stole" your property. She stole from you, but didn't do it in a malicious way - she even wanted to impress you.

So what I mean here in "maintain" is more like maintaining your car - keeping track of things, you know? I guess you could say you need to know where "all your images are" and that it's not about this specifically, but an issue that is more general.

But I'd do everything you can to avoid being legal here. It shouldn't even cross her mind that she did anything "wrong" - at least on a moral level - only that in course of doing business with you, you have to know how the images are being used.

It might get a little weird later down the road if a magazine or television show wanted to publish the images. But honestly, I'd just cross that road later.
 
If she's receptive, it might be a good time to think about discussing use contracts. If it comes to this, it's important that she realizes that the benefit of a contract is mutual...

OTOH it might be better just to let her use this particular image however she wants since you've never discussed usage, but more carefully license future products. If this is the direction you take, reassure her that it's "something you're doing now" and that it protects the both of you.

Starting to see what kind of pickle you're in actually. KMH might offer better advise.
 
You've been letting her use your photos for years... of course she probably thinks this is OK, why wouldn't she? You've been giving her free photos to promote herself for years, so why would using one of your photos on a card be different than using your photos to promote herself thru social media? It probably seems OK to her to basically continue doing what she's been doing.

You could talk to her about that you're at the point in developing your photography as a business that you're ready to start licensing usage of your work. You could let her know you're pleased she used your photo and would like to talk to her about what's involved in licensing your photos for future use. It might need to be from now on; I don't know that there's any getting this photo back since you already gave her the photo and the cards have already been printed.

Get a contract developed if you don't already and learn how to license usage. If you haven't yet try American Society of Media Photographers or PPA for info. on licensing usage for a specific time frame, for a particular purpose, etc. Share some info. with her so she understands it's the direction you're going in developing your own work in photography. This is really just one photo on one set of cards, so now is probably a good time to talk about future use as you continue with your photography and she continues with her singing and performing.

And have a happy birthday!
 
you've been supporting her for years? I assume that means free images. You are ok with social media usage but apparently nothing else. Do you have anything in writing? I'm sure that to her, it's all the same. Even if you give something away, if you want to restrict usage, you really do need to put it down in writing. Going forward, put it on paper.
 
Happy Birthday! :cupcake:

You've been letting her use your photos for years... of course she probably thinks this is OK, why wouldn't she? You've been giving her free photos to promote herself for years, so why would using one of your photos on a card be different than using your photos to promote herself thru social media? It probably seems OK to her to basically continue doing what she's been doing.

You could talk to her about that you're at the point in developing your photography as a business that you're ready to start licensing usage of your work. You could let her know you're pleased she used your photo and would like to talk to her about what's involved in licensing your photos for future use. It might need to be from now on; I don't know that there's any getting this photo back since you already gave her the photo and the cards have already been printed.

Definitely agree with this. Because you've been letting her use your photos for so long, you've set a precedent. Next time you take photos, or even after this blows over, you should talk to her about contracts and whatnot for the future. For this photo/time, I'd swallow my pride and chalk it up to experience.
 
If she asked you, how would you respond? If you would have given her permission, it's probably best just to express your feelings. Just let her know what your expectations are in this case, that you need her to run by usage with you first - and then forgive and forget. Because you'd be ok with this anyway, it's kind of a "no biggie" situation.

If you'd charge her for this usage but want/need to maintain a relationship, make that known - and give her a discount. Again, remind her that the images are your and that you need to discuss terms with her.

If you recovering your license is more important than keeping her as a client, then demand full payment. Start softly and end with an attorney.

Just remember, everything you do has consequences. It doesn't matter if you're in your legal right here or not. You have to think about the PR, too.

No, totally. The relationship here is more important than compensation. We're good friends, and she may be my ticket to the big leagues... but using my photo without permission still isn't okay. I'm just trying to figure out what the right words would be for this delicate situation... I want to let her know, but in a way that doesn't make her not want to use my photos again, for fear it would upset me or something.
Well I'm probably in the minority here but I'd say this would be a good time to let sleeping dogs lie.

Anything said about the business card photo is likely to be taken the wrong way. Look at her message to you, she's wishing you a happy birthday and showing off the card thinking you'll be thrilled.

So you have to decide what's more important here, the business aspect or the friendship, and it sounds like to me you've already made that choice.

So yes, you have every right to object and clarify and etc etc, but I don't think you'll end up getting a result you want if you go there.

My 2 cents worth.

Sent from my 306SH using Tapatalk
 
I'd at least let her know.

something along the lines of : Yo, im a pro too. Next time let me know first--I have no problems with you using it--but for stuff like this It's MY picture. I hold the rights to usage.
 
Anything said about the business card photo is likely to be taken the wrong way.

If I can talk to one of my best friends about having sex with my girlfriend without me being around and manage to keep it cordial, anything is possible.

Huh. Maybe that wasn't the best example.
 
Last edited:
Are you photoing as a full time career or just for fun? If it's just for fun I'd let it all slide. It's just a business card, not an album cover. Besides building good relationships is the key to being successful. Let this slide and maybe she will come to you with more work that you can actually charge her for.

Learn from crack dealers, the first hit is free.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top