Question:
Have you ever Googled your name to see what comes up? I know that this might sound strange but I confess that yes, on occasion, I do this out of curiosity. Sometimes I'm really surprised and a little disturbed with the interesting things that I find out about myself and my work.
For instance: Last year, I found out that my work was blogged about on the BlackBookmag .com blog. I would never have known this if I had not Googled myself one night out of boredom. Blackbook is a pretty well known magazine and blog. I was excited that my work was on the blog yet I felt sick to my stomach that I was never asked permission for the use of my Amy Winehouse image. What's worse is that the person who posted it got the image directly from an email campaign that I had sent out through Adbase!
I could have been a ball buster about it and pursued payment but I decided to take the least bridge-burning route and contacted the person directly who posted it, kindly requesting that they ask me for permission the next time. They replied with a quick email,
"Hi Michele, thanks for writing. Liked your stuff obviously, so we'll definitely keep you in mind for upcoming gigs." Whether or not it was sincere, or if it was just to cover their butts I do not know. Either way, it didn't take them long to respond. Just a quick short note. It probably didn't take any longer to answer my request than it would have taken them to ask for my permission in the first place. BTW, I'm still waiting for that gig...
So tonight, while I was taking a break from working I found out that my work was on 2 other blogs, Geekadelphia being one of them. Again, I was never contacted and my name is not spelled right!
Bloggers: Don't get me wrong - I think it is
absolutely wonderful that people are excited about my work and they want to share and talk about it. That's one of the best compliments an artist can have. But I'd
REALLY appreciate it if I was asked before my work was taken and re posted onto your site. Please,
always contact an artist and ask them for permission to use an image. At the very least, notify them that they are going to be published on your blog. It's a small thing to ask but we really do appreciate it. We will, in most cases, say yes,
PLEASE DO use our work! We love the exposure.
However, do not assume that by just putting a link to our site on your blog that it will make up for not asking for permission to use our art. Yes, we love you to drive traffic to our site but we need to be contacted when our work is going to be used. Otherwise, it is pretty much copyright infringement (stealing). This gets really tricky if an image that has been re posted is currently under contract with a client who paid for it. The client will, most likely, not be very happy. Some clients are more forgiving than others and will kindly ask you to remove it. Others, might try to sue you! We all work hard to make a living off of what we do. Frankly, in the past 5 years the value of illustration and photography has gone down. We need all of the exposure that we can get in order to get more commissioned work. But you still need to ask if you want to use it, which brings me to my next point:
My husband said it rather eloquently, "Why do bloggers steal photographers'and illustrators' work and try to say they are promoting them? You want content to drive ad clicks? Pay for it." See those ads on blogs? When those ads get clicked - they make the blogger who has them on their site money. But I'm not getting any money for my work being taken and used on the site. You get the idea.
I don't mean to come across as sounding like a snarky, conceited jerk or as if I'm riding on some high horse but the reality of the situation is that this is how I make my living, folks. It's how I pay for my car payment, my groceries, my part of the mortgage, etc... Yes, I
do post to my blog a lot. And I frequently post to many other art and illustration blogs. I want exposure. I want to see and be seen. I want to see what my peers are working on. But I'm posting MY OWN work.
I know that content stealing will always be a problem. I just want you to know that the small act of shooting an artist a quick email to ask for permission goes a long way. It's the right thing to do. And please, spell the artist's name right! :)
Michele
