What is copyright?  How does it affect you?  Every once in a while I have a tough time with something to do with copyright.  I don’t think that people intentionally violate international laws, I just don’t think that people understand what is happening.

Last night, my daughter wanted me to check her homework, a poem with slideshow presentation to go with it.  The poem was amazing, a pyramid type poem about what it means to have a best friend.  I loved it, but the presentation was littered with copyrighted images.  My own daughter.  My brain started realing.  This is a generational problem, new technology, nobody knows how to deal with it.  Our parents didn’t teach us that digital content is protected and that it isn’t free to do with as we please.

My daughter said, “If I can’t use it, why is it on-line?”  This digital age, this age of instant gratification, it seems as though EVERYthing is at our disposal in the privacy of our own homes, our conscience is the only guidence to govern our actions.  But if one is unaware of what they are doing is unethical, the conscience will not kick in to say that it is not ok. 

I feel like a one man army.   One against everyone else.  I come up with analogies to try and conveigh my message.  I watermark my images with “DON’T SCAN!”.   I have chastized teachers for allowing their student to violate copyright.  I regularly test photo developers to see if they honor copyright.  I scan facebook for unauthorized use of images…..  Every time I find a violation I am devistated.  I take it personally.  I am confused as to why somebody would want to steal from me.  When the reallity is, people don’t know that they are stealing; people do not know that what they are doing is ethically wrong; people think that any content that is on-line is public domain.

We have been taught that copying our friends work is not ethical, in fact you will fail your class.  We have been taught that plagorism (sp) is a BIG no-no.  Downloading songs that don’t belong to you can cost you millions in restitution if you get caught.  Copying paintings will land you in jail.  Copying someone elses’ music will bring national critism (Milli Vanilli).  There are whole divisions of local law enforcment agencies dedicated to those who are professional copiers (black market) from copying everything from purses, to shoes, to DVDs, to watches, to…….

Basically, anything that can be copied, has been copied.  Anything that can be copied IS copied.  The difference is….  those with ethical and moral standards choose to not partake in unlawful activity.

Would you shoplift?

Would you copy a VanGough?

Would you support black market products?

Would you plagiarize?

The answer is usually no, because you know that it is wrong.  Help me grow my arm of one on the fight against copyright infringment!  Help spread the word that using other people’s information, pictures, text, etc. without permission is ethically wrong!  Help spread the word.  Help ensure that I, and every other photographer, will still have a job tomorrow.

Could you imagine if Colonel Sanders secret recipe was copied, and reproduced, and re-distributed?   It wouldn’t be very secret would it.  Just because the commonner has access to all of the tools that Colonel Sanders does, doesn’t mean that we are free to do what ever we want with that information!  Believe me, if you were able to take his recipe, copy it and distribute it, you would be looking at HUGE…. HUGE monitary punishments.  Because without the exclusive rights to that recipe, KFC has nothing to sell!

Could you imagine if Picasso’s work was freely distributed?  It would be called illegal!  Just because you purchase a painting does NOT mean that you can reproduce it and distribute it at will.  It isn’t limited to how it is copied…. copying it is illegal.  You can not re-paint it, you can not photograph it, you can not scan it, you can not draw it, you can not REPRODUCE it in any way!

I am VERY aware that people want to share their pictures on-line, facebook, e-mail, etc…..  We offer options for you to do that….. WITHOUT breaking the law, and compensating us for our time at a reasonable price.

It costs me over $10,000 a year to be able to capture the images that you LOVE.  This is not the cost of doing business, this is only the cost of being a photographer.  You have a choice whether you want to use me as a photographer.  I have to sell a whole lot of images to cover my expenses.

Do me a favor, if you don’t plan on paying me for the work that I have done, or that Northern Nevada Imaging has done, please don’t ask me/us to do the work.  That may be harsh….. but I do not want to work for free, and you spending $5 so that you can copy it and re-distribute an image will not get me any further.

I think that you would also be offended if your boss asked you to work for free.   Even more offended if your boss decide that you should work for free without consulting you about it.

When you hire a photographer, you are their boss.  You determine what their time is worth.  You determine how much money they will have to pay their house payment.  You determine how much their children will eat.  You determine whether they will live in poverty or prosper. 

A photographer may only work for one person at a time…… (It is physically impossible to be in more than one place at a time) if you do not plan on paying for that time let someone else utilize their time so that they may be able to provide a living for themselves.

If you are a teacher….   help teach our next generation right from wrong!   Please….  Please…. Please…. Know that it is unethical to copy other peoples work.  Help spread the word.  Teach those who will listen.  Just because the technology is available, does NOT mean that it should be done.

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