Monday, 18 January 2010

Indy pays up and says sorry over Flickr pic


Earlier today I did a post about photographer Peter Zabulis and how the Independent had lifted one of his pics from Flickr in a blatant breach of his copyright and then refused to pay him once they were rumbled.
Rather than be fobbed off, Peter hit back by putting all his correspondence with the Independent on his Flickr page and it was picked up around the internet.
The "naming and shaming" has worked. Peter has emailed me to say: "They've agreed to my payment and apologised for the use of the image."
He adds: "A couple of things have really surprised me about this. The first, I only picked this up by chance because somebody clicked on my image on that stream, if they hadn't I would never have known about it's use; I would have seen the increased usage but I doubt I would have identified the source. Secondly, the amount of support I got from the Flickr community which then spread into the wider photographic arena - you have to admire modern communications.
"I'm also grateful to Laurent Olivier from the BJP (British Journal of Photography) for raising it with the Independent."
This is new media at its best.  Using the internet to shame a national newspaper which had ripped off an individual. Shows photographers, freelances etc. can fight back against the big boys.

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