Making Your Work Hard To Find Isn't A Feature
from the promotional-value dept
Wired has a write-up of PhotoShelter, a site that helps "protect" photographers from the scourge of their work being too easy to find. They cite Lane Hartwell, the photographer who got bent out of shape when one of her photographs appeared briefly in a popular viral video, as an example of the kind of photographer who would benefit from the site. I can understand why she'd be unhappy that she didn't get credit for the use of her photo, but I don't see how switching to PhotoShelter would have improved the situation. Most of the money in photography is going to be from commercial clients. Companies tend to be pretty good about paying for photographs (and other content) because they've got deeper pockets and less plausible fair use claims. On the other hand, non-commercial uses of photos aren't going to be very lucrative; most individuals and smaller non-profits will use a lower-quality free image rather than pay to license a professional photograph. Certainly the creator of a viral video isn't going to pay royalties on a product he's planning to give away for free. So the smart way to handle things is to treat non-commercial uses of your photographs as promotional opportunities, seeking credit rather than compensation. That should build your reputation as a photographer and hopefully get more commercial clients interested in your work. PhotoShelter appears to be a solid site for professional photographers looking to catalog and market their photographs. But the fact that the site makes it more difficult for people to find and use a photographer's work isn't something photographers should be cheering about.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: copyright, photographers, promotional value, protecting work
Companies: photoshelter
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I read her article...
Nothing against PhotoShelter mind you, it does look like an excellent resource for Photographers. It's just that any photographer that thinks the two are mutually exclusive is a photographer that does not want clients.
/shudder
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Paragraph breaks please
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The way to get anything sold for which there is not a darn pressing need in this world is to establish relationships with your customers or prospects.
Maybe this new site will help photographers, but I'm a cynic.
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You know, if it was private information...
Am I saying it's okay to steal unmarked artwork? Nope. But it is going to happen and when these people throw a fit, they just look like noobs.
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