While these incidents are much more documented than the artist vs. artist example this blog has recently posted I still think it’s worth highlighting some cases.

David Hobby of Strobist was the most recent victim of this. One of his images was culled from his flickr stream and used on a blog post. To 90% of people this is harmless enough, but to those in the photography industry it’s perhaps one of the most offensive practices one can do. Fortunately David Hobby has a legion of loyal fans and once the violation was uncovered the blog was forced to cave to public appeal. What happens to the little guy? The guy who only has 50 views on their flickr stream but some blog took his image for an article about frogs or something? 

One example of the little guy, or rather little girl fighting back is Lara Jade’s case against TVX.  Before Lara Jade became a bigshot fashion photographer she was a hobbyist that took self portraits at the age of 14. One of those images was used without her consent or knowledge on the cover of a pornography film. It has only recently been resolved, and the damages awarded will just about cover legal fees and leave Lara Jade with little else other than the satisfaction of victory. 

Most photographers aren’t the most wealthy, so they don’t have the time and money to pursue legal actions against larger companies that can drag out proceedings and obscure the situation with lawyers they can afford. Lara Jade was lucky that she found a lawyer willing to take on the risk of litigation. She also deserves a lot of credit for having the tenacity to follow things through when most would give up.

This blog exists more for artist vs artist violation but we will champion any plagiarism cause. 

We welcome your thoughts on the subject at photographyplagiarism@gmail.com