Taking the piss
I occasionally get emails from people wanting to use images I’ve posted to my Fickr account. I set all of my images with a Creative Commons license so that anyone can use them on blog, publications etc so long as they’re not for profit. I don’t see any problem with that as they’re mostly just for fun. Some of these emails are asking to use the images in books which publishers are putting together. I’ve donated a few mountainbike shots so far and usually they agree to send you a free copy of the book – I’ve never received any copies of these free books however.
The latest email came a few months ago though and I’m starting to think some of these people are out to take the piss really. The image in question is below – a picture of a tap which looks a bit like a face. The initial email asked to use the images, so I said “sure no problem”.
However with these muppets, the problem is that they haven’t actually chosen your image yet, they want you submit your image for consideration. Heres the email from the good people at Lark Books
Thank you for writing back—we’re so pleased that you’re interested in Focus: Found Faces, which is scheduled for publication in March 2011.
If you’d like to include your photograph/s for consideration in the project, I’ll need to receive the following by March 19th:
1. Your completed Entry Form via e-mail. Please resend in doc format; not as a pdf.
2. Your signed and dated Photo License Agreement via email. A scan with your original signature is preferred; if this isn’t possible, send a hardcopy to me in the mail at the address below and drop me a line so I know when to expect it.
3. Your photo/s. Please let me know if it’s available for download from Flickr. If it isn’t, you will need to place it on our FTP site, saved as a 300 dpi jpg. Ask me to send you instructions on uploading to our FTP site if it isn’t available for download.
So I’m GIVING you an image for FREE for you to make money out of and you want me to fill out all these forms on the off chance that I might get selected? Are you fucking shitting me? How about you choose the images you want to use and then make people fill out the forms and go through the hassle.
It really does take the piss. Needless to say I’m not quite as interested in licensing my images to people like this anymore no matter how crappy the image.
Edit: Gary just pointed me to two books on their site providing advice on running a successful photography business. How ironic!