Credit isn't permission

Let me be clear: Giving someone credit on @Threads or @Instagram is still theft if you do not have the owner's permission to post their photo. There is this myth that if you screenshot or repost someone's work and put it on your site, it's perfectly fine if you @ the owner. It's not fine, especially if you don't link back to the original.

Theft is so prevalent on social media platforms that I have award-winning, professional photographer-clients who are exasperated, horrified that their work garners thousands, sometimes millions, of views without any benefit to them.

Some photographers actually beg each offender to add their handle, which is a bit like asking a burglar to engrave your initials into the diamond ring he just stole from you. It's nonsense. But online? No problem. Many believe credit is the gold standard. It's not.

Permission with a link to your site or portfolio is good. Getting paid is even better.

If you follow sites that only post pretty pictures/videos from around the world, and you see these same images everywhere (you know, Mount Fuji in the sunshine, the Eiffel Tower in the snow), it's likely these shots were posted without permission and that the person who stole them is making a lot of money off your interest.

It's just wrong.

#photography #socialmedia #theft #copyright

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