In addition to the commercial images I create, I create images for the joy of creating images. I sometimes enter these images into competitions and I've enjoyed varying degrees of success.
I share the images online. And I know that people have downloaded those images and used them as the desktop on the PC.
I know that people have shared them with their friends. While there is no commercial element to that and the images are not being printed on any kind of media, that is cool. I'm glad people are enjoying what I do.
But every now and then I find that someone has taken a bloomin' liberty. Last night was one of those times. A company was selling one of my images on their website. Yup, they'd lifted the image and was selling it as a print (a little too cheaply if you ask me but that's another story). It's always a risk when you share an image that someone will use it commercially. Photographers do take steps to protect their work but it's always disappointing when you see someone steal your work for commercial gain.
So last night a company got an invoice they weren't expecting for a reselling license for one of my images. And it was in 5 figures.
Do I expect the company to pay that?
I don't. I'm sure they will just take the image down.
I will share the name of the site on some photography groups because I'm willing to be the other images they are selling have also been lifted from the internet.
And yes, the image I've used for this article is the image in question.
