Photos published without a credit

pete,when you say they did not credit you,what exactly did you mean? they used the pictures with your pemission but no credit? or did they just use them without informing you in any way?

Hi Michael – they used them with my permission, but no credit.

Pete,
(nice images), your course of action depends of the relationship you have with the pix editors at the Independent, are you talking about the Daily, the Saturday mag or the Sunday Review?

Hi Bruno – It’s the Daily. It’s the first time they published my stuff, so I want to keep them on side, but still make a point.

pete,it’s probably best to call them and have a friendly but firm chat.

I agree with Michael. I also add a special instruction with each of my images (both on my web site & in the IPTC fields). That instruction is: Mandatory credit with image usage: Copyright Thomas Pickard. If it isn’t used, a friendly, but firm call will ensue. It is important in the beginning of any photog/editor relationship to make sure you stand up for yourself. In a sense, getting this sort of stuff ironed out in the beginning should mean an easy relationship down the line. T.

Thanks Thomas and Michael – I’ll give them a call!

The advice I’ve heard is to include in your contract/license a clause to the effect that usage without proper credit will be billed triple the normal rate. I’m sure it was an honest mistake, but there’s no question that it hurts you because you missed out on some useful promotion and you now can’t really use these tearsheets. Perhaps they’ll publish a correction?

In the US at least, and I suspect it is true in the UK, even the owner of the copyright has no statutory right to a credit. You have to insist on it in the license (some pubs just won’t do it — e.g., the Economist). Brendan is right, it probably was an honest mistake. My dealings with the Independent have left me with the impression that it is a class operation. But even at the best places shit happens. Sometimes at odd hours at night, when layout people do not get the credit info, and the photo editor is knocking back a few in the watering hole down the street with his cell phone off, this kind of thing happens.

It has always been the policy at the Indy to credit the photogrpahers. It’s a paper that is very serious about photography. They may simply have screwed up. It happens. They may, in fact, be anticipating your calling them on it and you absolutely should. You’ll be glad you did and so will they.

“My dealings with the Independent have left me with the impression that it is a class operation”

Arguably, the final product has “class” due to the efforts of it’s photographers and writers, but The Independent is far from classy in terms of pay/conditions.

Brendan is on the mark. Stick to your guns. Tell them politely that its unacceptable and you will send them a bill, and you are sorry to have to do this but its a business and they have an obligation to provide you with a credit. If the printer published their magazine with a few ad pages missing, you know they would want some concessions.

Thanks to everyone for your comments – much appreciated as I’m new to this game. I’ve spoken with them and it was just a rushed mistake on their part. Can anyone clarify – is it standard practice to negotiate a rate and conditions before the work is published or do the newspapers just have a standard set of rates for publishing photos at various sizes etc?