The thrill of having my works published hasn't diminished a bit. Seeing my photos come to life on the printed page still gives me a "wow" moment. But this was not the case when northbound magazine of Pico Manila grabbed my Callao images off the internet and used them for publication. Even after i politely told them that the high-resolution images are missing.
I very nearly wanted to shove this thing aside and charge it to experience. But after praying and contemplating about it, I figured I have this responsibility to warn my peers about such a practice. Maybe I will be paid my due, maybe I won't, but the least I can do is to keep it from happening again.
I guess there are also deeper, underlying reasons why some publications think they can get away with it. Going to court is expensive and often long-drawn out. And there will always be photographers, especially the up and coming ones, who will be willing to let their photos be used for free. While I respect this point of view of my peers, it's degrading to the photography industry. Anybody can take a decent pictures nowadays and use Photoshop to make a shabby shot look great, right?
In any case, I write this post to make my plight be known. getting published is great but getting ripped off is not. (for the complete account, please follow this link)
I very nearly wanted to shove this thing aside and charge it to experience. But after praying and contemplating about it, I figured I have this responsibility to warn my peers about such a practice. Maybe I will be paid my due, maybe I won't, but the least I can do is to keep it from happening again.
I guess there are also deeper, underlying reasons why some publications think they can get away with it. Going to court is expensive and often long-drawn out. And there will always be photographers, especially the up and coming ones, who will be willing to let their photos be used for free. While I respect this point of view of my peers, it's degrading to the photography industry. Anybody can take a decent pictures nowadays and use Photoshop to make a shabby shot look great, right?
In any case, I write this post to make my plight be known. getting published is great but getting ripped off is not. (for the complete account, please follow this link)
