You’ve got the power!

Over the weekend a blog posting by an advertising agency got the photographer community in a well-deserved snit. The post essentially said that photographers have some guts claiming to own the photos they make on assignment for an agency. After all, their argument went, the agency created the concept and all the photographer had to do was shoot the thing. The authors then went on to utterly misinterpret the copyright law in regards to photography and, well, they came off insulting just about any creative vendor they have ever worked with.

By this morning, the agency was hit with many emails from upset photographers. The professional groups got involved as well. This tiny agency in a small market in Illinois managed to bring together people from all over the US (and beyond) in a show of solidarity against the self-serving bullying tactics used by so many agencies–particularly the small- to mid-sized ones.

The article has been pulled, and an apology (a lame one, in my opinion) now takes its place. I’m not linking to any of it because I don’t want the crappy agency to get any more publicity. My point in writing about this is that the photographers stood up for their rights and made a difference. Individual creatives changed a company. It can be done, and here is proof.

You have lots of power. Every creative does. You can say “no” to bad deals and take back control. Call out companies who demand all rights or only offer work for hire contracts or who won’t pay on time or whatever. You can make a difference. That agency in Illinois had its post seen by one photographer who thought enough about it to share it with others, resulting in postings on all the major photo forums and, voilà, a difference was made.

Remember your power. Use it wisely and do not give it away. No one can take it from you. Use it for good–your own and your industry’s.