Hey all, time for a mid-month stimulus (I promise it won't cost $877B either!) The subject of this discussion is copyright law. I took a few photos this weekend of the kids sitting by a tree in the park, and after a little tweaking and cropping, thought I had something good enough to print for the living room. We weren't interested in archival quality prints, just something to hang on the wall or sit on a table. So, we debated... Walgreens, Walmart, or Costco? Final decision, Walmart. So, we uploaded the pics to their website and hit "submit."
But, when Stacey went to pick up the pictures today, she was asked to sign a release form! "A release? For my husband's photos? Oh, thanks, that's very kind of you, but, they're not professional" "Sorry ma'am, but we need you to sign this release." So, she signed it and texted me her accolades. I was a little taken aback by the whole issue, and after being informed by another blog member that Walmart does this for almost anything that is in focus, I got a little curious. I did some googling of the topic and found a hotbed of angry Walmart shoppers with horror stories of photo center technicians withholding their photos in the name of US Copyright law. (Copy of the Walmart release form: http://i.walmartimages.com/i/if/hmp/fusion/Photo-CopyrightForm_Owner.pdf)
So, here's my topic starters: What experience have any of you had with printing copyrighted images (your own or others), what do you think about casual photographers being subjected to Walmart employees' judgement about the quality or verity of an image, and what about older images? Didn't Kodak invent a kiosk specifically created to scan old pictures, touch them up and spit out a brad new image of Grandpa to share with Grandma to make her day? What advice would you give others in the same situation? (aside from not going to Walmart anymore...) is it just Walmart's deep pockets that make them susceptible to this issue, or do others enforce a similar policy? Or is this issue so sublime that by hitting "submit" on the online printers that a release/permission is granted?
What say you photo bloggers?! (Remember, let's keep this informative and helpful, nobody here works at Walmart right? :) )
Last year at Walgreen's I was asked to sign a release for my pictures of Danielle. I was incredibly flattered and didn't think anything of it. If I was a professional photographer and someone had copied my photos off a website, uploaded them to Walmart, Walgreen's, etc and then printed them without paying me or receiving my permission I'd be pretty pissed. As far as I'm concerned the employees were doing exactly what they should've been doing...which, in this instance was covering their butt. It isn't about the employees' (personal) judgement of the image quality. If they think the pictures *could* have possibly been taken by someone other than the "casual" photographer I'm sure they'd rather err on the side of caution and have the waiver filled out and signed.
ReplyDeleteMy question is this: is it really that big of a deal to take an extra five minutes and sign the waiver?
I totally agree with you PMom!
ReplyDeleteI actually had some of the same photos developed at Walgreens (sorta as a check of the image processing quality), and was asked for a release there as well. I am glad they did it, but it did make me question who makes the 'judgement' call a little bit, so I asked the clerk why it was flagged. He indicated what others had said as well, that the image quality, the background, and the focus seem to all play into it. Signing the release wasn't a big deal at all.
However, suppose I had the same pictures sent to a Walmart/Walgreens in Indiana for my mom or dad to pick up (to save on shipping and reduce overall costs). They go in to pick up the photos, and with no copyright, watermark or other indication of professional status, they get asked for the release. What then? Again, I suppose it's no big deal to sign the release for me and to FAX it to them, but how does the clerk know that the person they just received a FAX from is legit? I guess it's just a CYA thing for them.
Still curious to hear others experiences with this, and if it is simply a "mass developer" issue. Like I said before, we never had a problem with Costco (even when we did have very professional pictures printed for X-mas Cards).