Can You Use Pikachu For Photographer Services

My proper noun is Max Dubler, and I am a professional lensman who has been working full time in downhill skateboarding for the final several years. I am a well-known person inside this little niche: I started an influential website with my friends, was on staff for the only downhill magazine since its first consequence, have written extensively about downhill skate safe, and have been hired by almost every major downhill skate brand to shoot photos.

Lately, in an attempt to go new riders excited almost skating, I have departed from my usual policy of only releasing the most technically perfect pictures of sponsored riders and started posting all of my halfway decent photos from skate events on Skatehousemedia.com and its Facebook page. This is a lot more editing work, simply as a skater myself I sympathize the excitement of seeing a good photograph of myself from an event. It also helps drive traffic and engagement.

I don't put huge watermarks in the middle of my photos or accuse private skaters to utilise them on social media because skaters are generally broke teenagers, watermarks ruin the picture and don't stop people from stealing your photos, and I make an okay living from freelance work and my steady gigs. The 2nd-mitt stoke is enough of a reward for me. I do charge for-turn a profit companies a fee to use my photos because they are making money off my piece of work. This is a pretty straightforward distinction.

A few days ago an established, successful small longboard brand downloaded 1 of my pictures from an outcome in Canada and posted it to their Instagram account.

Not having whatsoever prior relationship with this company, I sent them a message to let them know I charge $25 for social media utilise of my photographs and they tin pay me via Paypal or Venmo. (I know this cost is very low and I should ask for more than to make a signal, merely I exercise like to really go paid sometimes.)

In response, I got a perfect distillation of all the insulting nonsense people say to me when I inquire them to pay me for using my work as part of their social media advertising. Let's break it down…

(I should note here that since I posted this article on my website, several people have come forward to tell me similar stories virtually this brand using their photos without permission or payment. One person's photograph was used in a print ad without permission, with a logo covering her watermark. This visitor is a repeat offender.)

"Seriously? we don't pay for instagram shares." If yous can observe photographers who will let you lot use their work for free, go right alee. You didn't do that. You posted my photo, and using my photos on social media costs money. You would take known that if you had asked for my permission earlier you posted it, just yous didn't and now you need to pay me.

"We ever give proper credit." Photograph credit and "exposure" is only valuable to the extent that it gets people like y'all to hire me for paid gigs. I don't need any more than exposure in skateboarding. I need you to pay me.

"I mean, who pays for Instagram shares lol" Every other major company in this industry has paid for the right to use my work.

"I will have it off." Your followers already saw this photo on your account. Taking information technology downward now doesn't modify the fact that yous have already extracted marketing value from my work. The equus caballus is out of the barn. Yous need to pay me.

"We don't post rider pics to sell our gear, we post to back up the rider and, ironically, the photog[rapher] as well." I am so, so over this "we're all bros hither and I'grand just trying to support the scene" bulls**t. You lot run a for-profit business. Businesses employ passenger sponsorships and social media advertising to aid them sell more product and brand more money. You don't want to "support me equally a lensman," you want me to piece of work for complimentary and exist grateful for the privilege of lining your pocket. If you actually want to "support" me, pay me.

"Nosotros're just a small business, nosotros can't afford it." Dude. Man. Bro. Guy. Your company has worldwide distribution and I asked y'all for twenty five f**king dollars. You tin beget it. Call up of it as an intellectual-holding parking ticket. Pay me.

"I idea I was sharing [our team rider]'s pic, sure of information technology since we don't follow y'all that I know of." The film your passenger reposted is watermarked with "© MAX DUBLER." Your rider credited me in the caption and used my hashtag. Y'all tagged me on the post and gave me photo credit in the caption. Exercise you really expect me to believe you lot didn't know that I took this pic? Pay me.

I showed the visitor a popular comic by The Oatmeal nigh Exposure.

"It was a share from a rider." Weren't you just telling me that reposting was acceptable because you "ever requite proper credit?"

"Go extort someone else." Demanding payment for the utilise of my intellectual property is non extortion. Y'all do not get to take my work, use it to advertise your business organisation, then decide you don't have to pay for it after the fact any more than than I get to walk into your shop, have a brand new board, skate it around the block a few times, and put it back on the rack when informed that I accept to pay for it. You used my photo. Pay me.

I don't even intendance about the $25 anymore. Plenty of companies have responded to requests for payment with a sincere apology, removal of the photo, and some version of "we can't afford to pay y'all." While that certainly is a bummer, a lot of these pocket-size skateboard companies are run on a shoestring budget past very young people unfamiliar with the ins and outs of copyright police in the digital globe. When someone makes an honest fault and treats me with respect, I'll let information technology get with a alert.

This visitor, on the other hand, refused to pay me, insulted me for even thinking that my work is worth money, tried to tell me they were doing me a favor, attempted to play dumb, and finally accused me of extortion when I didn't back downward.

I'thou tired of people stealing my work, then telling me information technology'south worthless, so I did what any pissed-off millennial #influencer and #contentcreator would do in this situation: I took the screen shots of our conversation, added them to a pithy status virtually how social media is advertising and I can't pay my rent with exposure, and watched it go viral on Facebook, where it got 500+ likes, 88 shares, and hundreds of comments, including some from other media people that visitor had screwed over.

As a subculture, downhill skateboarding celebrates and respects talented photographers and videographers, so the reaction was swift: people posted videos of themselves throwing that company's production in the trash and pledged to support their competitors.

I likewise wrote a blog entry and posted information technology to Reddit'southward /r/photography folio, where it got 2,200 upvotes and 400+ mostly supportive comments from other photographers.

They still haven't paid me. I dubiousness they e'er will, but in the 48 hours since those posts went up, one-half a dozen companies have contacted me to pay for for skate photos I didn't fifty-fifty know they'd used. I'm calling it a win.

Update on 7/xv/17: I am deeply moved past the outpouring of back up I have received from swain photographers since the publication of this commodity. And then many of you have reached out to share your stories of frustration at the hands of people who do not respect artists. It is truly heartening to know that I am not lone in this struggle.

That said, some folks have been taking things into their own easily and leaving i star reviews on various longboard brands' Facebook pages. This is neither wanted nor helpful. Most of these brands, have been my clients over the years. My friends at Landyachtz Longboards, in particular, have hired me many times and always pay me speedily and without hassle.

I left the offending company'south name out of the article because dozens of people left bad reviews on their folio after my initial Facebook postal service and I have no desire to create a further pile-on.

Nigh the author: Max Dubler is a photographer, skateboarder, and writer based in Los Angeles. He is non usually this footling. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You tin follow him on Instagram at @maxdubler.