Used and abused -- I learned my lesson (a little long)

[Robin'sBrood]

I have a friend who is a photographer. She was telling me about one client who was nagging her to quickly finish up her wedding photos (2nd wedding) while my friend's mother was DYING of cancer. The wedding was in late October and my friend's mother died on Christmas day so obviously my friend was trying to spend as much time with her dying mom as she could those last couple of months. I wanted to say to the client -- HELLOOOO, the photographer is losing her mother here, are your photos really so important that you have to have them right now?

My friend got the job done before her mom died but I'm sure it was stressful to her. Do people not have any common decency anymore?

 

[gypsy2621]

Quote:
X's2

 

[OlliOlliOlli]

I finally had it, after the kind of day I had yesterday between fighting with my father and losing my puppy...she had the AUDACITY to take out my copyright and REPRODUCE MY PHOTOS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION...and she and her little darlings were having a huge laugh over it. So, I finally had it out with her and told her how much she hurt me with how she behaved and what a spoiled brat she had been, and how she has no legal right to her images.

I told her she had to take down the picture, else my lawyer would be in touch with her. I also said that since my pictures were not good enough for her since they looked so "fake," I would use this as a marketing opportunity to show the quality of my work using before and after images. I also told her I could sue her photo finisher for printing copyrighted work and hold her accountable for the damages.

I ended my letter with "Despite your overinflated self-image, the truth is, darling, my camera does not lie about your stomach fat, discolored teeth, acne, and bad makeup job. Evidently you thought it did, and now I am going to use my portfolio to show the world the kind of work I can do on nasty spoiled people like you."

The little snot seems to forget she is legally an adult now that she is 18 and starts saying that her "FAMILY" is going to take care of me and that I have no legal right to use her images. No apologies, no thank you's, nothing. Tough. She blew it.

Last I checked, pretty much in all 50 states, I am the owner of these images unless she signed something stating otherwise.

My father, as screwed up as he is, says that if anyone starts in on him about it at the family gathering today, he is going to rip them all a new one and stand up for me.

I told my students who are seniors and advised me about senior photos all about this, and they've volunteered to sit for photos for my portfolio when they graduate. Sweet, sweet kids. I love them.

Never, never, never again dealing with this spoiled child.

 

[debilorrah]

Olli I applaude you for setting her straight and if she does NOT remove the images, sue the pants (or thong) off that little brat.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
A classic example of bad things happening to a nice person. Well, you tried! Sure hope that you're right about her having learned a lesson. Whatever, sure glad you learned yours... "No good deed goes unpunished."

 

[OlliOlliOlli]

Quote:
LOL Thanks!!!! I know, right? haha

 

[MichiganWoods]

Been there, done that. I still have a hard time charging what I should, but I'm getting over that. When you do it cheap or for free, its a lot of demand and stress and absolutely no thanks. One exception... when I recently donated my time to photograph a Girl Scout event, they were patient and sent me a lovely thank you letter. But they were a rare case.