Are you stealing or are you sharing other people’s work on social media?
Of course, you’re sharing, right? You wouldn’t dream of stealing, would you? Or maybe you’ve been doing it without meaning to? That’s what this episode of the Small & Supercharged Podcast is all about…
Are you stealing or are you sharing?
The thing is, sharing properly on social media can help brands, influencers and friends, because the credit goes back to the correct person (when it’s shared properly) and/or the correct permission has been given in order to allow you to share.
The other thing is stealing. And that’s not good. Not only is it rude, and can actually damage people’s brands, but you could also be infringing their copyright and that could land you with a big fine.
And please, PLEASE don’t think people don’t get fined. They do. I’ve seen it happen more than once. The thing is, when people’s work is used without permission it could compromise their livelihood. Take an event photographer who’s been out shooting all day and no one buys a single image… but competitors uses the pics online anyway for nothing. How can they make that a viable business? And that’s just one example.
In this podcast, I talk about an example I saw recently, when an image by Emily Cole Illustrations was lifted and reposted (so it was posted as the page’s content) on a pretty big Facebook page. Now, not only did that person not get Emily’s permission (so, the biggest no-no is already there!), they’d even credited the wrong brand (now, just to confirm, crediting someone doesn’t mean you don’t have to ask them when it’s stealing their drawing!). This is what inspired me to record the podcast. I see so many photographers struggling with this issue, when people use their images incorrectly, but I also see brands using images without permission. And that’s not allowed either!
As I say in the podcast, I’m not an expert in copyright law – that’s why I don’t go into it- but as the person who’s sharing the work of whoever, you need to do the work, read the Ts and Cs, ask the relevant permissions, etc.
