#8 - Ten Things You Should NEVER Say to a Photographer...

NUMBER 8:

"Hey, mom! Look at that picture of Jenny...it looks just like the one you downloaded and put in the family room!"

I used to have a booth at the county fair, and I actually heard this comment while I was manning my booth. The customer who did the illegal download told me her daughter's portraits were "terrible." This is the reason she gave for not placing a very big order.

I had a friend who was talking to me at the time, and I told the copyright infringer, "This person is a witness that you have committed copyright infringement. This is punishable by a $10,000 criminal penalty plus damages. Would you like to settle this out of court, or go to court?"

As it turns out her husband WAS an attorney, and she told me, "_ _ _ _ you, my husband IS an attorney and you can just go _ _ _ _ yourself!" Wow! And to think she kisses her kids with that mouth!

It seems that she went home and told her husband...who called me and started to tell me that they were "innocent infringers." I stopped him and said, "Mr. Customer...you are an ATTORNEY! No court is going to swallow that story, and you and I both know it.

He wondered if we could come to an "agreement." You see, as an officer of the court, committing copyright infringement is not looked on kindly by the court. It's the kind thing that can get a lawyer reprimanded, censured, or even disbarred in extreme cases.

This is why you need to register your copyright. If your image is not registered, you can't get spit for someone illegally copying your work. You can do it yourself, or you can use LegalZoom. You gotta get paid! After all, you ARE doing Photography for Income, aren't you? Til next time!