Hi. You can call me “Slovenija”, but my friends can call me “TV”.
It’s funny. And at the same time, it makes me a little angry and a lot sad.
As a photographer, whenever a photograph catches my eye, my first instinct is to look for the author. Sometimes out of curiosity, sometimes because I want to reach out and ask a question or two, but mostly because giving credit is basic decency. If you share something that you didn’t create yourself, you should acknowledge the person who made it. May it be a photograph, video, text, quote or illustration, creative work deserves recognition.
I’ll be honest. I’ve failed at this myself a couple times. I’ve reposted a funny image, a meme, or a joke I found online. Sometimes to cheer someone up, sometimes for a quick dopamine hit from likes and views. In the moment, I simply forgot to state where it came from. I try hard not to do that, to ask for permission when possible and use platforms and tools which respect the author.
Good content travels fast. Once something is online, the author loses almost all control over how and where it’s shared. That’s a fact.
Lot’s of author use in-image signature or watermarks just to claim authorship, protect their work or just get their name out there. It’s a valid way of doing that, but as a photographer I rarely protect my photos in such a way. Why?
“Does Samo Vidic use watermarks?”
Exactly.
Many photographers use watermarks or signatures to protect their work or at least attach their name to it. It’s a valid approach. I rarely do. Partly because it takes time to do it properly, partly because it pulls attention away from the photo, and partly because I like to believe my style is recognisable enough. Duh. I do include my name in the metadata, but most social platforms strip that information immediately.
And then there’s the internet.
Watermarks get photoshopped out, often badly, ruining the image. More often, signatures are simply cropped away. The person doing it knows exactly what they’re doing. That’s where things stop being careless and start being intentional.
Now we have a problem.
Unauthorized manipulation of someone else’s work is illegal. Claiming authorship for something you didn’t create is stealing. There’s no softer word for it.
Why I’m writing this
This past Monday, my friend Drago forwarded me a link to a web article, highlighting already a painful event for me – Dan D, and their last live radio show that was happening the following evening.
Despite being invited by a good friend from Radio Koper, I was unable to attend, but I noticed my photo being used for the promotion of the event. I’m always excited when I see my work, but that excitement quickly disappeared when I noticed someone else was given credit for it.
To be absolutely clear: the photo is owned by the band and their management. They have the right to use it for promotion, manipulate it and share it. I have no issues with that, and as stated before, I love to see it used and published. I also appreciate when my name is featured next to it, and I know for a fact that the management and PR are consistently asks for proper credits when possible.
We’re all in a rush, especially now in December, and I wouldn’t even flinch if my name was not there. But someone took the time to write: Foto: TV Slovenija. That’s not an accident. That’s negligence.
I despise that kind of laziness. Whoever K.S. is, and whoever approved this, this is not how you do your job. You should do better.
What did I do?
- I took a screenshot.
- I tried to contact K. S. No luck.
- I logged in and left the only comment under the article at the time.
- I shared the screenshot on social media.
There was no response from the author or from rtvslo.si. Later, the photo was removed and replaced with a video and a screenshot from the show.
Sadly, this is just one of many similar cases. Not just this month, but over the years.
What do I want to achieve with this rant?
Sometimes it feels like Don Quixote fighting windmills, or a wolf howling at the moon. But the more we talk about credits and authorship, the louder the conversation becomes. And maybe, just maybe, journalists like K. S. will be held accountable for doing the bare minimum of their job.
By the way, K. S., why hide behind initials?
So here’s my ask. Pay attention to photo credits. Every time you see vague attributions like:
- Zajem zaslona/Screenshot,
- Photo: Facebook,
- Archive of the band / management / association,
ask questions. Call it out. And when there’s no credit at all, demand one. Authors deserve at least that much. Let’s make the world a little fairer for creatives.
Thanks for reading.