I know if you take something to Walmart photo lab they will give you the 3rd degree... lecturing you without ANY knowledge of the copyright law.

They pitched a fit telling Walt he had to have a signed copyright release from the artist... they wouldn't listen when he told them HE WAS... they didn't believe him.

long story short... we called Arkansas complained... got a phone call and BIG appology from the dept. manager there and now... when I go in to get sample pics for walt... they know who I am...

mwu ha ha ha

gini

maniacal laughter inserted here

EXACTLY... now this is what we are running into.

how do you educate those who don't know? 

gini

FarnhamArts:

They pitched a fit telling Walt he had to have a signed copyright release from the artist... they wouldn't listen when he told them HE WAS... they didn't believe him.

Sorry to tell ya, but anyone that is trying to bypass all of these 'stubborn' copyright rules is naturally gona say... "But sir, I AM the photogrpaher!" ... that's the oldest line in the books .. just ask the seasoned photographers around here that still remember the days of film. ... Walt should have been thankfull for getting the 3rd degree!

My point is if you value your work at all, don't even pretend to be offended at the little counter-top person that is trying to argue you for proof of copyright ... THANK THEM for the effort and for doing their job .. unless of course you don't mind being robed of your potential hard earned income ;)

he would have been had they been a bit more civil to him... but they all out accused him of stealing.  Then proceeded to quote the law wrong... funny thing is, we had already signed a copyright form.... with all our info on it... not once did they ask for it.... nor did they ask if we'd filled one out....

you can say what you mean, without saying it mean.... the woman who started the ruckus was shooting off her mouth with out her brain being loaded.

She spent so much time screaming at him, she never took a long enough breath for Walt to tell her we were on file there.  She also demanded he bring in the originals... hee hee... he had, but she didn't think that the digital media was the originals.

I went in a few weeks later... different girl... didn't know me or walt... but she ASKED... and I told her, why yes, please look under FarnhamArts and I can confirm the information for you.

Questioning is one thing... accusing and making a scene is quite another.  I don't mind anyone asking... but don't get in my face and call me a thief and accuse me of breaking copyright laws if you can't back up what you say WITH the law.  I also just found out, that unless you register your images you get nothing if you try to go after someone who stole your image, and if you do try, it isn't a civil matter, it is federal.

gini

and Walt is one of those photogs from the "day" of film... we still have a lot of our now antique equipment....

Thanks for the reply Chris, I'm glad to see your company at least admit that maybe things should have been done differently.

Now for an article on copyright laws in next month's issue of Ritz's newsletter.....

I actually do have tons of pics that I took that I have been trying to scan so that I have digital back ups and it is so time consuming that I have given up for now.  But I think I am liking the idea of photographing them. That would be faster.  This has always been a fear of mine, that my house burns down and every picture that I have taken of my kids while they were growing up are now gone. I can imagine that it would appeal to a lot of moms out there that have taken a lot of pics of their own kids.  I dont see anything wrong with offering something like this But I do agree that people need to respect  copyright laws. 

I've never had photos printed at Walmart since I got my first digital camera in '02, but I have had numerous pics printed at Walgreens. If you use a backdrop, they will not print the photos without a signed release by the photographer. I do lots of photos during the holidays and at other events at our church and use backdrops. I have had to sign a release at each Walgreens store that I have ever had pics printed from. Not that your "professional" photographer prints a lot of pics there, but they are inexpensive and look pretty dang good. Almost all the profit from my church pics usually go to whatever we are raising funds for. They also will not let you scan a copy in store for printing if it has a copyright on or embedded in it. One of my co-workers tried to have her grandsons wallet sized photos scanned and they refused.

uh....

they are talking about your family snap shots.

not even your twentyfive-year-old High School Senior 8x10 would get copied by them in the store.