Just a few days ago in my review of 2024, I made reference to having been messed around by people more in the year just gone than all the years prior to that combined. Regrettably, it’s time to moan again!

Unauthorised Usage

Last night, my various social media inboxes started to come alive with messages from people who had seen what looked like an unauthorised usage of one of mine and another photographer’s images on an equine Facebook group. The clues were that both images were clearly screenshotted from mine and the other photographer’s websites, and our respective watermarks were still in place.

My initial gut reaction was to let it go (it was a £9 picture), but lots of the people reaching out are photographers themselves, so if we as a collective ‘let it go’, before long the problem is going to pose an existential threat to what we do. If that happens, it won’t just be us photographers that lose out, it will also be the people who DO respect the photographers and purchase their pictures, because there simply won’t be anyone covering these events. We’ve all been to venues where no photographer has been present at all. Insufficient sales is the reason why.

Now, upon reaching out to this person, I asked that they either purchase the image or take it down.

Some hours later I received a reply saying they didn’t know how and claiming that they had purchased images from the event, but that they might not necessarily have been the ones posted.

It was very easy for me to see that they had not purchased any of my images, since only one person actually did purchase anything from that event, and the person in question was not them. That’s right, I’d made a 55-mile round trip that morning for (up until this morning) sales totaling £18. Remember what I was saying about insufficient sales?

My reply pointed out that they had not purchased anything from me, asked that they take the image down, and informed them that if they had not done so by this morning, an invoice for an unauthorised usage would be sent to them.

Nothing further was heard until I turned my phone on this morning, when I received a message “absolutely assuring me” that they did purchase images. It included a picture of a print of the other image (not my one).

I pointed out that that was not one of my images, and was told that they thought both images were from the same photographer, even though the visible links in the screenshots and the watermarks are clearly different….

Even ignoring that point, how does purchasing ONE image give you the right to help yourself to whatever else you fancy without paying for it?

In the end, an offer was made to purchase the image in question, and a link to the gallery was sent.

Shortly after, a new order email landed in my inbox, and I assumed that would be the end of it. Incredibly, the image purchased is still not the one used in the FB post!

New Watermark and Penalty for Unauthorised Usage

I don’t have the time or the inclination to chase it any further. I have decided the easiest solution is to address the issue at source. Images from events that I photograph will now carry a more obtrusive watermark than in the past (again, apologies to those of you who are lovely and regularly purchase images). The new watermark also makes it clear what will happen if you are found to be making an unauthorised usage of an image. For a non-commercial usage, you will simply be invoiced at £25 per image.

Sorry to have to make yet another rant! Hopefully it’ll be the last time in 2025 that I do!

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Karl Drage is a professional Northamptonshire-based photographer who also covers surrounding counties such as Leicestershire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Rutland, Oxfordshire & Warwickshire. If you are looking for an equine photographer in the towns of Northampton, Kettering, Wellingborough, Oundle, Corby, Peterborough, Leicester, Huntingdon, Towcester, Rugby, Daventry, Oakham or nearby, please use one of the methods on the Contact Us page to get