Hey Pups! As I am sure you know I am definitely a photo hound. I love photography. My Master Jyan, my pup friends and myself, we put a lot of work into creating beautiful and fun images.
Pictured above is my great mate Pup Seca (also know as LagunaBikerNZ Seca on Facebook). He’s been visiting us here in Sydney and it’s been a great chance for him to collect a nice portfolio of pup pictures to enjoy and share. Sadly in Christchurch it’s not easy to get this done so when in Rome, why not get some kick ass photos!
As we all do with great pics, Seca and his Alpha, Bouncer shared the pics online when I was almost crying witnessing the following interaction. (See the red boxed areas I have highlighted.)
Nate, a promoter, asked if he could have permission to use the image for a poster to help promote an upcoming event. He asked! How fucking awesome is that!!
Huh? Why is that awesome?
I suppose you might wonder, why is this awesome? Well pup, the reason is simple. Usually people don’t ask. They just steal and use.
Sadly over the past years it’s happened to me and my pack lots… People use my image for their profile pic. People use our images to promote their events. Fuck I’ve even had people photoshop elements out of our pics and use them after we had explicitly requested they don’t use them…
It’s not right, it’s not fair and from an artistic perspective it’s just fucking rude and breaking copyright law.
Common reasons people steal “borrow” pics…
- “I didn’t know they were protected by copyright.”
All images and other artistic works automatically gain the copyright to the person who created them unless they are shared under a creative commons license. Images don’t need to have a little © on them to be considered protected.
Unless otherwise stated all images have copyright attached to them so it’s best to seek permission before using them.
You can learn more about copyright here: Copyright, Fair Use and How It Works For Online Images
- “They were wearing a mask so they could not be recognised.”
The pup community might be big in some ways but we sure are close knit! Trust me, while to the untrained eye “all human pups look the same” to the insiders we know exactly who is who…
Bouncer Pup? I don’t even have to look: medium height, medium build, hairy chest, black hood, blue snout with 3 red triangular markings on both side of the snout. (Thank Mr S Customs Hoods!)
Rubber Dog Bronco? Tall, solid build, brown rubber suit, Rottweiler RubberDawg hood with bigass chunky collar and rubber chest harness.
We all know each other and when an image is lifted, we get informed pretty fast. Please don’t assume just because you can’t identify one pup from another that we can’t. We can, and word spreads fast when a fellow pup’s image is being ripped off.
- “I found it via Google search so I thought it was free to use.”
Again, see the first point. Just because you can search for an image and find it, it does not mean it’s free to use. If you are looking for images to use, please be sure to check out the creative commons search engine.
Again before you can use these images be sure to check how they are being allowed to be used. Some copyright holders don’t allow commercial use, others require attribution, some allow full and free usage. Be sure to check before moving forward.
So What Do You Do If You Love An Image & Really Want To Use It?
Ask! It’s pretty simple. Follow the lead of Nate above. Make a friendly request, make an offer, make a potential new friend! These simple gestures make for great harmony, sharing and the high likelihood of a “yes”…
Sadly outright theft does not.
Just remember that if a person prefers their image not to be used there may be important and personal reasons for that. I urge you to honour this understanding if a person says no. You never know the full story.
And for our budding pup photographers out there, get out, take lots of pics, we love seeing you online and trust me, we’ve got your back!
Hugs, tugs and kick ass photos!
Gpup Alpha