Internet Theft

Everyweek I get emails asking for permission to use my images. Some are these are from schoolkids asking to use it for their reports, while others are from business large and small using it for some commercial venture. I treat them on a case by case basis, but anything remotely business related has to go through the agency that represents that particular image with a royalty fee being paid based on it’s usage.

It’s important to know that just because you found an image on the internet that doesn’t mean you have the right to use it. I make a fair portion of my living off of “unauthorized usage” payments. Usually, it’s businesses that used the image without payment, not Sally-Mae’s facebook post. There are spiders crawling the internet looking for unauthorized usage, so it’s a lot easier to get caught in this digital age.

This image of a computer thief is actually my friend and fellow artist William McAusland, who brought a balaclava over for a photoshoot one night. I added the window later in photoshop. This image is available for commercial use through Getty Images here