For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Romans 13:9: (ESV)
So, why the huge copyright symbol across my photograph? It's to make a point.I simply right-clicked and copied my own image from another post. The copyright issue is very dear to my heart. I have been a professional stock photographer for over 20 years, and my income has dwindled dramatically thanks to the overwhelming amount of imagery now available (I can deal with that ) and also to those who see simply steal my work. That I find hard to deal with! Those same people would never think of walking out of a store without paying for an item. Yet, that's exactly what they are doing when they take images from the web from a site other than one which offers the images for free.
It's not OK to take something just because it is there and you just can and you think nobody is watching. GOD ALWAYS SEES! There are sites where you can get images for free. Make use of them! But please don't take my images and expect me not to be more than a little upset about it. Stores lose a lot of income from goods that walk out the door, but it's nothing compared to what content providers are now experiencing on the web. I run a business and have overheads like any business. I have spent many thousands of dollars over the years on education, studio rent, modeling fees, equipment, props, and location shooting etc. So, like any business, I have to take into account the cost of producing my work, and right now, I'm finding it tough to make a decent profit. Obviously, I have had to cut way back on expenses in order to compensate. I no longer pay rent for a studio. A spare bedroom serves as my studio, and a corner of the kitchen is my office. Most of my props come from the Dollar Tree store! I am now in my senior years, and the lost income because of theft is hitting me very hard!
The Apostle Paul stated to young Timothy that “The laborer deserves his wages.” 1 Timothy 5: 18 (ESV)
I believe that not only applies to Timothy, but to all who do an honest day's work The worker is to be paid.
It has been six days now since I joined Steemit. The first thing I did on that first day was search on Christian, and imagine my surprise when the very first post to come up was a post on Why I gave up Christianity using my copyright image from Getty Images as if it were the poster's own. There truly is a God in the universe. It was not an accident that I found that page. There are no coincidences with God!
In the comments section I pointed out that he was using my copyright image and provided the link to it on Getty.
I made no accusations, but gave him time to respond. If he did license my image from Getty, (I have not yet checked my sales reports from a year ago) then he knows the terms. It can't be used in a standalone fashion without giving credit to both Getty and myself, so he is violating the terms of the contract by not giving me credit. If he did not license it from Getty, the only “free” way he or anyone else can use my image is to embed the Getty image ( which appears not to be possible on Steemit) or simply provide a link . The only legal way to post an actual image from Getty on here then, is with a paid license and the proper credits. I am the only person allowed to post the image in such a manner.
In his post, he said that he left Christianity because of the hypocrisy in the church. I know of no Christian who claims perfection. We will continue to make mistakes and we will continue to learn from them until we come face to face with our Maker. There is no perfect church family anywhere. He appears to claim that he is following Jesus more closely than those who claim to be Christians, and he may be. It is not for me to judge that. However, if he does happen to be using my image without having licensed it, he is guilty of violating the 8th commandment: Exodus 20:15 “You shall not steal.” (ESV) and is not showing love to his neighbor.
He mentioned the command of Jesus about loving others in Matthew 22:39-40 , but he omitted the preceding verses. Without those two verses, the verses he quoted are meaningless.
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.
39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 22:37-40 (ESV)
It is spelled out clearly In Romans13:9 that loving your neighbor as yourself means not taking what is not yours. I do see that he made a handsome profit from that post, yet I as the image creator likely made not a penny. As a neighbor, I am not feeling very loved if that is the case.
Romans 13:9: For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (ESV)
I apologize if I am wrong and he simply did not pay attention to the licensing terms. As I mentioned, I have not yet checked my records of sales from a year ago.I am giving him now the opportunity to remove the image and create a link to it on Getty, or provide the appropriate credits if the license was paid for.
My aim is not to point fingers, but to educate people about why copyright violation is morally wrong. I'm a real person not a corporation, and I'm being robbed daily by seemingly good people.
To find my photography on Steemit, please search on dianemacphoto and to find my designs, please search on dianemacdesigns. Thanks!