Homage to Interesting Truck Photos

Serving the theme of our 15-month-old son's new bedroom.

Sincere thanks from the talented artists who took these photos, from left to right: Untitled by shadowplay, On the 1st of November by xylonet, and My next car ... (used by permission)* by slight clutter

* Update: I have received retroactive permission from slight clutter (who was kind, reasonable, and understanding in her response, while still making her reasons for protecting her copyright clear) to use her image and am still awaiting a response from the photographers of the other two images. If you're thinking of doing something like this with copyrighted images on Flickr, I do recommend asking for such permission *first*.

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Comments

SeaLore Family says:

What a beautiful color! I love the truck photos. Another great Flickr hack. -ees
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

redRob13 says:

Hi

I came across this project of yours on parenthacks via Lifehacker. I notice that on parenthacks you say the images are copyrighted and hope that the photographers will understand.

People post images with a license for a reason, you've chosen a fairly open creative commons, these photographers chose a full copyright. I don't use the creative commons after having some images stolen on me. People may not be trying to make a living from their photography, but for many people its something that time, effort and money are invested in. We post on flickr to share our work, like a gallery, also to share with friends and hopefully make new friends. But to take peoples images like this is highly disrespectful.

Surely you could've asked these photographers if they would mind you using their images, benefiting from their hard work, rather than just stealing it. You could've requested use, and if it wasn't granted moved on, find some images that allowed downloading, printing, etc. Instead you chose not to ask, 'hope' they understand, and now post about it in a blog and on flickr. How is this fair?
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

David Burch says:

I agree with redRob13. The images are copyrighted and you are stealing them. You should have sought permission to use the images and/or paid for them. Blogging about your theft of the images just furthers most people's perception that using copyrighted images is okay.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

Brian Sawyer says:

To whomever is offended/concerned with my use of these photos, I had thoughts about the copyright issue too and almost didn't post the picture of this room because of it. But then I thought of the fact that the photographers allowed users to download the Original sizes for their images (I do understand that you can restrict what people can download to low-res images only, which these Flickr users did not choose to do), which to me is tacit permission to print them and hang them on your wall.

After that, there's the issue of whether it's fair use or not to post a picture of a larger room with smaller copyrighted images within it, and I was comfortable interpreting this as fair use. I also made a point of providing attribution and links to the original images, which I would hope would be enough for the artists. This is, after all, an homage and certainly not meant to be disrespectful.

If the copyright holders interpret my use in any other way, it's at least clear that I'm not claiming these photos are mine, and I'll be happy to pull their images from my son's walls and this image from Flickr if they do complain.

In the end, I do take issue with referring to my use of these images as "theft." I'm not profiting financially by my use, and I see no way in which the photographers are losing any potential sale by my use.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

silverbelly says:

i would respectfully disagree...this is considered theft.

the photographers have place restricted licenses on the use of their photos. they have 'lost' the sale as you never paid for them yet have used them to furnish your home.

as for tacit permission, that is not a valid arguement...the license says restricted, and the fact you can see large sizes of the image doesn't change that. it's no different than coming across a car that is unlocked with keys on the seat...it is still illegal to take the car and use it.

and the end of the day you could have just asked to use the images for your kids...most people would have probably just been flattered. i have done this on numerous occasions always with positive results.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

blazewan says:

I would respectfully recommend you all shut the hell up. Except Brian. What you're saying here isn't enlightening anybody, and looks simply intended to bolster your sense of "I can judge you now." I think it's a great hack and plan to use it over and over. Thank you for the idea, Brian. I hope your son enjoys it and I applaud your creativity.

Seriously, keep your response to yourself.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

wanderlust says:

definitely theft....

feel free to read about copyright infringement here:

www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html#p ermission

this IS a nice idea. however, you should not use copyrighted photos.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

drivebyphoto2 says:

Brian Says - In the end, I do take issue with referring to my use of these images as "theft." I'm not profiting financially by my use

Brian - if you steal a candy bar from 7-11, and don't eat it, then it isn't theft?
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

sho_fu13 says:

Brian,

Why don't you see if you can complete the look for your son. Go get a nice new Chevy truck from your local dealer without paying. I am sure they will see it as "an homage" and have not problem with it.

Stealing is stealing.....I hope your son learns a valuable lesson.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

Brian Sawyer says:

Thank you to everyone for your insightful (though sometimes snarky or downright mean) insight and feedback regarding this issue. Though I still stand by my understanding of my printing of these photos for my personal use as fair use, I also acknowledge that I should have contacted copyright holders before using them in this way, even if only as a courtesy, but especially if they would object. I have sent private messages to each of them, apologizing and asking for their feedback. This doesn't change the fact that I should have sent a note before my use, but I do not want them to come across this thread by surprise and feel abused when they do (if in fact they do object).

I do take issues of copyright much more seriously than people seem to be giving me credit for, though I guess that's understandable, given the focus on this one particular issue without any other knowledge of me. At any rate, though I appreciate the more thoughtful and reasonable responses to this project, I'm less impressed by the easy and overly simplified attacks.

For what it's worth, I don't use Flickr primarily to make friends (though I value the friendships I've made here). I enjoy being a part of a creative community and sharing my pictures with others to enjoy and use, and I guess that does bias my perspective. That said, I also understand that this is a personal viewpoint (which is reflected in my Creative Commons licensing of my photos, which lets others use my images however they like, as long as they provide attribution and do not profit from the work), which might not be held by users who specifically choose a restrictive copyright for their works.

With regard to the "stealing a candy bar" argument, cutting short the quote you used from me distorts the point of what I was saying. The more important part of my argument is not that I am not gaining financially (though I believe that's valid), but that the photographer is not suffering a financial loss (stealing a candy bar, regardless of whether it's eaten or not, does represent such a financial loss to a store owner, so the counterargument disingenuously simplifies what's at stake in order to make a cute jab).

At any rate, hopefully, this will close up this thread without causing permanent injury to anyone. In the future, I'll amend my hack recommendation to include searching for Creative Commons-licensed photos or contacting the copyright holder of restricted photos before proceeding.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

mattammerman says:

While it does seem that issue has been put to bed (pun intended), the larger issue is copyrighting of content on the web.

If you are posting something to the web, you are inherently undermining the pseudo-protection of a copyright in the first place. Artists hang paintings INSIDE museums so that people can't walk by on the street and snap photos. The internet is public domain, same as the streets. Posting your work on the internet is the same as hanging art on the outside of the museum. Now, the most copyrighting can do for you is protect you against someone else publicly displaying your work as their own. If you don't want people to use your work for personal purposes such as this (which is a brilliant idea, btw), simply don't post them to the internet, or watermark them at the very least. The onus is on the artist/photographer to protect his or her work in a public forum.

Consider this. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that instead of printing and framing the photos in the room, Brian instead bought and hung several flat panel monitors, opened several browser windows, and piped each image, full screen, from Flickr onto the walls of the room. What violation has occured? If you say any, then Flickr itself facilitates violation of copyright. Everytime it is sent by Flickr and rendered by your browser it's being reproduced, right?

Ultimately, the point is:
Printing them for use on your walls is not publicly displaying them as your own, which is what copyrighting is designed to protect against.

People who liken this to stealing (as in trucks) are drawing parallels where there are none.

Most importantly, check out the little icon next to the copyright symbol on each of those images - - "This photo is public".
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

Vince Chan says:

Hi Brian,

Don't let the "mob" get you down. It's an admirable idea that you've come up with. If only you could copyright this idea of using Flickr images to decorate children's rooms, wouldn't that be ironic? All the best!
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

Vince Chan says:

P.S. I wonder how many of these people bother to argue about downloading mp3s. And how many still don't buy them?
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

PandemicSoul says:

Oh Lord, who cares? If he had never shared this picture with anyone, it wouldn't have made a damned bit of difference. If anyone on Flickr is concerned about their images not being used for non-commercial use, then they need not be posting them where everyone has an opportunity to download them. I'm just appalled that anyone is raising a fuss about this.

A responsible artist who wishes to use their works for profit would have gone to greater lengths to protect their mindshare than posting full resolution pictures on the internet. The spirit of Flickr is sharing -- let's keep it that way.

Finally, there are a lot of absolutely foolish comparisons in this thread. "Stealing a Chevy" for his son? Howabout just taking a picture of a Chevy from the dealership -- that's a more analogous comparison. Never heard such nonsense in my life...
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

KellyPrizelPhoto says:

As a student getting her BFA in fine art photograph, I was taken aback by your statement that you used copyrighted images. Though you say it's not harming anyone, photographers must make a living, and by blatently ignoring copyright issues, you are only adding to the struggle for artists to keep doing their work, barely, if even, making their ends meet.
As an advid reader of lifehacker, I'm just saddened by this post.
I cant believe you still kept them up before even hearing from the artists EVEN after all these posts.
I hope whatever you work as, you realize that your work is also in jeopardy of being stolden.
Shame on you.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

Brian Sawyer says:

Michelle Jones offers some insight in a thoughtful blog post on this topic. In the comments section of that post, I give my reasons for keeping this picture on Flickr.

As for the pictures on the wall within this picture, they're on their way down anyway, to be replaced with CC-licensed pictures of the moon (trucks are soooooo last month).

Lastly, to respond to "whatever [I] work as," I'm in the book publishing industry and am therefore (as I mentioned in a previous comment) more sensitive to copyright issues than it may seem. As for realizing my work is "also in jeopardy of being stolen," I'm very aware of that and therefore post publicly only those things I'm happy to share with the world according to a fairly broad Creative Commons license.

No one can steal what I'm more than happy to give for free. I'd love to see people use my images as they see fit (as in this case), and when I post textual creative content to the web (as with my open DIY bookbinding wiki), I fully expect people to print it and use it in any way they see fit.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

Sam Pullara says:

This is completely ridiculous. If you don't want people to look at your photos, don't publicly post them to flickr. What is the difference between him putting those photos on the wall and putting 3 laptops on the wall with them open to the page where your photo is? There isn't one.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

Metamorphoe says:

I agree.
Photographers, if you don't want to share your photos, keep them in your basement. Enjoy them all by yourselves 24/7. I don't care.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

Metamorphoe says:

One more thing,

Flickr Community Guidelines says

'DON'T
Sell stuff (including yourself)
Flickr is for personal use only. If you sell products or services through your photostream, we will terminate your account. '

If you want to sell your copyrighted photos or make money from them, you may violate the term. Pay advertisers for your photos. Don't take advantage of using online to attract customers.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

thepatrick says:

I'm on the "this is ridiculous" side of the fence here too.

If you don't want people to see your photos don't show them in a public place (yes, flickr is a public face). One of the biggest joy I get from photography is other people seeing my photos. Why on earth would you want to limit that?
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

Hatchibombotar says:

As for the moon images (getting a little far afield, I know), most NASA images are not copyrighted. Search for them at NIX, the NASA Image eXchange.
Posted 46 months ago. ( permalink )

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Homage to Interesting Truck Photos

Comments

SeaLore Family says:

redRob13 says:

David Burch says:

Brian Sawyer says:

silverbelly says:

blazewan says:

wanderlust says:

drivebyphoto2 says:

sho_fu13 says:

Brian Sawyer says:

mattammerman says:

Vince Chan says:

Vince Chan says:

PandemicSoul says:

KellyPrizelPhoto says:

Brian Sawyer says:

Sam Pullara says:

Metamorphoe says:

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