Not getting cited for my photos

rgbivens

Ok...this is a bit of a sticky situation...

I worked at a school newspaper (college level) as a photographer, assistant photo editor, and photo editor for a little over a year. I had to quit at the beginning of last semester (January 07) because the pay was horrible (barely making minimum wage) and half of the staff were down-right rude.

So fast forward to today and they are still using my images. They are not citing me as the photographer, instead they use 'file photo' and I'm deffinately not getting paid. I went to the business office and they told me I had been taken off payrole.

Another friend of mine was working at the paper as well and he left at the same time as me to do a semester abroad in Europe. He came back and I talked to him yesterday and he said he is not working at the paper anymore as well. Today I open up the paper and find 6 (YES, S-I-X) photos with his name in the citation line.

So I also asked the business office where I could attain a list of those who were on payrole as my school is a public entity and all employment information should be under public domain. I was told that I "could not get that information." When I said something to the effect of "isn't employment under a state institution under public domain" they responded with "I was told we weren't allowed to give that information out."

So now back to my pictures...While I don't know an exact number I would say somewhere between 5-15 have been used since I stopped working there. I can't get an exact count because I can't look through thousands of photos to find one that is listed as a 'file photo' in the paper. I did not sign anything when being hired that said that all photos I took while being employed by the paper become their property, nor is there a policy in place that deals with the naming of photos that go into the paper which were taken by photographers who are no longer employed by the paper.

I have emailed the editor twice with no response. I left a message on her desk to call me today.

Does anybody have any advice on this issue? I'm getting so mad about this whole issue.

Thanks,
-Grant

Angelo

rgbivens wrote:

Ok...this is a bit of a sticky situation...

I worked at a school newspaper (college level) as a photographer, assistant photo editor, and photo editor for a little over a year. I had to quit at the beginning of last semester (January 07) because the pay was horrible (barely making minimum wage) and half of the staff were down-right rude.

So fast forward to today and they are still using my images. They are not citing me as the photographer, instead they use 'file photo' and I'm deffinately not getting paid. I went to the business office and they told me I had been taken off payrole.

Another friend of mine was working at the paper as well and he left at the same time as me to do a semester abroad in Europe. He came back and I talked to him yesterday and he said he is not working at the paper anymore as well. Today I open up the paper and find 6 (YES, S-I-X) photos with his name in the citation line.

So I also asked the business office where I could attain a list of those who were on payrole as my school is a public entity and all employment information should be under public domain. I was told that I "could not get that information." When I said something to the effect of "isn't employment under a state institution under public domain" they responded with "I was told we weren't allowed to give that information out."

So now back to my pictures...While I don't know an exact number I would say somewhere between 5-15 have been used since I stopped working there. I can't get an exact count because I can't look through thousands of photos to find one that is listed as a 'file photo' in the paper. I did not sign anything when being hired that said that all photos I took while being employed by the paper become their property, nor is there a policy in place that deals with the naming of photos that go into the paper which were taken by photographers who are no longer employed by the paper.

I have emailed the editor twice with no response. I left a message on her desk to call me today.

Does anybody have any advice on this issue? I'm getting so mad about this whole issue.

Thanks,
-Grant

Grant, Grant, Grant...

chill out, take a deep breath. You're too young to have a fit!

I'm sorry you're feeling damaged by your former school's actions but let's address your points.

1) Absent a specific written agreement guaranteeing your copyright to any photos you created while on payroll all of your work technically belongs to the school. It's called "work-for-hire".

2) Payroll records are not public. They're none of your business. The school's operating budget may fall under the public records clause but that would not, ever, include the names of members of the payroll.

Have you heard the saying, "you'll catch more flies with honey..."?

Perhaps you should change your tactic. Approach the school from a more conciliatory position, respectfully requesting credit for images used.

rgbivens

Angelo wrote:

Grant, Grant, Grant...

chill out, take a deep breath. You're too young to have a fit!

I'm sorry you're feeling damaged by your former school's actions but let's address your points.

1) Absent a specific written agreement guaranteeing your copyright to any photos you created while on payroll all of your work technically belongs to the school. It's called "work-for-hire".

2) Payroll records are not public. They're none of your business. The school's operating budget may fall under the public records clause but that would not, ever, include the names of members of the payroll.

Have you heard the saying, "you'll catch more flies with honey..."?

Perhaps you should change your tactic. Approach the school from a more conciliatory position, respectfully requesting credit for images used.

Well...I started off from a nice standpoint. I'm not even worried about the money, I just wanted to be cited as the photographer. You can't exactly put a photo with 'file photo' in your portfolio. I had sent several emails back and forth with the newspapers adviser. That is where I found there is no policy about citation of ex-employees and he did not have an answer for me.

As far as the 'work-for-hire' thing goes the way the paper works is they paid on a 'per-published photo' basis. I was paid only for the photos that were published and not on a 'per-assignment' basis.

I didn't ask them to tell me salaries, just who was an employee. I didn't even ask that directly to the people in the office. I asked 'where I could find that information.' They told me it wasn't available. It is my understanding that by the Open Records Act that these records should be available. Salaries of teachers and other school officials are available, why would it be any different for any other school employee?

-Grant