We are
fortunate to live in a time where we are able to access huge numbers of old
images, and then rapidly self-publish them to seemingly endless numbers of
people across our local areas and the World, and it’s all free. Or is
it? The majority of archive images go up onto social media platforms
and blogs without any credit as to where they came from, and there are examples
where individuals claim that the pictures are from ‘own collection’. Why is
this important? Well, it is important for a great many reasons.
The most
obvious reason why images should be credited is the legal status of copyright.
In essence they are the property of someone else, and there are rights applied
to their copying. The owner maybe the photographer who took the image, an
agency that paid the photographer for the image, or the family of the person
who took the photograph. Don’t be lulled into thinking that because a photo is
‘old’ that means it is exempt. Copyright can last for decades. Old images of
areas may be owned by local authority archives or museums, and they will renew
their copyright as time goes by.
The rapid
arrival of electronic media has opened up a huge problem for the owners of
images. In the more traditional world of publishing, books, magazines and
newspapers have to adhere to the strict rules of image usage, pay for the
rights to publish an image, and they have to credit where the image comes from.
But with electronic self publishing and social media things have become much
looser. A large majority of people assume images can be used without any
permission or payment.
So why I
have got a bee in my bonnet about all this? Well, I have spent most of my
working life in the world of imaging . I spent about ten years working for
major photographic libraries and agencies, I have sold photographic goods and
equipment to professional photographers and studios, and I have worked for a
magazine publisher. Commercial image libraries make money from the sale of
images to all forms of visual media. But there is more to their existence than
selling pictures. They commission professional photographers to take pictures,
and they manage and promote their work. In simple terms images are not free,
and they should not be treated as such. I have recently finished putting
together a book about London’s industrial heritage, and I have had to pay out
several hundreds of pounds of my own money for the right to publish historical
images, without which the book would have had no appeal. I was lucky that a
number of images were permitted to be published without payment by their
owners, but I had to ask them, explain what the book was about, credit them,
and in many cases give them a copy of the book once it has been published.
So that has
put into some context why using images without appreciating their value and
ownership is something to be aware of. Now you are wondering why so many images
are being used willy-nilly across Facebook and Twitter, and nothing happens.
This is something that I have wondered too. However, just because image
reproduction is not heavily monitored and enforced on these platforms, it does
not mean the individual should not take some responsibility. All you need to do
is credit the place where the image came from, or to say who took the photo.
It’s not unreasonable. How would you feel if your photographs were used without
acknowledgment? Worst still, imagine your living was earned from taking photographs
or maintaining an image library, and you knew someone was doing this?
As a number
of you will be aware, I started a Twitter account in the Spring of 2019, called
NW London TimeMachine, where I post old images of North West London. I started
it as a bit of fun, but incredibly it has picked up over one thousand
followers. People like history, and they like to see images of the places they
live in, as they were in the past. I do not make any money from the account,
nor do I mean to. I do it because it is fun and people seem to enjoy it.
However I do my very best to say where the images come from. There have been a
number of occasions where there is no source name and as good as the image may
be, I have left it, because I felt it wasn’t right to put it up, without a
source name. More than anything it is just common courtesy to acknowledge where
you found the image. I have often tagged the owner of the image, so that it is
perfectly clear I acknowledge them. Two examples of this are the Francis Frith
Collection and David Smith over at Memories (Hendon). Quite often these people
will be happy that their images are being publicised, and potentially they
could end up selling them as prints. The
aforementioned places add watermarks, in otherwords a logo or name will be
added over the image to ensure no one can copy it easily. I had to laugh when I saw someone on a
Facebook group claim an image was from their own collection, when it had an
obvious London Borough of Barnet logo in the middle of it.
Another
issue that I find rather unfortunate is the individuals who, on Facebook groups
in particular, will fire up loads of old images of places and things, and as
well as not properly crediting where they found the image, will also produce
minimal captions. I have lost count the number of times I have seen someone
post up a really quite wonderful archive image, and left so many unanswered
questions as to where the place is, or when it was taken. A lot of this information
is available, whether it be in the book, or the website it was copied from, so
why not add it?
Lastly do be
aware that you cannot really claim ownership of an image unless you or a family
member took it, or you have made an agreement with the person whose photo it
is. If the photo comes from a book, it should have a credit, and a picture
postcard can still be under copyright. Oh, and simply putting a filter over the
image or some other fancy gimmick does not suddenly make it yours.
Sharing old
images is fun, and it can be incredibly educational. But just think about where
that image came from, and try and pay respect to it.
P.S. – you
will note that there are no images used in this blog post!!
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Mark Amies lives in Edgware and is a local historian. He has a book coming out soon. You can follow him on Twitter at @Superfast72
The Barnet Eye recently made a film with Mark about the history of Airco in Colindale
Guest blogs are always welcome at the Barnet Eye. Email us at Roger@tichborne.org with your submission. Must be relevant to the Borough of Barnet or other topics we cover such as dyslexia, grassroots football, cancer or grassroots music
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