Contacting Graphic Artists/Photographers/Artists For Use of Their Images
July 11, 2017 12:12 PM Subscribe
I have begun the process of publishing a zine/book of erotic haikus I have written based on images I have found online and posted on my blog.....
I am exploring the feasibility of using these image in the publications.
1) I am publishing as a zine. I am also thinking of self-publishing as an e-book and submitting to a publisher.
2) Some of the image are from classic or professional artists (Schiele, Matisse, etc)
3) Others are from current artists. I can easily contact them direct though the information given on the reblogged images.
4) Most images had no artists name attached. As such I assume they to be in public domain. (I can search through Google Image to see if I can find author)
These are haiku so the publications are going to bring in a little change. With this in mind how do I go about asking permission to use classic and current artists work and how do I go about using images where no artist can be found?
These are haiku so the publications are going to bring in a little change. With this in mind how do I go about asking permission to use classic and current artists work and how do I go about using images where no artist can be found?
how do I go about using images where no artist can be found
You don't, unless you want to run the risk of having to pull copies you've already published/printed at minimum. No reputable publisher will touch your project unless you can source your material and show that they are either clearly in the public domain or you have written permission to use them. Not having a name attached does not mean they are in the public domain - it just means that whatever source you got them from didn't include the artist's name.
posted by rtha at 12:39 PM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
You don't, unless you want to run the risk of having to pull copies you've already published/printed at minimum. No reputable publisher will touch your project unless you can source your material and show that they are either clearly in the public domain or you have written permission to use them. Not having a name attached does not mean they are in the public domain - it just means that whatever source you got them from didn't include the artist's name.
posted by rtha at 12:39 PM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
If no artist can be found and you have no confirmation that the content is legitimately in the public domain (meaning that you can confirm copyright has expired or was specifically disclaimed) don't use the content. If you can't confirm something is in the public domain, assume that it is not. This goes for images as well as found haikus.
Getting rights to reprint or distribute content is going to be a case by case basis. It can be as simple as getting an emailed consent from the author or it may involve licenses and fees negotiated with a publisher. It depends entirely on the artist, if they own their work, if they are represented, if they care or support free re-use, etc. Publishers have people who specialize in this, but it can be extraordinary time consuming and expensive.
posted by cyphill at 12:40 PM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
Getting rights to reprint or distribute content is going to be a case by case basis. It can be as simple as getting an emailed consent from the author or it may involve licenses and fees negotiated with a publisher. It depends entirely on the artist, if they own their work, if they are represented, if they care or support free re-use, etc. Publishers have people who specialize in this, but it can be extraordinary time consuming and expensive.
posted by cyphill at 12:40 PM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yeah, you're completely wrong on #4. (I work in publishing.)
Where no artist can be found, you shouldn't use the image. Full stop.
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:40 PM on July 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
Where no artist can be found, you shouldn't use the image. Full stop.
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:40 PM on July 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
As a photographer, the approach I would be most open to is an email asking for use of a specific image with some background for its use and an offer of payment, or asking what such use would cost. If someone wanted to use an image without payment, I would be open to it if they show that they are not making a lot of money from its use, if the image is credited properly, and if it was a project I would like to support.
However, I have to say that photographers and other artists are so often approached with requests to "let me use your work for free" that many of us have become resistant to it out of principal. You'd have to write a very nice and diplomatic email and be totally gracious about getting a "no" answer.
Take praemunire's advice to heart as well. It's not uncommon for photographers and artists to do an image search of their own images, or a search for the image file name to see if they are being used without permission. I once found one of my images used as an "album cover" for a band in San Diego. The album was not yet being physically produced, so I was able to get them to remove the image, and even offered to negotiate with them fairly on the use of the image, as they also wanted to use it on posters, t-shirts, etc. They apologized but then never responded after that.
As a broader word of advice, perhaps it is best to start your image inspiration searches with websites which allow use of their images for a project like yours. There are countless numbers of them, and millions of images available. I would still do a reverse image search, though, to make sure they are not appropriating images without permission.
posted by The Deej at 12:41 PM on July 11, 2017 [5 favorites]
However, I have to say that photographers and other artists are so often approached with requests to "let me use your work for free" that many of us have become resistant to it out of principal. You'd have to write a very nice and diplomatic email and be totally gracious about getting a "no" answer.
Take praemunire's advice to heart as well. It's not uncommon for photographers and artists to do an image search of their own images, or a search for the image file name to see if they are being used without permission. I once found one of my images used as an "album cover" for a band in San Diego. The album was not yet being physically produced, so I was able to get them to remove the image, and even offered to negotiate with them fairly on the use of the image, as they also wanted to use it on posters, t-shirts, etc. They apologized but then never responded after that.
As a broader word of advice, perhaps it is best to start your image inspiration searches with websites which allow use of their images for a project like yours. There are countless numbers of them, and millions of images available. I would still do a reverse image search, though, to make sure they are not appropriating images without permission.
posted by The Deej at 12:41 PM on July 11, 2017 [5 favorites]
While the work of an artist may be in the public domain, the photo of the work might not be.
No name listed on an internet search does not mean the art is in the public domain.
For PD works, take a look at Getty's Open Content.
For most dead artists, you will need to contact their estates, the collection/museum that holds the original or a vendor that licenses images, like Bridgeman Art or Art Resource. Some artists, like Monet, have very aggressive estates.
posted by Ideefixe at 12:41 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
No name listed on an internet search does not mean the art is in the public domain.
For PD works, take a look at Getty's Open Content.
For most dead artists, you will need to contact their estates, the collection/museum that holds the original or a vendor that licenses images, like Bridgeman Art or Art Resource. Some artists, like Monet, have very aggressive estates.
posted by Ideefixe at 12:41 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
Issues around copyright, permissions, and reproduction have always been complex, but they've become exponentially more so in the past decade or two. Dealing with living artists and artists estates as well as determining whether something is in the public domain is an actual job that museums, publishers, etc. hire for, precisely because these things can be legal and financial minefields. To be blunt, you don't have the expertise to do what you're proposing without running a very likely risk of being sued, and -- more to the point -- it's not the sort of expertise you can gain from the answers here, or from some Google searches.
You either need to hire a freelance rights and reproductions professional to clear these rights for you (and be prepared to pay standard freelance rates on top of any licensing fees you may invoke), or you need to use something like Open Content, as Ideefixe suggests. IMO, those are the only feasible options you have here.
posted by the return of the thin white sock at 1:34 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
You either need to hire a freelance rights and reproductions professional to clear these rights for you (and be prepared to pay standard freelance rates on top of any licensing fees you may invoke), or you need to use something like Open Content, as Ideefixe suggests. IMO, those are the only feasible options you have here.
posted by the return of the thin white sock at 1:34 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks to everyone. Informative stuff indeed.
posted by goalyeehah at 3:14 PM on July 11, 2017
posted by goalyeehah at 3:14 PM on July 11, 2017
New York Public Library's Public Domain Collections is another good place to start, if you want to go in that direction.
posted by the return of the thin white sock at 4:38 PM on July 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by the return of the thin white sock at 4:38 PM on July 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
The MET recently put a ton of public domain images online.
posted by The Deej at 5:49 AM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by The Deej at 5:49 AM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
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100% not true. Do not proceed on this basis unless you are ready to be sued and/or yelled at publicly.
posted by praemunire at 12:25 PM on July 11, 2017 [17 favorites]