Flagging down a photo boo-boo

Mike note: Today’s blog is approved for publication by my esteemed attorney, Michael Kovach Jr.

These things always start innocently enough.

Before going there, a word about the Just Wright Citrus photo selection process.

Most photos are generated by me, clearly. I have the market cornered on photos of buildings, parking lots, and signs. Oh, and I’m really good at taking photos from the rear, so we see the backs of heads at a County Commission meeting.

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I keep all my photos and reuse them on occasion when the mood strikes. I mean…we can’t have too many close-ups of the Courthouse, right?

On occasion, my photo comes from elsewhere. I use a lot of screenshots, particularly from video.

Every so often, I’ll grab a photo off the internet. I don’t like doing that, and I avoid it if possible. I seek out public domain photos, or those that have been widely circulated and don’t appear to have a copyright. Government websites are fair game, as most of that stuff is public record. For anything else, I’m super careful.

I’ve run Chronicle photos with permission. Usually, those that accompanied stories I wrote when I was with the newspaper. (I ran one Chronicle photo in the blog without permission and was rightly called out for it. Coincidentally, the photo was to promote a Chronicle event.)

I say all this to let you know photos aren’t my strong point, but I try ethically to keep it all above board.

So. Couple years ago I wrote a blog about Juneteenth, the June 19 federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery. The blog pointed out it’s not a county government holiday, and it explored the reasons why.

I needed a photo. Figured a Juneteenth flag would work. Went online, looked around, found a standard Juneteenth flag, didn’t see a copyright or watermark, and there it went.

A few weeks later, I received an email from someone claiming to represent The Associated Press. It had a screenshot of the blog and said I had violated the AP’s copyright. The letter ordered me to take it down or get the AP’s permission.

That was an AP photo? Yikes! I immediately removed the image from the blog and deleted the photo from my batch. End of story? Um, no.

The same person who demanded I remove the photo also demanded $250 for copyright infringement. That seemed a little, um, extreme to me. This wasn’t a live-action shot by a decorated Associated Press photographer. It’s a picture of a flag, and I removed it as soon as requested.

I paid no attention to the demands, but these folks were persistent. Letters followed the emails. I reached out to my lawyer, Mike Kovach Jr.

“Do I need to worry about this?” I asked him.

“Nope,” he said. “Ignore it.”

Kovach said it’s likely the AP hired a law firm to monitor every time someone posts an unauthorized photo. They send these threatening letters hoping someone will pay up. I’m sure it’s quite successful.

The letters eventually stopped. Figured they were done hounding me.

The other day I got a phone call. California area code. Let it go to voicemail. Person said she was calling for a law firm whose name I recognized regarding a copyright infringement. She said it’s my last chance to “settle this out of court.” 

I kept the message and blocked the number. Wondering why now? Then I looked at the calendar. It’s been two years since the offending photo, and this is the law firm’s nice way of marking the anniversary with me.

I sent Kovach a text with the latest salvo and asked him if I could write about it, so long as I didn’t name the law firm. He greenlit today’s blog.

Look. I’m not naive. Copyright is a very big deal. It bothers me when other publications steal my stuff or use it without attribution. I would never, ever, EVER knowingly use an AP image without permission. It hasn’t happened since then and I doubt it will.

That said, if anyone from The Associated Press is reading today’s blog, I’ll be happy to make a donation to your favorite charity to settle this score. Just let me know.

Today is Juneteenth, a special day to celebrate freedom. Enjoy it, friends.

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