Well it is shaping up to be a plagiarism filled day here on the Amvona blog. Not that I'm misappropriating content (check out my sweet citation below!), but it looks like everyone else is!

Sherry Martin, of Sherry Martin Photography, is suing Disney, ESPN and others for copyright infringement to the tune of $75,000.

In July 2007, Martin was hired by Opix Photography to cover the Solana Beach Triathlon. While at the event she happened to photograph one of the athletes: Dr. David Martin, who the press release makes sure to point out is of no relation. About a year later, Dr. Martin got on the business-end of a shark and met an untimely demise.

With the breaking news, Competitor Magazine entered negotiations with Martin to buy her photograph. When these fell through, Competitor decided to by-pass Martin and buy the photo from Opix instead. Those dopes sold the photo for $50... I mean come on!

 Competitor then turned around and supplied the photo to ESPN, who also published it, and now Martin is battling the whole kit and caboodle for her photo.

 This is not the first time a freelance photographer has been taken advantage of by big media corporations. Don Harney of Boston snapped that photo of Clark Rockefeller with his daughter on his shoulders, while doing freelance work for a small local paper. It was redistributed through out all of the main stream media with no attribution. I spoke with Harney this spring at the Northeastern journalism lab. He said he received no compensation beyond his initial payment as a freelancer, and was uncertain how he planned to proceed.

A word to the wise: before entering a freelancing agreement, it is a good idea to brush up on your copyright law, and always make sure your contract specifies usage rights. 

Hopefully lawsuits like Martin's will send a message to the Goliaths out there. Taking advantage of the little guy has never been cool.  So way to go Sherry! We're all rooting for ya!

(comic by  Randall Munroe from xkcd.com)