The photographer earned less than two dollars in the picture, the goods with which are now sold at Walmart
According to the rules of the stock site where the photo was bought, the author cannot even withdraw the earned money - the amount for this is too small.
Thanks to friends, Canadian photographer Michael Stemm (Michael Stemm) learned that Walmart, the largest supermarket chain, sells goods from his photos. They stumbled upon a product with a familiar image in one of the chain's stores. After that, Stemm went to Walmart and actually found his photo on greeting cards, calendars, and even large blankets, writes Tjournal.
He took a picture in December 2017, when he walked across the bridge in the snow. The resulting frame Stemm used in their accounts in social networks, and also sold in the format of postcards and prints.
In February, 2018, he thought about getting additional income and uploaded a frame to the stock service Shutterstock. According to him, he did not read the rules of the service and never checked the status of his account after downloading.
The Newfoundland company, Islandwide Distributors, bought the rights to use the image without paying royalties for the 1,88 dollar - and produced at least 500 thousand units of products for sale with it. This number Stemma learned after contacting the company.
Stemme posted a video on Facebook, where he admitted that he feels used.
I don't think it's fair that they bought a photo on Shutterstock for $1,88 and can now use it so widely and make such a big profit. Lesson to be learned: Don't use Shutterstock if it works this way - Michael Stemm, photographer
In Facebook comments, the Canadian division of Walmart brought an apology to the photographer for the situation and offered to discuss it further.
Stem will not be able to withdraw earned 1,88 dollars from Shutterstock account, as according to the service rules, the minimum withdrawn amount is 50 dollars. Moreover, in the description of the types of licenses on the stock site it is stated that the standard license does not allow the use of the image in advertising and in the production of goods.
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