[Trending] The Way This Record Label Responded To A Photographer Who Caught Them Stealing Her Photos Will Infuriate You

With photography being such a primary and highly shared form of communication in the digital age, it is no surprise that people’s copyrights are being increasingly violated. And while most cases are settled in an amicable and respectful way; the photographer politely asks for recognition, payment or the image removed, some people are just assholes.

Concert photographer Adrienne Row-Smith experienced such a case recently, after covering a few bands at a show for Monkey Goose Magazine. It went well and everyone was happy with the results. However, soon after her work was published, she discovered that some of her photographs had been downloaded, re-edited, cropped to remove the watermark. They had been shared by one of the band and its record label online, for their own commercial use.

“I had reached out to the band first, asking them to politely remove it since they had violated my copyright by editing them,” Adrienne told PetaPixel. “Whomever I was talking to was more than happy to remove the photos (which did not actually happen), and then proceeded to ask me how much I charge to get high-resolution copies for social media that they could use. I told them how much (which is where the 50$ per photo comes from), and then I never heard anything back – which is something I deal with a lot.”

“However, I went and checked and they still had not taken down the photos, so I asked them again (this is where I should have just taken them down myself) but in good faith, I reached out again.”

It is here that the exchange between Adrienne and the head of the record label took place, and as you can see for yourself, it is the height of rudeness and unprofessionalism. Not only does the label refuse to apologize, they actually mock and insult Adrienne in a quite appalling manner. She has chosen not to reveal the name of the record label, instead using the exchange to serve as an example of the everyday reality in the photography business. “I just wanted to share what I had experienced as a photographer in the music industry and that it is not just one person, but a trend,” she said about the incident.

Scroll down to check out how it unfolded for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!

(h/t: PetaPixel)

Concert photographer Adrienne Row-Smith had found that the record label she was working had used her photos without permission

“I had reached out to the band first, asking them to politely remove it since they had violated my copyright by editing them”

Surprisingly, this was the record label’s response

Here are some of the photographer’s work, and we can’t say we agree with the ‘half-assed’ part

Image source: Instagram

Image source: Instagram

Image source: Instagram

People reacted with passion

Source: BoredPanda