On Jul 16, 2005, at 12:53 PM, Josh Wolf wrote:
> I don't know whether the letter I sent to them really belongs in a
> files section as certain elements of my e-mail are not part of the
> most ideal approach in all circumstances, but here it is as a
> starting point... the real trick is finding out who the news director
> is and sending it directly to her or him.
>
> Josh
>
>
> My name is Josh Wolf and it's come to my attention that your
> station has apparently been making use of footage regarding the San
> Francisco protest that was shot by me and most likely obtained
> through the Indybay website. As I do not have a TV, I can not
> personally verify that your station has been using my footage, but
> have heard this from numerous sources, and I have a friend with video
> from the broadcasts so I will be able verify this for myself. If for
> some reason any sort of misunderstanding has occured and you have not
> been making use of my footage, I'm sorry for sending such a strong e-
> mail but feel the need to protect myself. I own the copyright on the
> material which is licensed under a Creative Commons license (http://
> creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/deed.en_GB). The link to
> the video on Indybay has a link to both my website and my e-mail
> address.
>
> Based on this information, it would not have been difficult for your
> news department to contact me about obtaining permission to utilize
> my footage. My footage has apparently been utilized in numerous
> newscasts following Friday's event. As ***** is clearly a commercial
> entity, *and* you have not provided any sort of attribution to the
> source of the footage, your station is clearly violating my copyright
> and I'm less than happy about this turn of events. Furthermore, when
> I sold selected portions of my video to KRON as a stringer, I did so
> while granting them exclusive rights to use that footage. By your
> station using my footage without contacting me beforehand, you have
> also jeopardized my professional relationship with KRON and I do not
> enjoy being in a position where a professional news agency has any
> reason to feel that I've been dishonest with them.
>
> I'm well aware of what the going rate is for stringer footage amongst
> the local news in this area; however, in that situation a stringer
> has the opportunity to decide whether or not they want to sell their
> footage at the going rate. As your station neglected to contact me
> prior to using my footage on the air, I am not in a position to make
> the decision whether or not to sell my footage to you at the standard
> stringer rate. This situation, coupled with the fact that your
> station has chosen to use my footage repeatedly indicates that this
> is valuable footage and I've decided to provide an invoice for your
> use of my footage at a significantly higher rate and I fully expect
> your station to comply with the attached invoice.
>
> In the event, that I do not hear back from you soon, I will resume
> discussion with my legal counsel and exercise any and all connections
> I've made as an independent media producer to bring light to this
> issue. I do realize that you are not the only station that has
> neglected to follow appropriate procedures before using my footage
> and any other guilty stations that I've come across are receiving a
> similar letter.
>
> Thanks for your time and understanding, please let me know if you'll
> need a W9 for tax purposes.
>
> Josh Wolf
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> (805)895-9220
>
> PS -- here are the links to the video on Indybay
>
> http://indybay.org/news/2005/07/1751759.php
>
> http://indybay.org/news/2005/07/1751763.php
>
>>
>> You know it might not be a bad idea to have an example of the
>> letter/email you sent saved in the Files section here in case others
>> find themselves in a similar situation.
>>
>
>
> ____________________________________________
> "Don't hate the media, become the media."- Jello Biafra
>
>
>
>
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