Brandon Stanton is a street photographer who snaps shots of New Yorkers for Humans of New York. The shots are candid and untouched but very nice to look at... particularly because New Yorkers have so much individuality and 'culture'. Humans of New York shows just how diverse the city is and how different New Yorkers can be from one another.
Given Stanton's very popular and impressive shots, it's unsurprising that DKNY stole the images after he turned down their offer to purchase them .
The backstory:
- DKNY wanted to use Stanton's images and offered $15,000 in exchange for 300 pics
- Stanton's friend said $50 per pic from a company worth millions is not enough
- Stanton rejected DKNY
- DKNY used his images anyway
- Fan sends picture of Stanton's images in a DKNY store in Bangkok
- Stanton demanded that DKNY donate $100,000 on his behalf to a Bed-Stuy YMCA
- DKNY explains the situation, offers an apology and donates $25,000 on behalf of Stanton to the Bed-Stuy YMCA
DKNY has clearly crossed the line in this case and their 'compensation' wasn't nearly enough for a million dollar business.
Furthermore, violating copyright is punishable by law. I'm guessing they didn't think anyone would notice the photographs in a DKNY store in Bangkok so they proceeded to violate copyright laws anyway.
From an artists' point of view (if you regard writers as artists), it pains me to see plagiarism and counterfeiting of artists' work. They put the time into it, they put the struggle into it, they put their passion into it... only for it to be passed off by someone else as their own work.
The work of artists is here to be shared (that's what artists do, share their work) but that doesn't mean their work should be regarded as 'free' just because it is shared.
The irony of this entire situation is that DKNY is part of the fashion industry; its entire basis is on art. From artist to artist, DKNY should have accepted that
- their offer was abysmal; $15,000 for 300 pictures is nearly nothing
- Stanton rejected their offer; they should have respected his decisions
- they couldn't use his images without his 'go-ahead'
But like most iconic and major fashion companies, DKNY are now just in the business of making money. So it really wasn't that surprising that DKNY did what they did.
Like everything else, art is a trade, people don't do it for 'free' unless they say they do. Don't assume that it is 'free'. Artists have to make a living too.
Artists who have got to a stage where they deem themselves valuable, should start demanding incentives for their work. You can't keep doing free work for people if your artistry is your only source of income.
Artists also have to go out of their way to protect their work. I sometimes like to post art but if I can't locate where or who it has come from, I can hardly add a source to it. It's not that I don't want you to get your recognition, sometimes it's hard to say who it is from.
Artists should keep their watermarks/signatures on their work because people will attempt to pass it off as their own; protect your work and use a good watermark/signature so that it can't be easily exploited.
Stanton's reaction in this is commendable. He wasn't asking for money for his personal use, he was asking for it to be donated to an organisation that does good for children.
Stanton started a fundraiser to raise the remainder of the $100,000 he requested from DKNY and he got about $103,710 (last time I checked).
Artists, protect your work. Demand incentives.
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