I recently discovered that a former client not only scanned and reprinted the prints they purchased from me, but also downloaded the sneak peek images off of Facebook, cropped to remove my watermark and reprinted. This is illegal.

Photographs are an art form, the creation of which involves vision, skill, artistry and effort. Photographs (both digital and printed) are protected by United States Copyright law. Scanning or printing images from online sources directly affects the livelihood and reputation of a photographer. Photographers invest thousands of dollars in equipment and software, as well as hours of their knowledge and creativity to create beautiful art for you. Scanned images will not print nicely and unfortunately the subpar quality is a reflection of the artist’s work. Images posted on FB are a courtesy to clients so they can easily tag & share the photos. Please do not crop, alter or print. Images stored on facebook are very low resolution due to facebook’s compression and will not print well (the same goes for screenshots).

It saddens me to even have to write this blog post. I hate to be harsh, but I will not tolerate stealing. I will enforce the copyright. For those who have purchased prints and scanned with the intention of reproducing- there is nothing different from doing this and walking into your favorite store and shoplifting. If you purchase the digital images, you will receive a print release with your CD. You are welcome to print to your heart’s content. With your print release I include suggestions for affordable, near-pro quality printing labs. If you want a digital image to use on FB or elsewhere, just ask and I will give you a low resolution watermarked image for FREE to use online after you order.

I am lucky enough to have hundreds of wonderful clients who would never even think about stealing an image, and I hate to punish the good for the doings of those who have disrespected my work. That is why it saddens me greatly to even address this issue. The facts are simple, however. If images continue to be stolen from my blog and Facebook then I will no longer post sneak peeks for my clients. The sneak peeks are intended to be used and shared online and I welcome people to tag themselves in a photo and share them with friends an family. If you do use the image as your profile photo, please do not remove the watermark or crop out the logo.

If a client is caught stealing any images taken by Emily Schnick Photography, all future photography sessions will be cancelled.

Obviously, this is not directed towards all of my wonderful clients. Thank you for understanding and I look forward to working with you in the future!