Last month I posted about how Bazaar used an illustration for the cover of their dining guide without crediting the illustrator, without paying for the image and without permission from the artist. They replied thanking me for finding the artist and that they contacted him and were going to reimburse him.
Well they did contact him but the amount they offered to pay the artist was just $200. Considering that rights managed images start at a $1000 and upwards then you could imagine how low $200 is. Anyway the original artist had this to say about the whole incident:
I have been invited to comment the case with Bazaar copying an image that once was created by me. The image was used without my permission. I was therefore never compensated financially and for good reasons I assume that I was never mentioned in the credit line. I was made aware of the unauthorized usage before Bazaar contacted me.
When they contacted me they offered to compensate me financially. I am sure they found that the compensation was fair but I have a different opinion. In fact we are in a position where we don’t seem to be able to reach an agreement. I have therefore decided that it is not worth to take this any further due to the cost and time that I would have to spend on this.
I have also decided that I will not accept money that Bazaar offers me since that would be accepting the terms of how they have used my image. So case is closed.
I think it is vital to defend the copyright law for many different reasons. In most countries it is seen as self-evident that you shouldn’t use an image without paying for the copyright, but from what I can tell by following the debate on this website I understand that Q8 might not be one of those countries. The sad thing is that in countries where the copyright law is not taken seriously the originator has little or no chance at all to protect his work.
I am a freelance illustrator and my only source of income is the images I create. I have a family to support and bills to pay. If I manufactured, let’s say bikes and someone took one of my bikes form the warehouse and used it without telling me, how would you characterize that? Should the unauthorized use of images be treated differently?
I have been featured on design blogs all over the world. I take it that most of the people who are publishing my work there are very young. But they all have something in common – they contact me before or shortly after publishing my images and very often they write “Copyright Bo Lundberg” . What is it that they understand and that some publishers don’t?
Another aspect is that when I create an image it is commissioned by a client. They are paying for the usage of the images. To illustrate what can happen when people copy my images I would like to give an example. Once I had a call from a publisher in the US that I had done more than 80 illustrations for. They were extremely upset with me since they had found all my illustrations in another book printed in Asia and now they were contemplating on suing me. What had happened was that someone just ripped my images from the original book and created a whole new book, obviously without informing me. I managed to reason with the original client but as you might understand it was quite a situation to have been copied and then facing a possible trial.
I wish all the designers in Q8 good luck in your efforts. And to those who commission work I would just like to ask you to think twice before using an image without authorization. In the long run – who wants to work as an illustrator or photographer if you are not compensated and protected by copyright law?
The reason I think we have a big problem here is because Bazaar is one of the biggest and most respected magazines in Kuwait. If they aren’t going to abide by copyright laws and set an example to the smaller publishers who will? They might as well do what Campus Cruise did and just take pictures off flickr and put them on the cover.
56 replies on “Unauthorized Usage by Bazaar”
Copyright laws? In Kuwait? All they’re good for (including the task force involved from Ministry of Information) is busting video stores and taking all their porn movies.
90% of our laws are a joke.
This is typical bazaar. Just look at their articles and that’ll show you how much of a joke they are!
i agree!
we need some arse slapping ’round here.
“The reason I think we have a big problem here is because Bazaar is one of the biggest and most respected magazines in Kuwait. If they aren’t going to abide by copyright laws and set an example to the smaller publishers who will?”
you can start with yourself and stop downloading illegal movies, music and software!
I buy my CD’s and I buy my Mac software. Movies is where I have a problem with… I can’t buy movies cuz they get stopped at customs and I can’t watch them in the movies because they are either: a) cut b) not released here.
That is really sad, my hat goes off to Bo for trying and even stopping at this point. He is the bigger man, and makes a very clear judgement as to what is being done wrong.
O-sansei keep in mind that personal use is different then publications. Especially ones that are trying to present themselves as professional.
I personally would buy DRM Free music, but its hard to come by, but I still do. We watch movies when we can in the theater if they didn’t chop it to hell. And software we get original when it is available, I wanted an original Nero 7.0 box from Kuwait and it took me over three weeks to find it.
Yeah I had a problem with Transmit on the Mac. When I went to buy it from their website, I couldn’t because they wouldn’t accept my Kuwait address and they don’t sell Transmit in shops.
In the end I had to email them and tell them my problem and then they updated their site and I was able to pay for the software. Up till then I was using the pirated version of the software because I couldn’t buy it.
such a shame.
well if the artist isnt taking any more action cos he doesnt think its worth it, then he’s got nothing to complain about. he’s given up.
while its true it will probably be expensive and a waste of time, an example must be set otherwise bazaaar will do the same again, knowing no one will do anything.
find a good lawyer, and that good lawyer will recoup costs from the settlement not from your pocket. the good thing is that the dude didnt accept anything from them at all, so he’s still got a decent shot.
he just needs a damn good lawyer.
Bazaar is one of the biggest and “most respected” magazines in Kuwait.
umm, when did this happen?
that’s embarrassing for bazaar.. oh well, it was always a shit magazine anyway
“I understand that Q8 might not be one of those countries. The sad thing is that in countries where the copyright law is not taken seriously the originator has little or no chance at all to protect his work.”
These words say a lot about Kuwait from a guy who probably haven’t heard of Kuwait before this issue.
I am agreeing with you Mark on the setting an example for the smaller publishers. However, the issue is probably more risky for the smaller publishers than it is for the big ones.
The thing that I don’t understand is why is it so hard for Kuwait to take care of the copyright problems? Just think of the many sides of the issue that would be benefited from working on the copyright laws. First of all, lawyers would have more cases to work on and that will help creative people to earn decent money by selling their product rights. After a while the whole copyright would give good credit for Kuwait’s market and so on. If anything, the copyright laws will encourage the creators to come out with their works and build a whole new market for Kuwait, which is exactly what is needed.
All what it takes is some respect to the efforts and time taken to establish the work by those creative people. After all this is the least thing you can do for some art or work that you admire.
By the way Mark, I hope the artists sent you a decent thank you message.
You obviously did a great job on making the guy more careful toward protecting his images. Also I want to personally thank you for opening our eyes on such issues.
i really love bazaar but now i really love student talk
I would suggest that since Bazaar are not taking this seriously that the distributers, (Starbucks, Coffee Bean etc…) be notified of this via email and reasoned to stop distributing until a resolution has been passed or agreement reached. This is simpler than doing it the ‘legal way’ in this country.
So how about it Mark?
by the way mark who are you with in the elections? i am with aoun because i love syria and iran.
I like S’ idea, how bout we get in contact with Al Shaya’a’s marketing people. I can probably try to get the email of those who can do something about it.
what happened here is that people in Kuwait and ME in general are totally not aware of copyright lows or how to protect or be protected form such illegal usage for a privet owned product.
and ppl still call bazaar a magazine,
BAZAR makes around 30,000 kd per month by ads only. and they are offering 200$’s for a front page special edition they had ?
thats such bullshit ! bazaar thinks that its a leading magazine, but its not. they dont care what content they put ? as long as the ads are comming in.
remember when bazar first came out ? how many pages was it ?.. now a days its close to being a book, and ts still the same content as it first came out, the only thing that expanded is the ads more pages for ads = more cash … just copy paste and fuck everyone else.
bazaar : ur one shamefull magazine to be labeled kuwaiti.
yeah and mark u cant blab about how others care less for copyright materials while u have terra-bites of illegally downloaded movies/series/music… thats being a hypocrite
not really. I buy all my music. TV shows and movies I do download illegally true but I am not profiting from them and I live in Kuwait where most of the shows aren’t playing and if i do buy a DVD from amazon it would get held in customs.
Mark..how about using itunes? *light bulb* Wow.. thats an idea.. to buy movies online and legally
I tried, doesn’t work. The iTunes store only accepts US credit cards. I also tried renting movies from Xbove Live Marketplace, also doesn’t work because the movies are region locked and won’t download on an xbox outside the US.
You can buy itunes gift cards.. i really dont know where they sell them.. but its easy to get i think..
Paying for original software is not always a good idea. A couple of years back I purchased Windows XP and Office XP Professional. Total KD 470.ooo
I was allowed ONLY ONE Windows XP upgrade on my Laptop and ONLY two installations of Office XP ~ one on my Laptop and one on my PC.
I tried to upgrade another Laptop with Windows XP and the whole system locked up and had to format the HD. When I called MS Support Office in Kuwait, they offered to give me a new key that cost 60% of the original software cost.
they should pay him, shame on them
for the record: i know that bazaar offered bo $ 500 and he turned it down.Also,this is something that happened 2 years ago and is old news. Since then,bazaar hired a new designer and all their images are paid for so why not give them credit instead of just digging up old news.No,i dont work for bazaar,but i am friends with everyone there and they work very hard to keep bazaar fresh an interesting.
Mark, Just becuz you cant buy movies or they get censored in Kuwait or whatever reason you come up with, what’s wrong stays wrong- unjustifiable.. Bazaar is a very widely read magazines. Starbucks run-out of copies by mid-month, and if all your bazaar-bashing holds any merit, I dont think gigantic farnchises like Starbucks would carry it. Im sure you agree with me that the Al-Shaya Group are not to be taken lightly. Moreover, from reading your past entries, I get the feeling you are jealous of Bazaar’s success, since you dont miss a chance to get on their case, which truly is a shame, and reflects how people in this country do not wish others success in some cases. This is one case of major Sour Grapes. You want to make ‘right’ in this country? How about starting from the top? When you have acomplished that, then your ‘thou shall not err’ crusade would hold some merit. How sad.
ooops, sorry, typo: franchises 🙂
Bizarre (sic) are idiots.
Even a moron like me knows that for a few dollars you can buy from a myriad of excellent print-quality graphics on istockphoto and other similar sites… with full rights to use the images.
But this is Kuwait… Bizarre will be entirely unaffected by this. They’ll have just as many readers, just as many advertisers, because we are in Kuwait.
Ari thats not true. I have nothing against Bazaar’s success but they are one of the most popular magazines in Kuwait so they will be in the spot light.
Now if you did read my previous posts on Bazaar you would have realized that it was always constructive criticism of Bazaar, it was always about how they can make Bazaar better. You might have noticed I also don’t say much about Student Talk or Campus Cruise, thats because those magazines no matter how much constructive criticism you give them it wouldn’t be enough. It would be easier if they shutdown and relaunched as a completely different magazine since they are that bad.
Ari, and you are right, my excuse for downloading illegal movies doesn’t make it ok and I wasn’t trying to make it ok I was just explaining my circumstances.
BAZAAR got PWND !! gr8 job mark, i like that Bo shoved the 200$ up bazars ass! its called dignity, something the ppl at bazar r unfamiliar with .
thats really sad :
Which issue of Bazaar is that? I don’t recall seeing it before.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
i used to be a bazaar reader.. NOT ANYMORE
$500 is much more than what this image is worth!!! I think the artist is being a bit Greedy. ]
I will also buy into Bazaar’s claim that they honestly weren’t aware the image belonged to someone else.
With those two points in mind, Bazaar is in my opinion the victim here. give them a break.
*not associated to Bazaar in any way*
This image only appears on my agents websites where it is clearly stated that the copyright of the image belongs to the artist.
Faisal no offense but its not for you to judge how much an image is worth.
As I mentioned earlier, rights managed images cost $1000 and upwards easily hitting $5000 depending on usage.
If Bazaar was aware or not thats beside the point. The person they trusted with the cover messed up but they were responsible for hiring that person so they are responsible. Bazaar is not the victim, the artist is.
Faisal you are so funny ! 500$ ? what u think u are buying a phone everyone else has ? ok think of it this way.
you buy a picture custom made for you … no one else in the world has it ( except bazaar which stole it ) . that would cost a 1000$ to 5000$
you are creating an image not getting clip art from a CD in hawali ..
Mark, Surely you know the difference between Constructive Criticism and Plain Attacking. In my personal opinion, you are attacking. Nothing wrong with constructive criticism…only theres a way to ‘constructively criticise’, and yours isnt it.
sorry you see it that way.
Guys, Bazaar is charging KD2000 to place an advertisement on the back cover; its only fair that the artist on the front cover is offered a similar price
Also people keep bringing up my downloaded tv shows. Well the difference between stealing copyrighted images and downloading pirated shows is the end goal. I am downloading a video to enjoy in the privacy of my home, and in essence its a product that has no real worth in Kuwait since its usually not possible to buy the shows or movies original or watch them in the cinema uncut.
On the other hand, the point of Bazaar is to generate money using the works of others. Downloading pirated movies can only be on the same scale if I set up a cinema and charged admission.
I have to say this Mark, I truly respect the fact that you did not delete my post. I wasnt sure for a second. Thank you very much. You might not agree with me, but its refreshing to know that you are open to other people’s opinions. Cheers 🙂
Yes its as cheap as phones, go ahead and browse the commercial image pools for an image that is right managed to circulate within Bazaar’s range, you’ll find plenty good ones for fraction of the price you claim it costs. works of amateurs are welcome too, sometimes they’re more creative.
I think the artist is trying to milk this thing, so when 200 was all was offered it was okay to pass on it.
Faisal could you give us an example of a rights managed picture costing $200?
rights protected images from getty who are considered the most expensive are around $ 200 for an image
dudeq8 thats total bullshit. You have no fucking clue what you are talking about. Find me a rights managed image for $200 and I will post a retraction on the main page telling everyone i am stupid and don’t know what the fuck i am talking about. Deal?
When filling out the details for the right managed image make sure you put the following info:
Country: Kuwait
Usage period: 1 year
Location: Magazine front cover
Print run: 10,000
Exclusivity: No
Size of image: Full page
If you can’t find Kuwait on the list of countries then email Gallo Images who are the dealers of Getty in the region. If you don’t want to contact them then choose any random image and I will contact them and get you the original pdf quotation from them since my agency has an account with them.
https://www.galloimages.com/
I am waiting…
Searching for ‘dining’i found these 2 images which both have extended licensing for 100 credits more, that would translate to roughly 120-130 dollars. (Actually the magazine runs at 10,000 copies which is an info i didn’t have, so that means u don’t need the extended license and its worth 10 dollars)
https://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/object/3808184_eat_your_vegetables.php?id=3808184
https://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/cooking/utensils/fork/3522001_knife_and_fork_pattern.php?id=3522001
We’re waiting…
you can get images for 1$ from stockxpert.com also, you can even get them for free from sxc.hu but these are Royalty Free images and are usually done by amateurs wanting to earn a bit of extra money.
Now go to Corbis.com or Gettyimages.com and try to buy a Rights Managed image and then come back.
And just for everyones information, Dudeq8 is posting from Bazaar’s IP address.
Here is also a pdf of a recent quotation I received for an image that was going to be used only 12 times. Price comes out to be $1489
https://248am.com/images/rm.gif
So this illustration in particular get the rights managed treatment and not the royalty-free treatment why exactly?
Because the artist doesn’t want people to take his work and use it everywhere. With Rights Managed he can control where his work will be used and for how long. Thats the biggest difference between RF and RM.
Royalty Free you buy the image and then use it wherever you want for as long as you want.
With Rights Managed its different. For example recently I purchased an image for a client, they wanted to use it for outdoor billboards, we paid a huge sum of money and then the cilent decided he wanted to use it also in press ads. We had to get rights to use it in press and we paid another huge chunk of money. Thats how right managed works.
Faisal, if Bazaar had thought that the images on istock were worth $130t hat you seem to think is equal to my image, then why didn’t they?