Well, it happened again! We’ve been threatened with a lawsuit. This time it was over photo licensing.
The use of what appeared to be an unlicensed photo in a 2021 article submitted by a reader resulted in me getting an “unauthorized use” photo licensing bill from Germany for €963 ($1,038 US Dollars) with the threat of a $150,000 USD lawsuit if I failed to pony up the license fee. The photos were provided by the reader/author.
Therefore, I need to post a reminder about our writing contest rules. The posted rules clearly state — including some huge bold type:
To be eligible, an article must be an original work of at least 1,500 words. This is a merit-based competition, judging the skill of the writers and the practical value of the content of the articles. It is not a game of chance.
You can write on any topic related to preparedness that you think would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. To be eligible, an article must be an original work of at least 1,500 words. (A 3,000-word to 7,000-word article length is ideal. We do allow very long articles (up to 10,000 words), but we will serialize them, as the editors see fit.)
Be sure to thoroughly proofread your article, and have at least one friend or relative proofread it, as well!
All writings and illustrations must be original works and the copyright will become the property of SurvivalBlog.
Once your article has been submitted to SurvivalBlog, you cannot submit it elsewhere! Do not send us articles that you have already posted or submitted elsewhere. (Unless you own–or have regained–full copyright.)
Once your article (and illustrations, if any) have been posted at SurvivalBlog, the copyright belongs to SurvivalBlog.
All photos and illustrations that you send us with your article must be your original work unless you obtain a signed hardcopy copyright release letter, OR you find pre-1927 public domain (noncopyrighted) illustrations.
If you send photos or illos, keep in mind that our template calls for a wide horizontal photo for the main illo.
So, I now also have to ask for copies of the image permissions that you received (past tense), to be sent along with your article submissions, for any image that you did not personally photograph or draw.
It pains me to do this, but I simply cannot afford to get sued. SurvivalBlog is not some corporate-sponsored publication. I’m just a middle-class guy that lives out in the woods. I don’t have an attorney on retainer.
Many of my interactions with attorneys have been positive. A few have not. All in all, I’d rather not hear from them at all.
So, again please, folks, DO NOT send me any photos to post unless you took them yourself, or you have specifically obtained permission.
With Sincere Thanks,
James Wesley, Rawles (JWR)
