In recent times, the photo below has appeared in two Trinidad and Tobago publications, UWI Today and Newsday.

In both cases the photo was used to advertise a public lecture by the photo’s subject, writer Thomas Glave—a lecture, I should add, that I’m glad to see taking place, as it presents a rare opportunity for a rational discussion about homosexuality in the Caribbean. The event also features my friend Colin Robinson. But all that’s beside the point, at least for the purposes of this blog post (listen to the podcast I recorded with Thomas and Nicholas Laughlin here). The point is that the image belongs to me, though there was nothing in either publication to indicate that this was the case. In Newsday’s case, the published version of the image even bears a Newsday watermark.

On learning of the Newsday instance, which, coming on the heels of UWI Today, was the straw that broke the camel’s back, I made like a 21st century person and went public about the incident on Twitter and Facebook. Within a few hours I’d received an e-mail from Vaneisa Baksh, the editor of UWI Today, apologising for the error. She said she had come across the photo (uncredited, of course) on a web site advertising a reading by Thomas, and thought it was a promotional image. (I suspect it may be this site, whose owners will be hearing from me very soon). UWI Today is now in possession of an invoice from me, which Vaneisa has promised to shepherd personally through the labyrinth of the UWI finance department, and I’m deeply grateful for her gracious handling of the matter.

I’m still awaiting a response from Newsday, whom I also sent a note and an invoice, though to be fair to them, it was sent only today.

As a number of my Facebook friends have expressed an interest in the details of the matter, I’ve decided to make public the text of the letters I sent to both publications.

The letter to UWI Today:

Dear Vaneisa -

Many thanks for your messages and for understanding my position. I was alerted to UWI Today's use of the photo when the edition was first published, and have been meaning to send you a note (plus invoice!) since then. But then came Newsday's more egregious use of the image, to which UWI Today's initial use became an unfortunate footnote.

The sad reality is that all it takes is a single uncredited use of an image and it's downhill from there, and I do acknowledge that UWI Today was not the original violator. I think the more important point is that photos don't take themselves: any published photo should be attributed either to its owner or to the person who granted permission for its use, unless it happens to be in the public domain. I deliberately release my images under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en), which allows anyone to use them for non-commercial purposes as long as I am properly credited. This eliminates the need for people who wish to use my photos for purposes covered by the licence to contact me (though most do so anyway), and is also in keeping with my conviction that rigid copyright regimes stifle creativity and innovation and that sharing creates goodwill.

I acknowledge that I should have contacted you simultaneously with my posting of the status message on Twitter/Facebook, and I do apologise for not having done so. I do think it is useful to be public and transparent in situations such as this and I have already posted a response stating that you have been in touch, and will post another stating that the situation has been amicably resolved.

Many thanks again for your gracious handling of this situation. I hope Newsday follows suit! The invoice is attached.

Best,
Georgia

And to Newsday:

Dear Ms Sheppard and Ms. Lum Wai -

Georgia Popplewell