Wake Up People
The following facts as I have experienced them relate to far more experiences of mine then just the Madoff situation:
Just because an image is online or otherwise easy to come by, does not mean that it is yours to do with whatever you please in anyway whatsoever.
Just because a business wants to use your image online only, does not mean that it should be free.
Just because someplace wants to publish it somewhere in someway, does not mean that it is special enough to be there for free, no matter how special this place thinks it is and tells you they are.
Never before like now has our culture expressed the importance of an images power as the fight for the most unique or most recent of whatever grows more dramatic daily.
(However never before it seems has uniqueness been sacrificed so quickly for a race to the bottom in price point. Quality is out the window nor even considered to effect pricing, if place X has an image and place Y has an image, they should be priced the same right?).
Never before like now have those in need of images tried to convince the creator of these images of their worthlessness while at the same time only wanting them to make a profit.
I had an incident today when I realized something important and it thus helped me make up my mind regarding a potential licensing inquiry… (No, I am not talking about the email I got posted above, although I have to admit, I have gotten offers just as absurd from places we have all heard of).
The guy who hangs the advertising for your magazine/tv show/whatever on the bus that almost hit me today makes more money for hanging that sign on the bus that is promoting your product then the very magazine/tv show/whatever being promoted are even offering me for the actual content of the product you want my image for in the first place.
Wake up people.
This would be a really funny story if it was not all true.