Your photo becomes a meme, wdyd?

[dutchsteammachine]

One of your photographs, or part of it becomes an Internet sensation and gets shared uncountable times through cyberspace intertwined with the posters funny or striking message. Now memorised through Interweb history for all time.

The meme could be social commentary, a sting at some political party or just a funny joke.

What Do You DO? Do you proceed to take legal action or do you to capitalize on the sudden popularity with funny prints and stickers (or a mug!) Or perhaps you will be interviewed in 10 years on Mars about the history behind that funny webimage?

Or post about it on Photrio?

 

[ntenny]

I think I’d assume it will blow over, and unless there were something patently horrible about the usage I’d ignore it. But that’s from the perspective of an amateur; a pro would have to consider the protection and management of their intellectual property.

-NT

 

[koraks]

Either I'd be amused, and/or I'd distance myself from the social or political commentary in the meme. And move on, of course. It's just a meme.

 

[faberryman]

I think you only get 15 minutes of fame, maybe less with a meme.

 

[koraks]

I think you only get 15 minutes of fame, maybe less with a meme.

15 seconds = 15 * 60 * 1,000,000 = 900,000,000 microseconds. Given the attention span of an average teenager on TikTok and roughly 30 million views, 15 minutes of fame for a meme sounds right in the ballpark.

 

[Don_ih]

None of my attempted memes really took off...

(fittingly, the photo is stolen from the internet, photographer unknown (to me, at least))

 

[ic-racer]

I probably wouldn’t have a clue if it happened.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I just do not post photographs or any other images on the internet.

 

[pentaxuser]

A meme? I'd get Rita Hayworth to put the blame on it

pentaxuser

 

[juan]

Chelsea and Tony Northrop had one of their images stolen and used on commercial products. They have a video outlining what they had to go through to sue. Its somewhere on their vast site.

 

[VinceInMT]

I was taking a Contemporary Art class about 5 years ago where I was definitely the oldest one in the room. The subject of memes came up and, as the discussion continued, I finally had to raise my hand and ask what they were and where would would find them. Talk about being out of touch, but once they explained what they were and where to find them I basked in my ignorance.

 

[koraks]

I basked in my ignorance.

It sometimes really is bliss.

 

[MattKing]

If people are making money from the meme, or if you normally make money with your photography, there might be some things to be done.

 

[Vaughn]

A meme is just another grain of sand on the beach.

"Oh look! That one is mine!"

 

[jp498]

I would collect the memes and enjoy what creativity people can impart to the image. Maybe make a collage of the memes if the suit my taste.

Probably looking to sue someone would be an uphill fight, in the winter both ways against a windmill.

I love memes... Haters don't understand the richness or their communication.

 

[Vaughn]

Meme merely carry the illusion of communication.

 

[Don_ih]

Haters don't understand the richness or their communication.

Memes often contain misattributions - namely claiming that some particular person said something he or she never said - as a subtle way to persuade people of an ideological viewpoint by lending it the authority of the person attributed.

They don't even need an explicit attribution. Just put whatever you want over a photo of Einstein and people will think Einstein said it and it's therefore necessarily wise or poignant or true.

Meme merely carry the illusion of communication.

They are one of the most effective ways of making people aware basic ideological viewpoints. They're potent.

That guy never said that phrase.

 

[Bronson Dugnutt]

Check out Harry Whittier Frees for some OG photography 'memes'. Just think of them as a single-panel comic.

 

[Vaughn]

Memes often contain misattributions - namely claiming that some particular person said something he or she never said - as a subtle way to persuade people of an ideological viewpoint by lending it the authority of the person attributed.

They don't even need an explicit attribution. Just put whatever you want over a photo of Einstein and people will think Einstein said it and it's therefore necessarily wise or poignant or true.



They are one of the most effective ways of making people aware basic ideological viewpoints. They're potent.


View attachment 347083

That guy never said that phrase.

99% memes (and I am being kind) are impotent when it comes to communication. There is no dialog. Throwing out quotes (fake or not) is not true communication...most of the time it is just bragging about one's own POV. Memes are a way our society publicly farts.

But they can be funny.

 

[VinceInMT]

99% memes (and I am being kind) are impotent when it comes to communication. There is no dialog. Throwing out quotes (fake or not) is not true communication...most of the time it is just bragging about one's own POV. Memes are a way our society publicly farts.

But they can be funny.

That they can have an impact can be troubling:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mental-mishaps/201910/the-menace-memes

IMO, if someone’s mind is changed due to memes, there wasn’t much there in the first place.

 

[MartinCrabtree]

Attempt to get paid for use. Whether successful or not then walk away. One of the reasons I no longer post photos online. Not that anyone would steal one but it would bother me if I didn't make money off it. No matter I'm an amateur anyways...

 

[jp498]

I like all the Abe Lincoln portrait (Gardner probably) memes with internet/contemporary advice.

And the women at dinner disagreeing with the cat. We know cats look down on people, and have some misunderstood knowledge, and guys don't understand women, but the cat does. It celebrates different points of view with humor instead of drama. We know it's not in any way based in reality. It's a setup juxtaposition. Just like the Plato's cave allegory, but more multipurpose.

 

[MattKing]

References to inflammatory subjects will result in moderation - particularly if they have absolutely nothing to do with the subject of the thread.
And responses to those references will also result in moderation - particularly if they have absolutely nothing to do with the subject of the thread.

 

[Sirius Glass]

None of this addresses the OP's question. What to do about the misappropriation of his work?

 

[slackercrurster]

A meme is just another grain of sand on the beach.

"Oh look! That one is mine!"

Yep. As an archivist with a popular culture archive, there are over 15,000 memes and 1,000 gifs in the collection. Most are political in nature. But It is just a drop in the bucket.