01 April 2012

Storm Brewing over Surf Photo Copyright

It was fantastic to read on the back page of the North West Tasmanian local paper, The Advocate, that local surfer Zoe Grey won the 37th annual Rip Curl West Coast Classic at Marrawah for a record third consecutive year.  Not a bad effort for a 16 year old!    The back page  even had a top photo of her ripping a backhand re-entry with style and aplomb.
(The back page of The Advocate featuring Zoe)
However, according to Old Farts Surf Co. Head Honcho, The Mexican (OFSC No. 4),  not so fantastic was the absence of credit given to the photographer for his fantastic shot.  "Known for its progressive style and ground breaking local journalism, The Advocate really let themselves down on this one" said Mex.  "The photographer was Zoe's main dude and masteroldfartsurfphotographer, Paddy, son of Oldfartsurfer No. 16, and he's my nephew."
(The photo of Zoe without a credit of photographer Paddy)
Recently returned from his photographic tour of Europe, Paddy said "I was quietly peeved at the lack of credit, however, I realised that those who know who took the photo know who took the photo, and they are the important people to me".  Speaking with Zen like wisdom, Paddy went on to say "I will learn from this." 
The Old Farts Surf Co. supports the moral and copyrights of surf photographers around the world.
Please provide your comments on this article in the comments  below.
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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The ignorance astounds me! This is typical of the local media's shunning of old fart surfers and, in particular, the Old Farts Surf Co. Something must be done!

Anonymous said...

Is this some kind of cruel April fools joke? Unbelievable!

Anonymous said...

Interestingly the Advocate ran a story with photo by Danny O'Donnell on 12th March, stating that Zoe was "...gunning for historic hat-trick". So why credit some photos and not others? I too wonder if the Old Farts need to start wielding their considerable influence to right this wrong! How about asking Advocate advertisers to stage a boycott unless photog credits are attributed.

Anonymous said...

Occupy the Advocate!

Even better Occupy the Waves - oldfartsurfers drop in on young dudes until...until, I forget. But this is a huge task - someone contact Ol' Pete pronto!

Oldfartsurfer said...

If 12 people walk into the offices of The Advocate and decree "Oldfartsurfers demand copy rights for oldfarsurfphotographers, occupy The Advocate", then they will think it is a movement and write a song about it.

Oldfartsurfer said...

If 12 people walk into the offices of The Advocate and decree "Oldfartsurfers demand copy rights for oldfarsurfphotographers, occupy The Advocate", then they will think it is a movement and write a song about it.