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Ok so today we were dispatched to a factory under construction for a fire. I arrived first and took command. I got first arriving companies going to work and then turned over command to the COD when he arrived. I then took a few photos and later added them to the departments face book page that i run. This was about 1300. At 1800 i watch the local evening news and what do i see. The news station stole all of my photos and used them on the 600 news.
What pisses me off is they never gave me or the department credit.
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Since you were on the clock, the photos are technically the property of the department, and a government entity cannot hold a copyright. The credit, on the other hand, should have been given, and I would suggest an email to the news director of the station for not doing it.
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I'm confused. You say you were dispatched, took command, directed incoming companies & then turned command over the the COD, but you were NOT on the clock?
FF Sean 'Skip' Olson
Boston Fire, Ladder 14
In Memory:
FR David A. Middleton E51, LODD, Box 5247, 05/28/07
FR Paul J. Cahill E30 & FR Warren J. Payne L25, LODD, Box 4-281, 08/29/07
FLT Kevin Kelley L26, LODD, 01/09/09
FLT Edward J. Walsh E33 & FR Michael Kennedy L15, LODD, Box 9-1579, 03/26/14.
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01-03-2018, 12:29 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-03-2018, 12:29 PM by edburke.)
In that case, you own your photos, and have a lawsuit against the station. The hard part is going to be establishing the value of the photographs. Also, the TV station will probably claim that by taking action, you asserted a duty to act and that, paid or not, by taking command actions you were acting as an agent of the department, which legally, as opposed to the rules and regulations of the department, places you on duty.
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I guess I should add took the photos after I gave command to the cod. Im not sure id want to sue. I just needed to vent that they didnt give credit.
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That information changes the dynamic. The photos are absolutely yours, and credit should have been given. I'm sure the news director assumed that they were department photos, since they were on a department Facebook page (is it official? Is there a disclaimer about it being run by a member?) As I mentioned above, a government entity cannot hold a copyright, which places any photos taken by any person while being paid by said entity in the public domain. As such, the news probably wrongly assumed that the photos were public domain. I'm sure an email will get an apology.