Yesterday I read about Rebekka’s copyright issues. To make a long story short she uploaded some images to Flickr (beautiful photography), a company saw her images, downloaded them and resold them…making thousands of dollars. Rebekka attempted to protect herself by uploading images in a lesser resolution but the company was still able to achieve enough quality to sell her images. She was told she had no legal recourse, complained about it on Flickr, and Flickr deleted the original posting and images(s?).

It’s a shame these things happen but I want to point you to a comment made on her site which sort of puts a double whammy on her open wound by Yada (and I apologize for taking so much of this comment but I want you guys to get the picture):

You get an ungodly amount of attention on flickr for two reasons; you are a very talented photographer, and you are a beautiful woman. As such, your work – even the so-so stuff – is viewed and favorited at an insane rate.

Once, just for kicks, I counted the views as you posted an image. Within twenty minutes it had skyrocketed and people were favoriting your image non-stop. And, while some of your images are truly good work, this particular image was nothing special. And yet, the amount of attention paid to it was HIGHLY skewed in your favor, and far from anything a normal flickr user might get for a photo that was even better than yours.

I hold no grudge, and think it’s great for you, but it does illustrate just how much “beauty” matters in this world. While your images are great, you would receive half the attention, and have half the articles if you didn’t look exactly like you do.

Thus, when you run into a little problem like this – one I’ve heard countless people on flickr run into – the supporters come out of the woodwork to wish you well and damn flickr. Again, it’s nice, but it’s an illusion. The average user doesn’t look like you, and no matter how great their work and how bad they got ripped off, they would never receive the support you do.

My point… Count your blessings and let the thing go about being ripped off. If you post images on the Internet, and they are as good as yours are, you can count on them being stolen. Period.

She got the support because of her skills, not because of her looks. Now don’t get me wrong, did her looks draw male attention? Of course it did, particular some of the more sexier images she put up. Would those people have stayed if she wasn’t talented? No. Are they showing their support because she’s cute? No. They are showing their support because what happened was wrong and I’ll even throw in the more greedy notion of some people wanting Flickr’s behavior addressed before it happened to them.

See, the company messed up by using someone popular. Yada is right in the aspect that there are may talented artists/photographers that don’t have the following that she does that 1) might not even realize they are being taken advantage of and 2) if they did would have a harder time than she did. It’s up to them to create that community like Rebekka did. We all have tools available to us…it’s the wisdom to use them.

Drawing the crowd is easy. Maintaining their attention is very difficult.

I’ve fought the battle of being female and hearing I accomplished what I did based on looks/gender/race. Yeah, I have a triple whammy. To avoid that battle, one that seems endless, I avoid pictures like the plague…sort of like the heavier person only showing face shots or conveniently putting a barrier between their body and the camera. I realized I was doing it in the past year but the real reason why is new to me.

I shouldn’t have to worry about gender issues but I do. It is something women will have to face because people like Yada are out there. And I don’t think that will ever change.