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dUNMUR | Photographer
Nick Dunmur 2011
‘IP theft is not a victimless crime. In fact - it couldn’t be more personal. It affects my income directly and therefore my ability to survive as a business, let alone grow and prosper.’
Nick Dunmur, photographer
Around 43,700 people work in the photo imaging industry, 6,800 of whom are sole trading or freelance photographers. The majority of the workforce operates within the area of photography (56%) or retail (30%) with the remainder employed in picture libraries and agencies (8%) or manufacturing or support services (7%).
According to the British Photographic Council, 3 out of every 5 photographers said they knew of instances where their copyright had been infringed in the previous 3 years, costing them on average just over £3,600 each. But only 30% of these photographers pursued all known infringements, with most citing difficulties in bring legal cases for copyright infringements.
Nick Dunmur is a professional photographer who has worked on professional advertising and commercial commissions for Paul Smith, Triumph Motorcycles, Yamaha Motorcycles as well as many other design and advertising agencies. He is a non-executive director of the Association of Photographers as well as being a member of the board of the British Photographic Council. Unauthorised use of Nick’s images directly impacts on his income:
‘It affects my reputation because I no longer control where those images are seen and in what context. For commissioned work it affects my clients in the same way too. Because of the tendency for people to view content on the internet as 'free' and the anonymity of the interface, the notion of a victimless crime is perpetuated. In fact - it couldn't be more personal. This affects my income directly and therefore my ability to survive as a business, let alone grow and prosper. It is simply, theft.’
‘Without creators, there is no creative industry; no music, no painting, sculpture, no theatre, no books or no photography and so on. Most creators are individuals, SMEs, one-man bands - we make our living from what we create. We need to be able to control that in order to monetize it and make successful businesses that are economically sustainable. Businesses that employ other people's services and products and that grow, make profits and contribute to the nations GDP’.
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