At the end of September, I was sent easily a dozen or more photographers who had stolen images of Grinch themed sessions done by other photographers.  Some gave credit, most didn’t, fewer still mentioned that the images weren’t their own original works.

At the time I was buried in weddings and editing as the end of September through the end of October is typically my busiest time of the year here in Ohio.  Since I didn’t have time to post every single one of the idiot photographers stealing the images, I made a Facebook post about it (uh, there may be language) and called it a day… or so I thought.

Click here to go to the latest update (11/25)

Here’s just a few of the images I was sent within a matter of a day:

 

Around the same time that I made a post about the Grinch photos being stolen, one of the sets that kept being stolen went viral for the original photographer.  It ended up on a lot of mainstream websites like People and PopSugar and was even featured on the Today Show.  Her sessions sold out.

In the comment section of my Facebook post, quite a few photographers brought up the question of the legalities of using the likeness of The Grinch, who is the intellectual property of Dr. Seuss.  Dr. Seuss is notorious (like Disney) for being very proactive about protecting the copyright of their intellectual properties and some were curious if having a Grinch themed shoot violated on their copyrights.

They did.

Very soon after those photos went viral the photographer received a cease and desist letter from a lawyer on behalf of Dr. Seuss Enterprises and they weren’t playing around.  You can read the letter she received on PetaPixel.  Basically you can not have the Grinch here or there, you can not have him anywhere.  Not by name, not by look, for it’s their copyrights in which they took.

However, some of those photographers who stole the sessions that the photographer got the smack down for?  They didn’t care.  They proceeded to go on with their shoots assuming that Dr. Seuss will never find out about them.

Today a photographer, Elle Ivy and I Photography is going viral for her Grinch themed pop up she hosted over the weekend.

 

One of her clients posted a video to Instagram and to Facebook of their children running away in terror when Lauren’s ‘Grinch’ comes out from the trees and scares the children with the copyrighted music “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch” playing over the video.

 

 

The photographer shared the client’s Facebook post to her own Facebook Page but after comments pointing out the fact that the use of the Grinch is a copyright infringement, she deleted the post.

 

It’s obvious that the clients were made aware of the issues surrounding using the likeness and name of the Grinch when the client’s husband made multiple edits to the original post taking out the word ‘Grinch’ and eventually settling on #thisisntthegrinch.

 

The photographer is currently still updating her Instagram Stories with the counts of the views on Facebook as the numbers climb.

 

At this time the session is currently trending on Twitter and Reddit along with the Facebook.

WE NEED TO DO BETTER. 

Too many photographers do not care about copyright infringement and it needs to stop.  There’s plenty of Christmas themes you can do without infringing on someone else’s Intellectual Property.   Be better.  Do better.  Care about the craft more.

STOP STEALING.

 

 

Update 11/23/19

Since I last updated the video by the client’s father has continued to go viral, eventually even landing on Fox News, CTV, Daily Mail and appeared on a popular podcast to discuss it.

The father also posted the video on You Tube.

Despite what many people have claimed, the children in the viral video are not Elle Ivy and I Photography’s children.  She ran a full day of sessions with the Grinch.

Now the original poster of the video is running a Go Fund Me with a goal of $15 Million and claims the money donated will go to various charities.

I’ve been told that Dr. Seuss has been contacted and is aware but if so, this photographer isn’t being cautious like her predecessor and is continuing on.

 

Update 11/25/19

There are a few minor things I wanted to update/clear up from this past weekend.

Lauren of Elle Ivy & I Photography DID take money for the Grinch sessions.  Someone sent me a screen capture of her Venmo activity and you can easily see she has a few payments for these sessions.  I’ve been attacked a few times by people claiming that she didn’t take money for these sessions or claiming that the Grinch only came for the one shot that went viral or claiming that the children in the video are her kids so I wanted to add this to the post.

I’ve had quite a few conversations sent to me that Joseph (father of the children running from the Grinch) has had with people who were trying to warn him that attempting to monetize the viral video may not be a good idea.  The conversation below is… something (click to enlarge).

It’s a lot, I know.  For the record, he doesn’t know me.

Yesterday I was photographing a wedding and had a lot of people message me letting me know that Lauren from Elle Ivy and I Photography posted a story to her Instagram Feed with a swipe up to this post.  However, she used an image from a session from the photographer who got the first C&D from Dr. Seuss and alluded to her running Photo Stealers/writing this post while degrading her work.

FYI, I am not Kim.

Sometime yesterday Elle Ivy & I Photography removed the Grinch from her profile photo and Instagram feed.