Today I received an email from a booking agent advertising a half price arctic grizzly bear hunt west of Hudson Bay. As I scrolled down I was surprised to see three pictures of hunters with their bears, and one of them was me! I do not know and have never booked a hunt with this agent, nor have I shot an arctic grizzly. The photo was of a bear I shot on the Kamchatka Peninsula in 2006.

In fact, after further investigation I found that the other two photos were also of Kamchatka bears and were taken off of a competitor's web site (the one I booked with). I don't really care about my picture being used, but I thought it was damn poor business practice to not only misrepresent the species, but steal it off a competitor's site.

I'm not sure what I should do, if anything. I thought about contacting them and asking that they remove the photos. I also thought about contacting the agent I booked my hunt with and letting them handle it as they see fit. As I said earlier I have never booked with this agent and after this I can guarantee that I never will. What would you guys do?

Mike

It happens, a lot actually.

There is an AR member who took a 70+ lbs a side elephant. The picture of his elephant appeared in a ad for a booking agent. However it had been photoshopped with the face of someone else. Guess who? The booking agent.

I don't know what I would do. I doubt I would spend much effort on it.

You might want to contact your booking agent/outfitter just to let them know a potential competitor is using their pictures. Kind of an, FYI thing.

I'd then let them handle it any way they see acceptable. Who knows, maybe they're buds and he decided to share some photos?

What Graybird said, UNLESS you are the one that owns any of the photos.

I get that email from them alot.
Gotta join this club or that club, but htey wont show you the prices.
I like the guys that I call for info, like hte guy I just booked my Mule deer/elk hunt with today.
W.

Why not post the name of the fraudulent outfitter?

quote:

Why not post the name of the fraudulent outfitter?

Funny or sad, but I keep asking that very thing everytime one of these threads shows up.

No onwe seems to have a real good answer as to WHY they will not name names or post links or something.

People have to become Pro-Active on this issue, simply because the various goverment agencies that might be/could be able to do something, don't have the time or resources to pursue these folks and put them out of business.

Unlike hunting practices that people pull the "Ethics" gun on, that I don't agree with, deceptive or false advertising by a guide/outfitter/booking agent/PH, is something that should be addressed from both the legal and the ethical view.

Not to get too off-topic, but I have a similar problem with a retailer using my image on their web site without my permission. My hunt was not booked through their business and I have had no business affiliation with them. VERY low-class behavior on their part.

Intellectual property rights and image usage rights...

When someone takes a photograph they legally become the owners of the intellectual property rights of that image.

But if you are clearly recognizable in a photograph it cannot be used for any type of advertising without a signed consent and release from you.

Bottom line whoever took the photo can force them to stop advertising with it or you can if you are clearly recognizable in it.

Or you can contact the advertiser and demand payment for the rights to use your photo or likeness.(I would typically pay a non-professional model maybe $100 to use a photo in website advertising. Unless it is a really rare photo opportunity like a bear hunt in Kamchatka)