Digital Citizenship: 3DPrintingIndustry.com
Dear 3DPrintingIndustry.com,
On July 8th, 2015 you appropriated a photo from my website, DesignMakeTeach.com, for use in an article on your blog. http://3dprintingindustry.com/2015/07/08/chaos-3d-why-second-movers-are-winning-the-chaotic-desktop-3d-printer-wars/ I learned of this through a ping back notice from my WordPress blog. Curious, I went to your site to find why you had linked to my site. I read the article and found the photo, but the context or content of the article had nothing to do with the photo or my post where the photo originated. https://designmaketeach.com/2014/10/19/print-it-forward-3d-printer-fundraising-kit/
I certainly appreciate that you provided attribution for the image and a link back to my blog, however, I do not believe that that is sufficient in this case. The author of the article did not seek permission to use the photo. You are using my photo for the purposes of a stock image to illustrate a point in an article tagged industry insight. Your site is clearly commercial in that it prominently serves ads. If the article had been directly related to the Print It Forward 3D Printer Fundraising Kit or the DesignMakeTeach.com blog I could view that as reporting rather than simply appropriating. I would be interested in hearing any claims of fair use that you care to make concerning the use of the photo.
In my view, 3DPrintingIndustry.com is exhibiting poor digital citizenship. As I tell students, when in doubt ask. Other alternatives include creating original images, using images marked creative commons or purchasing the rights to stock photos.
Sincerely,
Josh Ajima
@DesignMakeTeach
If anyone feels I am off base in this open letter or can add more insight, please leave a comment or contact me on Twitter.