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Misuse of Micro Stock: Male Models Portrayed as Criminals
screenshot from a SVP poster for the electoral campaign 2011.
For its electoral campaign, the Swiss right-wing party SVP created a poster using micro stock imagery from iStock. It is not the first time that the party has used very provocative stock photography for marketing purposes.
This time however, SVP (Schweizerische Volkspartei) has been accused by iStock of infringement of their licensing agreement because the three male models who appear on the political posters were portrayed as criminals. They are referred to as a rapist, a murderer and a child abuser whereas the licensing agreement prohibits the usage or representation of models and people in sensitive situations. Further, the licensing agreement includes a passage which clearly stipulates that photo models have to be acknowledged as being models. According to iStock,this reference is missing on the posters and the website of the SVP. Sven Ole Schubert, iStock spokesman, announced intentions to approach the organisers after having finished examinations.
Stefan Wittwer, President of the Swiss National Association of Picture Libraries (SAB) points out: “In the Swiss press, iStock said that the user of the image should have printed on the display that the person is a model. I doubt that this would have worked. It's rather an issue of violation of privacy of the model.”
- Click here to read the article of the Swiss newspaper (in German only)
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