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DKNY Caught Using Photographer's Images Without Permission Or Compensation
By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 25, 2013
Modified Feb 25, 2013
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 25, 2013
Modified Feb 25, 2013
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DKNY's window display, and Stanton's original photo
New York street photographer Brandon Stanton, who runs the Humans of New York site, was approached by DKNY a few months ago for the purchase of 300 of his photos. The company wanted to use the images in their store windows all over the world, and offered Stanton $15,000 for them. Even though Stanton declined the offer, the company has been using his photos anyway... for free. Stanton found this out when a fan sent him photos from a DKNY store in Bangkok. He says, "The window is full of my photos. These photos were used without my knowledge, and without compensation."
Photo of Bangkok storefront courtesy of Brandon Stanton
Stanton explains why he turned down the $15,000 in the first place: "A friend in the industry told me that $50 per photo was not nearly enough to receive from a company with hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue. So I asked for more money. They said 'no.'" Stanton declined to comment on how much he upped his price to when we asked him this morning. However, street photographer and Gothamist publisher Jake Dobkin has experience with these types of deals, and tell us, "I made $900 for a full wall at the Louvre [at a retail space in the museum], and that was only after the guy who wrote the book threatened to sue them for running it without asking. The fair value was probably about $2,500 or $3,000."
While they are using his photos in other countries, Stanton says he hasn't seen his images in his hometown of New York, noting, "They have similar collages, but without my photos. I imagine that my photos were only used in stores that they thought I would never see."
Stanton told us this morning, "I just want to emphasize that I am not looking for personal compensation and have no interest in litigation. All I want is for them to make a $100,000 donation to the Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA. It is my local YMCA and I've seen firsthand that it makes a big difference in the community. I think the money would help a lot of kids go to summer camp."
We've reached out to DKNY for comment, and will update if we hear back.
UPDATE: DKNY rep Aliza Licht sent along this comment, "We have immense respect for Brandon Stanton. We approached him to work with us on this visual program. He declined to participate in the project. We licensed and paid for photos from established photography service providers. However, it appears that inadertently the store in Bangkok used an internal mock up containing some of Mr. Stanton's images that were intended to merely show the direction of the spring visual program. We apologize for this error. We are making a charitable donation of $25,000 to the YMCA in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Mr. Stanton's name."
That is 1/4 of the amount Stanton asked them to donate, but this afternoon he told us, "The Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA now has an extra $25,000 to help deserving kids go to summer camp. Of course, $100,000 would be even better, but it's hard to be upset about that outcome. For the sake of ending this, I'm going to cease my speculation and take DKNY at its word that the photos were used unintentionally."
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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