Please don't use my photo.

[Axtman]

I wonder how the new bass player and new guitar player feel about not being included in the promotional material?

My old band is a four-piece and not very successful so I'm not concerned about them making money off my image. (Heck, I don't even make money off my image.) So I am not going to sue or hire a lawyer. Now if they do become hugely successful and popular.......

Our band photos were done by a young photographer, that I knew. He did not charge us much money because he was trying to build his portfolio. I don't have a problem with the photographer using the photos because it was past history and helping him out. We paid the photographer with some of the money from the lucrative gigs that I got the band.

I also designed some of the band post cards/posters using VistaPrint. It was easy and cheap and I recommend them. Therefore, the band did not pay a lot of money for those publicity materials. So it should not be much of a problem for the band to reshoot and produce new publicity materials. They are just being lazy and cheap.

 

[Axtman]

I am bothered they are advertising upcoming gigs on Facebook with old photos. We have some of the same circle of friends that may not know I am not in the band. Should I should reply to their posting that I am no longer with the band?

 

[maturanesa]

If the band is not making any profit with your image i would let them keep using it. If not, you would be seen as
a weak, bitter person. Just don't give a s***

 

[baileyboy]

...using an old band photo to advertise upcoming gigs... Have you ever run into a similiar situation?

My old band kept using old pics with me in them to advertise upcoming events. It didn't bother me whatsoever. Bands in the area where I gig have member changes frequently, eventually the old photos get replaced with more current ones, so no big deal.

 

[electracoyote]

I wonder how the new bass player and new guitar player feel about not being included in the promotional material?

Good point.

I remember a BL who after six months still hadn't uploaded my pics and bio to the web sites even after a couple of reminders. She left the previous bass player's pics and bio up. My friends and family wouldn't come to the shows because they didn't think I was in the band. A couple people actually asked me why the other bass player was still on the web pages and if I was really in the band or only a sub.

After six months of that insult, I quit. So there's a reason to take heart this will resolve itself eventually if your ex-band mates have any sense at all.

And going around posting disclaimers that you are no longer in the band will only draw unflattering attention to yourself. The high road is the harder road but sometimes the right road.

eventually the old photos get replaced with more current ones, so no big deal.

+1

 

[Mr.Ace]

I wouldn’t worry about unless I was famous, which I am not.

 

[lfmn16]

I
How much slack do you cut them?

It depends on how much money it's worth to get your photo off the site if they refuse. No lawyer is going to work for free. Unless you can prove damages, it's unlikely a court will award any money, so no attorney will take it on contingency. Even if you were to successfully sue and be awarded damages, you still have to collect.

I had a friend that wasn't payed for a gig. One of the few gigs where he actually had a written contract. He took the club owner to small claims court and won. On the way out the guy turns to him and says, "Screw you, I'm still not paying." I learned the lesson from his experience, "Don't sweat the small stuff, you'll live longer and happier."

 

[bkbirge]

The only solution is to rejoin the band and immediately rage quit. And fire the drummer.

 

[Plutonium244]

There's the rub.

I understand wanting to get your face off of the band's on-line presence a.s.a.p., especially if it was a bad break up, but let's deal with some realities here. The band wants to continue and present as a band. You were the last bass player. Give them a break. It doesn't need to be punitive or vindictive. I'm sure as soon as they work in a new member and have the time/effort/money for new pics, they will.

Ah, no, I don't think so. It's amazing how spending more money, effort and time to do a thing that doesn't actually advance the cause never seems to get to the top of the "to-do" list. There are other things that will appeal much more strongly to them to spend money/effort/time on.... their new player has been in place for 3 months, so I don't think working them in is an issue... and so what if it is? It's their issue.

So, the OP should ask them politely to make the change. As human beings, and given human nature, they will probably need a nudge and reminder to take care of some "routine maintenance" issues instead of the fun stuff, when it's no skin off their noses to do nothing and keep doing as they are. Sure, someday they might get to it on their own.... no reason to wait, and hope.

But, making a polite request is key, both for generally "doing things the right way" and for getting the results you desire from them. Being a dick doesn't usually end in easy cooperation.

 

[gregbackstrom]

People don't pay attention to the bass player if we're playing correctly.

THAT'S what I'm doing wrong! I've always believed "Go Big or Go Home." It's probably no surprise that I spend a fair amount of time at home.

 

[gflowers]

I was let go from a four piece band a few months ago. Since then the band leader has been using an old band photo to advertise upcoming gigs. The old photo even has a picture of the guitar player that is no longer with the band. I did not mention anything initially because I figured it would take them some time to reshoot the band photo. But after 3 months I think I should mention something politely and ask them to not use me in any future advertising. If they want to have old pictures on their website of past gigs with me in it, that is cool because it is history.

Have you ever run into a similiar situation?

The lead guitarist and I quit our band (which we started 16 years prior) over two years ago and they immediately deleted our pics and had new band pics made. That is understandable and expected. However, the awesome demos and live recordings that the guitarist and I produced several years ago are still on the website and Facebook page and visitors are asked to "check out our audio samples and live recordings". Apparently we sound a lot better than we look.

 

[tr4252]

The new band members are probably so painfully ugly that the band leader is ashamed to put their faces on the website. You could charge maybe a weekly fee for the use of your image, until the corrective surgery is done on the new members.

Hire a hacker to ruin their website. They'll be compelled to create a new one, and would probably use the opportunity to update their information. If they use your photo in the new site, wreck it again, and again, until they get it right. Then ruin it one more time, just for fun. (This would be unethical, illegal, and not good advice at all, but one can daydream.)

or....

Create a website of your own, using their photos (the less flattering the better), and tell them you'll fix it when you get around to it. Then neglect to get around to it for a very long time.

or.....

Attach a welcome mat to your chest so people can wipe their feet on it before they walk all over you.

Tom

 

[Josh Kneisel]

It wouldn't bug me personally, but you have every right to request they stop using your image.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

For what?

For unauthorized use of ones likeness to promote a business, especially after an expressed desire for the use to stop.

Want me to flash the good? Gonna cost ya.

 

[gln1955]

For me, it would only become an issue if: a) the band with new members sucked; b) the band was arrested on serious charges; c) the band did something else that would be an embarrassment to me in either the music scene or in my professional or social circles. If they are just another band doing what they've always done when I was a member, no biggie at all.

 

[buldog5151bass]

For unauthorized use of ones likeness to promote a business, especially after an expressed desire for the use to stop.

I'll say it one more time. No damages. How much are they making a gig, and how often do they gig? How, in any legitimate way, have you been financially harmed? Have you been listing your gig income on your tax returns, so you can demonstrate the value of your likeness to their band? You can pay a lawyer if you want. No lawyer is going to take it on contingency. If you want to pay thousands of dollars to take them to court for injunctive relief to get off a bar band website, you can go right ahead. You want to pay a lawyer hundreds of dollars to send a cease and desist letter that will get you nothing more than a polite text or email, go right ahead.

 

[BigBatch]

There really isn't much I can do other than to ask them to not use that photo. A while back some of the guitar player's friends came to see him not knowing he was no longer in the band yet seeing him in the publicity photo. Ooops.

You could call him every few days at four in the morning to ask him to take it down.

 

[bassman10096]

I should start a new band with the guitar player that go let go and use the same band publicity photos with the other members of the band. Two bands; one photo.

That would settle things, for sure.

 

[bobba66]

Maybe they know you are tweaked about it and it gives them something to laugh about.

 

[RickyWoo]

Five pages about a personal issue that can politely be resolved by making a simple and very understandable request. I know the OP said they were let go but come on.... The BL would have to be a real piece of work....