In May, the Cultural Council published a series of 40 “Icons” portraits in Arbus Magazine and Resident Community News, ostensibly taken by photographer Renee Parenteau.

Nowhere in either publication was there even a mention of my original photograph. Neither I nor Al Letson provided the image to the Cultural Council or Renee Parenteau Photography, and I did not give permission for it to be altered and published.

This is also not the first time the Cultural Council has violated my copyright. In March of 2015, the Cultural Council used a portrait of artist Kedgar Volta, taken by me, for its newsletter and promotion of its 2015 Arts Awards event. When I politely notified the Cultural Council that they did not have permission to use the image without properly licensing it, I received no response.

I attempted to resolve the matter of the copyright infringements through negotiations with the Cultural Council starting in May. I have invested a lot of time, money, and effort and unfortunately was unable to come to an agreement where I could freely claim my photographs of Al Letson and Kedgar Volta as my own work.

I am very disappointed that Ms. Parenteau took credit for my image of Al Letson and did not publicly acknowledge that the portrait was not hers, or at the very least privately reach out and apologize. I am also extremely disappointed that the Cultural Council did not make a public correction and apology immediately when they were made aware of the situation and were advised to do so.

So now I must correct the record myself. I am the creator of these images.

I would also like to take the opportunity to encourage all photographers and artists to support the Professional Photographers of America’s grassroots efforts to create legislation for better copyright enforcement.

This will extend protection under the law to hundreds of thousands of small-business creators and allow visual artists a reasonable way to enforce their intellectual property rights. You can find out more at https://www.ppa.com/advocacy/?navItemNumber=539