I'm really irritated with our zoo at the moment. I took pictures for them for an event about three weeks ago, and was totally not given any information on what they wanted for pictures, what time to meet, where the event was... anything. The only reason I even got there on time and to the right location was that I had a friend who worked for the camp.
So anyway, after editing them, I posted the pictures on facebook, tagging a couple of the vet students and workers I know there. Nobody said anything. Fast-forward two weeks, and when I go to volunteer at the wildlife rehab that I usually do, I get pulled aside and asked to take them down and apologies for the disorganized fashion that the shooting was set up in, where nobody had told me I wasn't supposed to put them online. I asked if it was okay if I set the privacy settings really tight instead, and got a thumbs up on that.
Woke up today after a nap to a voicemail from the volunteer coordinator stating that the woman who had pulled me aside was incorrect, and I needed to completely pull the album. Well, that's fine. I'm OK with being asked not to put photos on social media.
But what really ground my gears was that she said something to the tune of "we just need you to understand that those photos are the property of the zoo." No. No they aren't, actually, unless I explicitly agreed to that in writing. I went back and scrounged through my volunteer documents, and they don't even mention social media, and definitely don't have any writing stating that I give up my de facto copyright by photographing for them. The main zoo website also does not have any sort of information of the sort.
Grrrrr. I don't want to seem like a pain in the ass or rude for bringing that up, but I've spent a lot of time and money working on my photography, and hearing that kind of made me want to punch her through the phone.
