Now enter the band called Copeland (web site here).  This is a band I discovered in 2004 when I was starting to do concert photography and I fell in love with their music.  You can see photos of that first concert here.   Then, about 2 and a half years ago (March 2007 to be exact), they came again to do a concert with another band and I took that opportunity to resume my photography career, which I had been put on hold with the birth of my son. You can view the results here.

A couple of months later, on September 30th, James, the original bassist of the band who’s now the graphist (I guess that’s who you call it) of the band contacted me.  He had found and kept several of the pictures I had taken of the band and wanted to know if he could use them.  As a photographer, there is no greater reward that to see your work being used/published with your permission (aka not stolen). Yes getting compensation is fun but to me, recognition is even better. So it stays dead, no more news nor update.  As they say, life goes on and I kind of forgot about this whole deal.

Fast forward a couple of months, around Christmas time… I go to the music store to do some “sight seeing” and I find THE album… we’re talking about Dressed Up & In Line from Copeland.  It all comes back flashing in my head… the photo request!!  I buy the CD immediately.  I come home, open the casing, take the booklet out (as I do for all the CDs I buy) and start looking at it.  What do I find ?… (click on the image just underneath)

THEY USED 3 OF MY PHOTHOS !!!! Not only that, but other than the cover photo, the only color photos present are MINE.  All th other black & white photos are from other sources.  To be honest, I felt like I just won the lottery. (note: in case you didn’t figure it out, the pictures outlined in green are mine)

So I quickly turn the booklet around to search the the credits and/or thanks section that usually goes with the booklet… … … …

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The only credit found is for the front cover photo!  You can’t believe how pissed I was afterward.  But being the person that I am, I didn’t stay pissed for long.  I mean, sure I would have liked to get my name and website address in there and it would have been nice.  But it’s not my philosophy to hold a grudge.  I mean this guys had it hard… I mean real hard.  They were “released” from a deal with a major label before even getting 1 album out with them.  I even heard they had bunch of their gear stolen (don’t know if true) and to tell thing as it is… they may not be starving artists, but they’re no U2 or Rolling Stones.

So, what did I do you might say?  I swallowed it and procrastinated (as I often do) but I decided to change that today!  Now is the time that I come out and claim what is my little 2 minutes of “fame”.  Looking back now, almost 2 years after, I often ask myself  “Would I do the things the same way?”  I most probably would with small difference that I would have not waited that long to talk about it.  I think that there is a room where artists of different spheres (music, photography, painting, etc.) can easily (and freely) help each other by cross-promoting each other.  And because most of the time we do that free of charge, it’s important not to leave anyone behind.

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With all that said and done, I invite you all who survived through my lenghty post to go check the band out (here’s their Wikipedia page) and to encourage them by buying their music.

You can find their stuff on iTunes, Amazon (both .ca and .com), bunch of other online retailers and also to your nearest local music store.

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Oh and by the way guys, (by that I mean Aaron, Bryan, Jonathan & Stephen) next time your up in Montreal (can’t believe it’s been almost 3 years since last time), you owe me one. :-p

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P.S. Ne soyez pas surpris de voir que ce post est en anglais.  Il m’est souvent arrivé (moins récemment) de passer d’une langue à l’autre.  De plus, vu que les gens concernés par le sujet sont anglophones, je voulais m’assurer que le message soit bien perçu.