Talk about getting caught red-handed!
Prominent fashion brand DKNY is set to donate $25,000 to charity in the name of NY-based photographer Brandon Stanton after his photos were used, without permission, at a local branch in Bangkok.
First a little background info.
Several months back Mr Stanton was approached by DKNY, offering up $15,000 to feature 300 of his photographs in their stores. The offer, which equated to $50 per photo, was quickly rejected by Mr Stanton “on principle,” as the amount was well below industry standard.
However the saga took a surprise turn on Monday when Brandon received a congratulatory message via a friend in Bangkok who noticed his works in the local DKNY storefront.
Rather than bringing the matter to court, the enterprising photographer took to social media, posting a picture of the Bangkok location on Facebook with the accompanying message “The window is full of my photos. These photos were used without my knowledge and without compensation.” The Facebook masses promptly issued a damning condemnation of DKNY, sharing his post over 28,000 times in a 5 hour span.
While initially demanding a $100,000 donation to the Brooklyn YMCA as a means of making amends, Mr Stanton accepted the DKNY offer of a more modest $25,000 donation instead.
According to reporting from the Guardian newspaper, DKNY issued a statement claiming that the use of the photos was simply the result of a mix-up.
