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Photographers warn parents are using AI to steal school and event photos
Overview
Photographers are raising concerns that parents and customers are using artificial intelligence tools to remove watermarks from school and event photographs to avoid paying for them. Experts and photographers warn that this practice constitutes copyright infringement and theft, while also creating serious privacy and safeguarding risks because uploaded images of children can be retained, leaked, or used to train AI models without consent.
Key points
- Photographers report a significant loss of income as parents use AI tools to strip watermarks from preview images instead of paying.
- Experts warn that uploading identifiable photographs of children to AI systems creates major privacy, safeguarding, and data retention risks.
- Legal professionals confirm that removing watermarks and using copyrighted images without permission constitutes copyright infringement and theft.
- Photographers are calling for better AI literacy and education regarding the hidden dangers of uploading personal media to third-party AI platforms.