The Nationalist Party is using the work of press photographers on its billboards – without express consent or licence fee payments
PN ‘steals’ press photographer’s work for propaganda billboards
Although the Nationalist Party recently collected no less than €301,039 during a Sunday afternoon, the party appears to have no money for using its own photographers’ work.
Several PN propaganda billboards recently contained photos that NEWZ.mt could easily identify as the original work of Newsbook photographer Miguela Xuereb.
Unlike photos provided by political parties for news coverage, parties are expected to ask media houses for permission when using their material for propaganda purposes.
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It is understood that the PN did not ask the church-owned Beacon Media Group, which runs Newsbook, for permission to use Xuereb’s material.
This stands in stark contrast to the opposition party’s repeated claim that it “values” the work of independent journalists, which definitely is not the case here.
It is further understood that common agreements between photographers and Maltese newsrooms do not automatically cover third-party use of their work.
PN: ‘Asked for invoice’
10:00 | PN secretary general Michael Piccinino told NEWZ.mt that, around two weeks ago, he asked Beacon editor Matthew Xuereb to check who owns the photograph.
He said he has also asked the media house and/or the photographer to issue an invoice, adding he has not received a reply as of yet.
