Amos Magliocco
EF5
Thanks, Lanny, for pointing this out. It does indeed appear to be one of Eric's series of Mulvane images, overlaid with a strange graphic, but still the same photo. I have contacted the MySpace account holder through the page, though I was unable to locate a name for the tour operator.
For those who don't know, I've been handling Eric's photo catalog since his death. Most of Eric's images are licensed through Corbis International, the stock photo agency. The royalties for all these images go to Eric's wife and two young sons. The Mulvane tornado continues to be one of the most widely-licensed and reproduced tornado images, as anyone in a bookstore this Christmas could see. As you can imagine, it provides a small but steady stream of income to the family and it is the one image, when stolen by a business or publication, that brings immediate attention from Corbis and their highly experienced lawyers. Corbis aggressively pursues unauthorized usage, not only for the money taken from them, but because Mulvane is a valuable property which they license and release in a strategic way over time to maintain and maximize value.
I don't bother with people who steal small JPGs and post them to their blogs or Flicker accounts. I did at first, but there's no end to it. Corbis could not care less about individual theft. However, a business or for-profit publication is another matter, entirely.
So the point of this post is to make people aware that Eric's photo catalog isn't being neglected, and his intellectual property rights are as important to his friends and family now as they were to him when he was alive. As with anyone's intellectual property, you have to ask permission to use or license it, via Corbis if you're a publication or a business, or with me if it's a non-profit usage or educational materials, which Eric always donated free of charge.
I know the overwhelming majority of Stormtrack members respect the property rights of other chasers the same as they wish for their own to be respected, but there's always a few people in any crowd, knowingly or not, who might seek to take advantage of a situation they misunderstand. They should not misunderstand this one.
Amos Magliocco
For those who don't know, I've been handling Eric's photo catalog since his death. Most of Eric's images are licensed through Corbis International, the stock photo agency. The royalties for all these images go to Eric's wife and two young sons. The Mulvane tornado continues to be one of the most widely-licensed and reproduced tornado images, as anyone in a bookstore this Christmas could see. As you can imagine, it provides a small but steady stream of income to the family and it is the one image, when stolen by a business or publication, that brings immediate attention from Corbis and their highly experienced lawyers. Corbis aggressively pursues unauthorized usage, not only for the money taken from them, but because Mulvane is a valuable property which they license and release in a strategic way over time to maintain and maximize value.
I don't bother with people who steal small JPGs and post them to their blogs or Flicker accounts. I did at first, but there's no end to it. Corbis could not care less about individual theft. However, a business or for-profit publication is another matter, entirely.
So the point of this post is to make people aware that Eric's photo catalog isn't being neglected, and his intellectual property rights are as important to his friends and family now as they were to him when he was alive. As with anyone's intellectual property, you have to ask permission to use or license it, via Corbis if you're a publication or a business, or with me if it's a non-profit usage or educational materials, which Eric always donated free of charge.
I know the overwhelming majority of Stormtrack members respect the property rights of other chasers the same as they wish for their own to be respected, but there's always a few people in any crowd, knowingly or not, who might seek to take advantage of a situation they misunderstand. They should not misunderstand this one.
Amos Magliocco
It is late-season SDS, after all.
