Imagine that your face is so versatile and your photo is so good that overnight it appears in various advertisements for the most famous products. But you don't get a cent for it. That can happen too.
Shubnum Khan it is journalist from South Africa, artist, author of Onion Tears book about Muslim Indians and blogger, which, unbeknownst to her, she became The face of McDonald's in China, in the ad sold carpets in New York, advertised immigration in Canada, but she didn't get paid for any ads. The reason is simple: Khan did not pay enough attention to the terms of the contract. To point out the mistake she made, she shared hers on her Twitter account the story.
It feels like I sell everything! If I'm not welcoming immigrants to Canada, I'm selling carpets in NYC, leading treks in Cambodia, or looking for love in France.
Let's start with something light: here I'm the face for dental sedation in Virginia Beach. Innocent enough, you say, pic.twitter.com/KScqqLCoLx
— Shubnum Khan (@ShubnumKhan) July 28, 2018
Six years ago, Shubnum saw her photo for the first time in to a local Canadian pro-immigration newspaper and was left speechless. She did not understand how her photo was taken found in this magazine, but her friends reminded her that Khan had been a part of it years ago of the 100 Faces photography project.
The photographer photographed 100 people of different nationalities. Shubnum attended the photo shoot because because she wanted to get free professional photos, and she didn't read the fine print in the contract. The photographer took three photos, which he later sold photo bank.
Shubnum is talked to the photographer, who told her that she was informed about all the conditions before the photo shoot began, however, she signed the contract and everything was done legally. He is a photographer removed her photos from his website, but also warned her that she couldn't do anything about the photos, which are online.
It is in a short time Kahn found out that her photos are located in various advertisements:
- invites migrants from Uruguay to Canada
- carpet sales in New York
- she is an expert on Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and also organizes tourist trips to these places
- she has dark circles, which she gets rid of with the help of rejuvenating creams
- is a pregnant woman who got rid of postpartum melasma
- she had her teeth fixed in Virginia
- she had eye surgery and is happy with the result
- she changed her nationality several times
There were no photos of her used only in advertisements, but were also included in the list employees. She became a company manager, guide, teacher and nanny. She became concerned when she saw that the childcare agency had a fake list of employees, as she wondered who was taking care of the children and how.
This happened because of one fatal mistake - the contract contained a paragraph in which 'name and personality change' option. That means that those who bought the photo can create a new persona perfectly legally.
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