Eldest sibling gets caught selling her 24-year-old sister's photography online after 3 years of grifting free professional photoshoots: ‘Maya, I won’t be doing free shoots anymore'

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  • Female photographer taking photos in nature.
  • [I told] my sister I won't be her free photographer anymore after she started selling the photos?

    I (24F) have been into photography seriously for about three years. I sh ot mostly portraits and lifestyle stuff and I am genuinely decent at it.
  • My sister "Maya" (29F) knows this and for the past two years she has been asking me to shoot content for her fairly regularly.
  • Birthday photos, a few family events, some personal branding shots when she was updating her LinkedIn.
  • I did all of it for free because she's my sister and I liked doing it and it felt like good practice.
  • Woman taking photos for her sister to practice photography.
  • When I told Maya I wouldn't be doing free shoots anymore, the reaction was weird. At first she laughed like I was joking.
  • Then she got a little quiet. Then she said I was being dramatic and that family helps family.
  • I thought it would just blow over but then things got messy. A few weeks ago I found out through her Instagram that she had been selling some of the photos I took to a small stock photo website.
  • Not a lot of money, maybe thirty or forty dollars total based on what I could see.
  • But she never told me, never asked, and never offered me anything from it. Those are my photos.
  • I own the copyright. She just quietly monetized my work and said nothing. When I brought it up she said she didn't think it was a big deal since I "gave" her the photos.
  • I explained that giving someone photos for personal use is not the same as giving them the rights to sell them.
  • She said I was being overly technical and that I was making her feel like a bad person over basically nothing
  • Two women settling a disagreement in the family living room.
  • I told her calmly that I wouldn't be shooting for her for free going forward and that if she wanted to work together in the future we could talk about a fair arrangement.
  • She called me petty. My mom said I was being too rigid and that Maya didnt mean any harm.
  • Part of me gets it, she probably genuinely didn't understand the copyright side of it. But it still feels like a pretty big breach of trust and I dont think I am wrong for setting this boundary.
  • So am I the j for pulling back like this? TL;DR: shot free photos for my sister for two years, found out she was quietly selling them without telling me or sharing any of it, told her I wont shot for free anymore, now the whole family thinks I am being petty.
  • KeiylaPolly NTJ, not even a question. She knew they were worth money, which is why she sold them. She can take photos and sell them. The only reason anyone would call you petty is to try to guilt you into doing more free stuff they can profit off of. Maybe trying to ask her for a share of what she's already made would be petty-within your rights, but petty- but going forward? Naw, mate. She's wrong.
  • RangerEven9398 NTA at all. She took your work and sold it without even mentioning it - that's not al misunderstanding, that's just straight up using you The whole "family helps family" thing goes both ways and she clearly wasn't thinking about helping you when she was pocketing that money. Setting boundaries after someone takes advantage isn't petty, it's just basic self-respect
  • beckyann35 Tell the websites you own the copyright and never gave permission for them to be used and if they dont update their records and pay you youll be taking further action
  • m3cozz NTJ. You simply got tired of working for free and your sister even sold the photos. I don't know if she knew about the copyright. Even if she had known, she would be the j because she should have asked YOU before selling the photos because YOU are the one who took them.
  • kellieh1969 The fact that she marketed and sold your photos was just gross and showed you it wasn't a spur of the moment decision. Your sister doesn't value your time or your work. Your Mom apparently doesn't either since she said it's no big deal. I for sure would charge her for anything in the future. NTJ.

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