If you create content online, you already know the value of using images legally. The internet is awash with copyright theft, and professional photographers and agencies understandably want to protect their work. But what happens when you think you’re playing by the rules — and still get hit with a copyright claim?
I recently received a very aggressive email from a company called Copytrack. They claimed an image I’d downloaded from the royalty-free site, Pixabay and used on my blog was a copyright infringement for the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany. Copytrack demanded over £1400 in compensation and retrospective rights, threatening legal action within a short timeframe if I failed either to pay up or prove I had the right to use the image.
When I set out to write this comic memoir of dogs, diesel, disaster – and a grand plan gone majestically sideways, I never imagined it would resonate so strongly with readers around the world. Yet here we are – tail-wagging, engine-spluttering, and grinning like fat-faced idiots – celebrating a shiny seal of approval from one of publishing’s most trusted review platforms.
The official Readers’ Favorite review is below, but first, a huge thank you to everyone who has supported this madcap journey: the readers who’ have laughed (and occasionally winced) along with me, the bloggers who champion indie travel writing, and of course, the dogs, who provided emotional support and comic timing throughout – even if their contribution largely involved snoring, snuggling, or stealing socks at pivotal plot moments.
Winning this seal of approval feels like a lovely nod to the heart behind the humour: acknowledging that life rarely sticks to the script, and often the best stories are born when everything goes delightfully wrong.
It’s been a difficult birth, what with my husband skiing off a mountain on my birthday and breaking his leg! Acting as full-time carer to him and The Fab Four, our four pooches, gave me little time to write, which put paid to blogging and delayed the launch.
However, early feedback has been very positive, with one reviewer, Drew Johnson, author of the Andalucian Adventures series, stating:
“I haven’t laughed so much at the written word since Pam Ayres released Some of Me Poetry in 1976!”
Author Robert Fear runs a creative writing showcase every year on his Fred’s Blog. This year, he is running it as a Writers’ Open House which is free to enter and open to all genres. You can find the Writers’ Open House submission guidelines HERE. The main stipulations are that it should be previously unpublished, and not AI generated. Multiple contributions and photos are encouraged!
Selected contributions may be published in a future anthology, although permission will be sought prior, and copyright remains with the author.