yes but even signing a release he wouldn't see a single euro from the photographer.

True. But then he might think twice before signing a paper to a stranger, probably in a language he doesn't know. Still, he could still be very na�ve and sign a release without having any idea people would be making money out of him.

AGE sold the image, AGE should be accountable in case of ANY issues, period.

I was, of course, just teasing you. But as you mention, some RM agencies at least seem still to live in the stone age. Micro-RF at least has its clearances things right, or they would out of business soon. And what to say about the buyer? There still seems to be a lot of ignorance with (occasional?) buyers. (I just suppose the image on AGE was marked as editorial). For instance the Crystalgraphics-Bigstock case a few years back, where we found our images for 70$ on CG, when they were less than 1/10th of that price on BS. A simple Google search could have saved they buyers a lot of money.

the problem lies with sub-distributors.
how can big agencies check their releases one by one ? and what if they're written in chinese or hindi ?

In fact they do, even if they are based in surreal countries like Spain, as I work with one based there and they do a pretty professional work.

There are really good translators from chinese, korean, arabic, etc. to english; you only need to scan the model release, apply OCR and translate to the western language of your choice and have a good understanding of the chinese, etc. model release.

Why if the photographer signed a contract with the agency, which ever was the agency that sold the image, saying that he had a MR and when the model release was requested the photographer smiled innocently, blincking his eyes, and said that, in fact, he had no MR signed with the greek chap? Nice thought! I bet this is what is happening here... 

The photographer never claimed he had the MR for the Greek guy picture. This pictures is sold under RM licence without MR and it is clearly stated to buyers. The Swedish company used it in a wrong way. Or, maybe, the agency was suposed to explain it to them?

How do you know? This image was sold apparently in 2001 or 2002 I'm not sure, but certainly it was not sold last week, thus what do you know what the photographer said then? What is being said today is irrelevant. There are factual things that we don�t know in this case...

in surreal countries like Spain,

Spain is not just about Salvador Dali, you know.   

Quote from: Paraphenildiamide on April 17, 2010, 18:10

in surreal countries like Spain,

Spain is not just about Salvador Dali, you know.   

Oh now you tell me after all this time? So much for my Persistence of Memory!

Here's the original and it's RM, no model release. Same link as Dook's message but without the comma! (so it will work) 

http://www.reflexstock.com/image/4407486/Greece-Arachoua-portrait-man-dressed-traditionally.html

Thanks RacePhoto! I made mistake trying to list two links.

]
You are the first person to do this EVER! 

a comma or a period or anything makes the address go to the site and show a 404 error, which makes people think something was removed.

By the way, good hunting. I didn't realize it was just the comma until after I went and spend time searching and came up with the same page and link.

As Paraphenildiamide pointed out, they could have changed the license or model release information, we don't know for sure, but it is what it is right now.

A very wealthy man walks into a bar and sees a beautiful
woman sitting at the bar. He walks up to her and asks her
if he can buy her a drink. She accepts and he says to her,
"I can't help but notice that you are exceptionally
beautiful. I am an extremely wealthy man and was wondering
if you would consider sleeping with me for one million dollars."

She thinks for a moment and replies:
"Well, yes...I accept."

The man sayes, "Would you sleep with me for ten dollars?"

She sayes, "What do you think I am, a WHORE???"

He sayes, "We've already established than, NOW, we are
negotiating the price!"

A very wealthy yogurt producer walks into a market and sees an
old Greek dude sitting at the bar. He walks up to him and asks him
if he can buy him a drink. He accepts and he says to him,
"I can't help but notice that you are exceptionally
ethnically Greek. I am an extremely wealthy Turkish yogurt producer and was wondering
if you would consider letting me use your likeness for one million dollars."

He thinks for a moment and replies:
"Well, yes...I accept."

The man says, "Can I use it without compensation?"

He says, "How dare you insult my ethnicity.  What do you think I am, a WHORE???"

The producer says, "We've already established than, NOW, we are
negotiating the price!"

The yoghurt company intends to seek compensation from the image library.

Looks like he was one the greek news today!

deltio-alpha

...and he's wearing a less traditional hat!