Images Featured on ABC’s “Good Morning America”
It’s not a sight that I ever want to see while storm chasing. Violent and deadly tornadoes ripped across parts of Missouri and Oklahoma on May 22 causing at least 3 fatalities in Golden City, Missouri.
My view of the Golden City, MO tornado prior to it moving through town just before 9 PM. Large, ground-scraping meso and possibly a multi-vortex tornado from the few screen grabs I have from video. #mowx @NWSSpringfield pic.twitter.com/40eBsVEr5D
— Paul Knightly (@PaulKnightly) May 23, 2019
I shared a series of images on Twitter that revealed it was very likely a multi-vortex tornado that struck Golden City. Those images were initially picked up by ABC and shared without my permission. I am happy that after contacting them they did the right thing and we settled on a licensing agreement at a fair rate.
I don’t really care about earning money while I chase – if I did, I would shoot video that has a much higher likelihood of being licensed than still imagery. I also did not like that I had to pursue a copyright claim in the wake of a disaster where lives were lost.
I do care about others who use my images or media in a for-profit manner without my permission and I support any other photographers, videographers, or creatives who find themselves in similar situations. At the end of the day, all I ask is for help to fill up the gas tank and in covering my expenses if my weather images are to be used on a major network broadcast. Thank you ABC for quickly rectifying the matter and I hope that we can work together again in the future.
The images I took are featured in the video below around the 1:45 mark.