McCarty from West Hollywood has said he was left stunned after his photograph that shows a tiny toy Cinderella falling over in a war zone has been doctored by the ISIS and has been used by them to recruit new members. ISIS has swapped Cinderella for its black flag.
The Terrorist group had been using the image on various social media outlets including Twitter for over a year, McCarty however did not find out until a website that monitors the misuse of copyrighted material alerted him.
McCarty told a TV station ÂIt is a slap in the fact. It is outrageous. It is painful. He continued Âit was a message about, you know, no matter what, the Caliphate would survive. That even if war destroys everything, theyÂll still be hereÂ.
McCarty is well renowned for his work and many of his photographs are snapped in actual war zones, and have appeared in numerous books and museums across the world. His four-year-old War Toys Project has toured the world.
The image that has been copied by ISIS shows Cinderella with missiles falling above her. McCarty told CBS Los Angeles that this image was inspired by a young girl from Gaza and ironically was meant to promote peace. McCarty commented ÂTo have that particular photo turned into a piece of propaganda is just I canÂt possibly express how upsetting it is to see thatÂ.
McCarty and the website that found the photo- Pixsy contacted Twitter and other social media outlets in order to have the doctored images removed.
Pixsy commented in a blog post that it legal action is an option available to them on behalf of its member photographers when their work is stolen, but in this case it has opted not to as it would be Âsymbolic in natureÂ. The blog post continued ÂWith clear harm done to the photographer and a potential net worth of over $2 billion, the thugs at ISIS certainly have the means to compensate the photographerÂ. It further stated ÂAs egregious as the infringement is, however, neither Pixsy nor the photographer can accept money from a terrorist groupÂ.
