Marc Schwartz, owner of the now defunct Celebration Studios, plead guilty to theft in NJ court this month. Guilty to the tune of nearly 1 million dollars. He was ordered to pay restitution to eight photographers whom he apparently stiffed as well as almost 250 wedding clients.
According to the NJ.com this criminal case comes on the heals of a civil case which cost Schwartz some $3 million in fines and penalties earlier this year. Holy cow!
Good news is that at least some of the couples were able to recover photos and videos of their events in the end. It’s a sad day and a black mark on our industry when any photographer burns a client but at least in this case the penalties seem to fit the crime.
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4 Comments at "Wedding Photographer Pleads Guilty to Theft"
I’m curious what the chances are that any of that will ever be paid. My read is that the assets of the business itself are virtually nil. Most of these businesses have a few sticks of furniture and some computer gear. They hire independent contractor photographers who provide their own cameras, etc. Complicating the ability of the brides and grooms to get their photographs is the fact that many of the photographers weren’t paid, and that copyright to any photographs taken still rests with those photographers if they weren’t paid and if any copyright transfer depends on their being paid. It could very well mean that the photographers will hold up allowing the brides and grooms to get their photos until and unless they’re paid first.
This was a criminal case and I believe Marc himself was charged not his business therefore he’s offered no protection by his corporation and damage payment would not be limited to his business assets if I understand the law correctly.
Many brides and grooms were already given their images by the AG office is my understanding.
This happened in the community I lived in 10 years ago. While this hurt all the photographers in the area, PPA advice was to remind us to to say anything bad about the criminal who was ruining the market for the rest of us.
Burrell offered to make prints for free, local photographers (including yours truly) pitched in with reshoots for free. The photographger/crook set his business on fire rather than make paid for re prints or albums. His clients lost thousands of dollars and images. We, the other photographers, suffered. I moved to another town.
The photographer was sentenced but did not serve any time. He lost a civil case but did not pay any money. He has a studio in Indiana.
My friend was amazed that one man could make a fool of 250 couples. I couldn’t believe it either. Then we read that he had 12 branches, it all made sense. Refusing to scale back in bad times means the money’s gotta come from somewhere to pay the overheads eg rentals. Where else would that come from? The deposits and advance payments are so convenient and tempting to the unscrupulous operator.
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