Aaron Marcus recounts when another actor discovered a company had used a still from his video in an ad without permission, including his name and home address. He contacted a lawyer and sent a cease-and-desist letter, and uses the story to argue actors should support each other instead of competing destructively.
Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus. If you're watching this on YouTube, please click the subscribe button and the little bell, the notification button, and that way every time I upload a new video, you'll be told about it. So look, everybody runs their lives in their own way. They're acting and modeling business in their own way. I want to share something with you that happened to me today, and maybe it will have you think a little bit differently. So there was another actor who had to do a lot of research, but he found me. The reason why he found me was because there's an online company, and I don't want to give out the name of the company, but they have ads on their site. And he noticed there was an ad, and they used an image. In this image, you see hands holding a residual check. And when he zeroed in and really zoomed in a little bit, he saw my name. And he wanted to make sure that I was aware that this company was using this image. As it turns out, I, as you know, create a lot of quick tip videos. And so there was one of them, and that was, that was the opening shot to the video. Somehow, for some reason, this company stole my image that I used at the very front of this video and used it in an ad. Not only is that highly illegal, but they also have my name And my address, my home, is on this check. It's a— once again, it's a residual check from a film that I did. And first of all, I was so thankful that this guy not only reached out, found my email address, he even went to an agent who he knows and asked if the agent knows me and asked her to forward the information to me. This guy was unbelievable. And, uh, I did contact an attorney just to see if she had any suggestions. I did send a letter to the company, and I don't want to get into that right now. If I do hear anything back, I'll let you guys know. But I guess the main point here is I was so blown away by this person's generosity. For them to take the time, because he was thinking, if this— if I actually wanted this ad or my image to be used, you know, I'm giving out my name and a home mailing address here in a still shot that you can, you know, just stare at, and it's being sent out across the United States, at least in the United States. I don't know about other countries. And he was concerned. And I just thought, that's just unbelievable. And, and I can tell you, look, in our industry there are a lot of people who feel very competitive with each other. I understand it. It's not a way that I go about, um, running my business when I go to an audition. And I can tell you, at the beginning of my career, I did. I would walk into an audition and I'm looking around the room and I'm thinking, Wow, I've seen that person on a TV show before, and now I'm starting to feel competitive with that person. Or, no, I think I look more right for this role than this person. And I'm getting into a crazy place of competing with other people. And it took me years to figure this out, but what I learned is we— I am not— I have no competition in this world. And I'm not saying that because I think I'm so good or anything. I don't have any competition, just like you You don't have any competition in this world. You're not competing with anybody else. The fact is, we all are born with certain genes. We all have a certain look. We have all had unique life experiences. We all bring something different to the table at an audition. And, and I truly believe if the role is right for us— and once again, assuming that you have talent— You're going to get the job. If the role is not right for you, for whatever reason, you're not going to get the job and somebody else will. And I really believe that the less time you spend comparing yourself to other people, the quicker you're going to have success. So I just want to toss this out there, especially in today's world where it's hard, you know, and we are thinking about ourselves, our family, our loved ones. But we also, at least for me, and once again, I never tell people what to do. It's not my job to do that. I don't think it's right for me to do that. I'm just sharing. For me, I think it's really important to continue to open, at least for me, to open myself up to be helpful to other people, to share with other people, to do what I can That will be beneficial to others. To me, it seems like a nice way to live your life. And, and I have done that for a number of years where I do surround myself with people who truly want to help each other. So anyhow, I, it's a, it was a very interesting experience. It was a touching experience for me today. Greatly appreciated what this gentleman did, and I just wanted to share that with you. Really quickly, if there's some things that you've experienced where people have been helpful to you, please share it below. Let other people know. If there are things that didn't go so well, share that also. That's why I create these videos, to help other people in the industry. And I just share experiences that I've had and currently have. In my life and in my acting and modeling career. So, you know, please do that. I also just want to let you know I do have an Instagram page. Follow me there. It's just Aaron R— for Robert— Aaron R. Marcus. Love to have you follow me there. I do share information there as well. And I do want to continue to build a large community of people helping each other. So please share this link, share my YouTube channel, my Acting and Modeling Quick Tip channel throughout your social media platforms, and let's continue to build a large community of people helping each other. I'm Aaron Marcus. Can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.
