Edit: Arch Enemy's singer and Thunderball Clothing's Marta Gabriel have issues statements regarding this dispute.

Arch Enemy's current front-woman Alissa White-Gluz and former front-woman/current manager Angela Gossow are under fire from Metal Blast after they've chosen to ban Metal Blast's own J Salmeron from photographing all future performances of the band. The ban stems from a dispute with both White-Gluz and Gossow and the photographer who published a photograph of White-Gluz at Fortarock festival. Salmeron noticed that his photograph of White-Gluz was appropriated by the merchandise company Thunderball Clothing and used for marketing their products without his approval.



J Salmeron is a lawyer as well as a photographer and is no stranger to seeing photographer's works stolen by others on Instagram, and imposes a harsh fee of ?500 to companies who post his photographs without his authorization. He even contacted White-Gluz directly via Instagram regarding her re-posting of his photograph to ensure bootleggers aren't appropriating the photo to profit behind Arch Enemy's back:



Regardless, Salmeron was willing to forgo the steep penalty by allowing Thunderball Clothing to donate ?100 directly to the Dutch Cancer Foundation as recompense for stealing his photograph, even allowing them to continue to use the photo. Unbeknownst to Salmeron, Gossow responded directly to his request for a donation (and not Thunderball Clothing as initially interpreted by Salmeron) reminding him that photographers are often excited to be compensated through exposure: "[...] Arch Enemy loves to have a nice cooperation between photographers, fans and festivals, and sharing moments from the concert is a way to stay connected. Generally speaking, photographers appreciate having their work shown as much as possible and we are thankful for the great photos concert photographers provide. [...]"

Despite Salmeron's attempts at clarifying that in this case he was willing to forgo the high fee he normally charges in lieu of ?100 in donations to the Dutch Cancer Foundation, Gossow replied: "[...] We have immediately removed the picture you took at FortaRock. By the way, we are sure you don't mind that you are not welcome anymore to take pictures of Arch Enemy performances in the future, at festivals or solo performances. I have copied in the label reps and booking agent who will inform promoters - no band wants to have photographers on site who later send such threatening correspondence to monetise on their images. [...]"
After being threatened by Gossow, Salmeron attempted to reach out to White-Gluz directly to rectify any misunderstandings, and received a chilling response from White-Gluz:



Arch Enemy has yet to respond publicly to the accusations set forth by J Salmeron. This sets a scary precedent for photographers wishing to participate in festivals and performances by bands. What are your thoughts regarding Arch Enemy's reaction to Salermon's request to be compensated for his photography? You can see J Salmeron's abridged summary of the debacle below:

Source:	metalblast.net
Band profile:	Arch Enemy