Backpacker Magazine & Outside Inc. Stole My Work (Three Times and Counting)

Backpacker Magazine and Outside Inc. have stolen and published my work without credit or compensation for a third time.

And you know what they say: steal from me once, shame on you; steal from me twice, shame on me; steal from me thrice, and the internet shall hear tales of your crimes, and great shame will be visited upon you.

A quick lesson for those unfamiliar with how Outside and Backpacker are related. Outside Inc. has been buying up and squeezing revenue out of small outdoor companies for years now—Gaia GPS, Fastest Known Time, Trailforks, Pinkbike, and Backpacker Magazine, to name a few. Backpacker Magazine, for example, has gone from a once-respectable outdoor print publication to what can most concisely be described as an incessant stream of clickbait, memes, and low-quality content written for search engines instead of humans.

You can basically think of Outside’s overarching slogan/mission as “Putting the private equity in public lands.” Want to steal something else, Outside? That one’s for free.

Don’t be fooled into thinking Backpacker or Outside is a small and humble outdoor media brand. Revenues are in the tens of millions of dollars – if not more (Backpacker was purchased for $14.5 million). They have offices around the world and hundreds of employees. They have raised over $150 million in venture capital funding and boast over 1 million Outside+ subscribers at $7.49 per month (if you have a subscription, cancel it). This is no scrappy operation.

But enough about how Outside Inc. is far from a victim. We’re here to talk about how they play dumb and refuse to compensate creators fairly. And it would seem they’re very well aware that they’re doing this, as they even have an address for DMCA Requests (i.e., a place for people to submit copyright complaints) on their about page.

Speaking of DMCA Requests, here are the three times (and counting) my work has been used without permission or compensation.

The first time Outside stole my work was for an article on Professor, a thru-hiker who had completed the Calendar Year Triple Crown—that is, he hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and Appalachian Trail all in a calendar year. Neat stuff and a nice guy. Backpacker used my photo as the cover image for this article, which was posted to their website without my permission. The photo was also shared on their social media channels.

No compensation was offered. Outside and Backpacker do not support outdoor creatives.

The second time Outside stole my work was when it used a photo I took of Nick Fowler during his record-setting Pacific Crest Trail attempt. Neat stuff and nice guy (check out his book about his Pacific Northwest Trail FKT). I am sorry to Nick and Professor for having to be the faces of this post. Fastest Known Time used the photo in a newsletter (which is still live), posted it on the web, and shared it on social media.

No compensation was offered. Outside and Backpacker do not support outdoor creatives.

The third time Outside stole my work was when they used the same photo of Professor in a social media post. Yes, the exact same photo I had to have taken down once already, being used once again.

No compensation was offered. Outside and Backpacker do not support outdoor creatives.

This time around, the person running the Backapacker Instagram account responded to my messages asking that the photo be taken down. I was put in touch with an editor, Adam Roy.

I was told via phone call that they were sorry. Very sorry. I suppose I should pay for my next camera cleaning or my month’s worth of website hosting with a well-placed sorry. Funny, I didn’t know this was an option.

Beyond the lip service, what were the fruits of this conversation? A task given to me: be on the lookout for any additional content being used without permission. Excuse me? Why is this suddenly my job? Indeed, it has apparently been my job until now to police the use of photos by Outside, but why a vast media conglomerate cannot find a way to do this on its own is beyond me.

When I asked who I should invoice if this happened again, I was told, “We’ll go from there.” What a poorly disguised way to tell me, “No, you’re not going to be compensated,” immediately after telling me this was never going to happen again.

To add insult to injury, I was also asked to explain how this happened. Again, why I am responsible for explaining how this has happened for the third time is inconceivable. If anyone here deserves an explanation, it’s me (note: I have as of yet received zero explanation).

After we hung up, I took to Instagram to update everyone on what had transpired. My message? Unfollow @backpackermag and @outsidemagazine.

It would seem that Adam was made aware of this as he followed up via email.

Realizing I was not pleased with the outcome of our phone call, he offered me a premium price of $150 for permission to use the photo one time. It was emphasized what a favor I was being done here – I should only be so lucky to have an tremendous offer such as this.

But let me tell you, friend, this is an embarrassingly small offer of recompense—and is less than I would have initially quoted had I been approached before the unauthorized use of the photo. Quite literally, this is the definition of too little, too late.

It would be one thing if the offending party here were a cottage gear manufacturer who used a photo someone took of their product without fully understanding the digital media landscape. I’m not here to lash out at people for making honest mistakes, especially those who care about the same things I do.

But Outside Inc. is built on digital media (and now only digital media as they kill the print versions of all their properties); they have no excuse. And did I mention this is the third time?

But I digress.

I hope this post brings awareness to how Outside Inc. treats people in the outdoor space and encourages others who have had similar experiences to come forward and share. If you’ve made your way to Halfway Anywhere, chances are you’re one of the real ones. I’m happy to let Outside be the go-to clickbait meme factory for all those who aren’t actually outside getting after it. It’s enough to know that those with boots on the ground know the truth.

As alluded to above, I know I’m not the only one out here who has had a terrible experience with Outside, Backpacker, or another arm of the company. If you, too, have had your work stolen, have not been fairly compensated, or have something else to share about the multi-million dollar outdoor media company getting rich off the work and feats of others, please leave a comment and share it below.

Don’t have a personal experience to share, but still want something actionable? Unfollow @backpackermag and @outsidemagazine, cancel your Outside+ subscription, comment on their socials and tell them they should be fairly compensating creators, and share this article with your friends in the outdoor space.