I received:

From: genco@[……..]
Subject: Copyright issues of an image…
Date: 2 December 2005 14:56:22 GMT

Dear Mr Muffett,

I am working for a publishing house in Turkey and I am writing to you on behalf of the company.

We are willing to use one of the images you used on your blog as the cover of one of our books which will be published in about a few weeks.

The mentioned image is one you are very familiar with I suppose, as you have re-located it to avoid heavy traffic. Anyway, this is the image I mentioned:

http://www.crypticide.com/users/alecm/albums/2005-london-1/660h-img-3581,orig.jpg

I am aware that the graffiti art belongs to someone else, but in your blog you mentioned the fact that it was you who took the picture. That being the case, I decided to ask for your permission first.

Furthermore, I would like to obtain hi-res version of the picture, preferably 300 dpi.

I would we glad if you could reply as soon as possible, we are on a tight deadline.

Thanks in advance,

Genco [……]
Editor
[……..] Publishing

I checked it out, they’re a sizable publishing house dealing in what appears to be serious fiction. I sent:

Dear Genco,

Thank you for your consideration in writing to me; I have considered the matter and would prefer not to have my photograph used on your book cover, since the publication of the image in a commercial context could be argued to impact my preferred role as an amateur photographer.

Further: although the work is in a public space and was photographed as such, I personally don’t feel it would be fair upon the artist to not involve them in a matter relating to how the imagery is used, since a sizable proportion of the image’s interest is of the work created by the artist.

For high-quality versions of the artwork, I would recommend contacting banksy@banksy.co.uk as the best print-ready resource.

Best wishes, and thank you again for contacting me.