Though a double-decker bus may have crashed into an iconic building in Central London this week, another travesty managed to steal the accident's spotlight — reporters tripping over themselves for those sweet, sweet image rights.


This tiered — pun unavoidable — ordeal all began on Tuesday when one of the English city’s buses smashed into a building on New Oxford Street.



It’s unclear what sparked the crash, which left one passenger hospitalized — apparently the bus advertisement promising riders that their bus pass ‘could fly [them] sunny places was referring to the bright lights of the ER — another injury went down shortly after the accident, one localized in the Twitter comments section.


“Not sure how it happened but a bus crashed into a building near Tottenham Court Road Station,” self-described Londoner Mark Arby – @markarby — captioned the now-iconic snaps of the incident. “Police, Fire Brigade and ambulance in attendance.”



As the post began gaining traction, several news professionals began flocking to the comments, begging Arby to let them use his pictures in their coverage of the ordeal.


“Hi Mark, we hope you're OK. Would BBC London please be able to use your images in our coverage?” The British news outlet wrote shortly after the images were uploaded, a refrain parroted by several other media sources including London Live and GB News.



Though Arby gracefully obliged these asks, the sheer number of these inquiries launched a meme of their own, one parodied by the vast majority of commenters.


“Hi Mark, hope you're OK. Is it okay if we share this photo with a snarky comment about how cycling in London is often faster than driving or getting the bus?” joked @London_Cycling.



“Hi Mark. Hope you’re ok. Can I use your bank card number, expiry date and CVV? With due credit, of course,” joked @siddharth3 while @Rylan offered to give Arby the ultimate compensation for his photos.


“Hi Mark, I'd like to buy you this bus, with full credit to me. Thanks,” he wrote.


But hey, we can’t say we blame them. The only thing more embarrassing than begging strangers for assets is using good ‘ol fair use laws.