I’ve been robbed!
…of my intellectual property that is. What really hurts is that it’s not even one of my better works.
UPDATE (2009-09-15): The folks at Derana replied my email and apologised for the unauthorised use. They have taken off the pic from their site. I forgive them, but am keeping the post up, since I still think there will be a need for a stock photo site.
ORIGINAL POST: So I’m surfing the net on a lazy Sunday afternoon and I come across the pages of Ada Derana. I scroll down and find something that looks vaguely familiar (click on image for larger picture):
The picture highlighted seems a little familiar, so I click on the link http://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=5210 to get to the main story:
And there it is – why does this image look so incredibly familiar?
Then it occurs to me that this picture is identical to the one you will finid on my blog. Yes, the same one in the post Pow-Wow-II dated September 07, 2005. That’s not very nice. Especially since my blog has always carried a copyright notice, which generally means you’re not supposed to copy my work without my endorsement. Even then, the picture itself – if you were to browse on Flickr – is licensed under a Creative Commons license that requires the author to be acknowledged. Don’t see any of that either.
Is there any point in even bringing this to the attention of the authorities at Ada Derana? I drafted them an email just in case. What really irks me is that this is just a photo randomly taken, with no greater a camera than the one that comes with the Nokia 7260 (VGA, 640×480). Obviously it’s not high quality.
I can imagine photos by Thishya W, Chamil T or Sandun S (all of whom have some fantastic photos on Flickr) being stolen. But then again, those are just fantastic, high quality photos. Nothing very humdrum about them.
So here’s an idea for all you photographers out there in lovely Sri Lanka: A stock photo site. Maybe something like ThreeBlindMen, but with some ordinary, day to day photos thrown in (I’m not an expert, but I don’t think either Rukshan Jayewardene’s, Dominic Sansoni’s or Sebastian Posings’ photos can ever be called ordinary). Licensing might be an issue (did I mention that www.creativecommons.lk seems to be down?) but I’m sure there’s someone out there who can help. Charge an appropriate fee (not too expensive, since the local media prefer stealing, which only costs them their reputation) and you just might be on to something.
Sue the bastards!
Disco Bob
14 Sep 09 at 1:46 pm
Hey Bob! Thanks for dropping by. Actually, they replied to my email and have since taken off the photo. They apologised for the uninteded use, so I guess that’s ok.
Dulan
15 Sep 09 at 1:01 pm
Intellectual property is something people don’t really understand here, look at the DVD’s, the music, the amount of photocopying that goes on. There are businesses built on copying music (like Weeramantry) or study texts.
Anything on the web is generally regarded as free.
Your blog is pretty hard to navigate, by the way. Trying to dig up the archive and getting lost.
Jack Point
20 Sep 09 at 8:43 pm
Heya JP.
I gotta agree with you. Here in Sri Lanka Intellectual Property is just thrown out the window. But then again, mostly that’s because people say that they pirate it since the legal alternative is too expensive. The whole “Windows costs too much to buy, so I get it off a pirated CD” argument.
But come on, how much would it cost to simply acknowledge the author of a work? It’s a Creative Commons license, so there’s no charge – just a humble request for respect.
I mean, I’m delighted to know that a photo I took (crummy as it is) made it to the front page of a popular website. But what’s the point if I’m not acknowledged?
Dulan
22 Sep 09 at 8:05 pm