Rex |

How would you feel if, while entering the largest mall in your city, you see posters at the main entrance bearing a particularly familiar photograph? It isn’t the main element of the poster, but seeing the little photo immediately brings flashes of memory that in a split-second lead you to realize – THAT PHOTO IS MINE!!!

I decided to go to SM City Iloilo this afternoon to try to buy some stuff. As I approached the entrance, a large poster caught my attention. Its title “1st Indigenous Fashion Market Week” made me feel glad of the continuing efforts to promote the local weaving industry. Then I spotted something eerily familiar.

Someone ripped off my photo!

Someone seems to have taken interest on one of my Hablon weaving photos posted at the Iloilo Photoblog and used it in the promotional poster. It should have been no problem if they cited their source of the photo but I checked the poster from corner to corner to corner to corner and found no credits whatsoever. Strike 1!

The poster at the SM City Iloilo entrance

While I am happy to have very subtly helped the local textile industry in their promotions, I am also very disappointed at the ignorance of whoever took the photo off the internet because each page of the Iloilo Photoblog already contains very stern reminders (c/o Marc) against copying photos without permission:

Copying or posting these images without asking permission from their respective photographers is stealing and stealing is a crime that is punishable by law. These photographers spend great efforts in taking these pictures and they would also like to be credited for the work. Respect!

Perhaps they overlooked the above reminder? I don’t think so. Whoever ripped the photo off the internet was very determined. Both the photo blog and Flickr pages where it is posted are protected against right clicking so extra innovative steps would have been necessary to successfully copy the picture. The photo is also watermarked with my initials, signature, and email address but these have been intentionally cropped out.

Another version of the poster in the mall

This isn’t the first time I was surprised to see my photo used in tarpaulins. The Iloilo Provincial Government also used one of my photos of the Arroyo Fountain during an event but they did provide credits. It was almost invisible but the credits were there.

A poster by the Iloilo Provincial Government carried the proper credits, even if it was almost invisible

I am not after money nor fame nor anything of that sort. What I want is for everyone to stop being ignorant and defiant of intellectual property rights. Please, if you are able, do send me an email or whatever notification if you will be using my photos. Otherwise, a readable one-line credit (or link for websites) will suffice. It’s just a matter of respect to the copyright holder.

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