2.11.2010

Thou Shalt Not Steal

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I was browsing the internet this afternoon when i saw the article "85% of Marikina Businesses Resume Operations" at the official Marikina Goverment Website. I thought it was a brief yet interesting post. Very good news indeed. But wait. Hmmm, something doesn't seem right. I moved my eyes closer to my monitor and I was devastatingly surprised to see this. What is my photo doing in this website???

I know I should be honored.  I should be jumping for joy to know that a goverment website like the official Marikina website would use a small-time blog's photo and post it on their page. I should be running and screaming inside my room for getting noticed.

NOT. I am not honored, I am not jumping for joy and I am not running and screaming inside my room for that. Because I felt I was robbed, disrespected, belittled and awfully betrayed by some big-time web developers that cannot come up with his own photos. Some of you might think that it was not really a big deal because they never took out my name on that photo, but it was. They never bothered to email me and ask for my consent. They never even bothered to mention the photographer's name or the blog where they took that photo from.

I already wrote to them right after seeing the photo. I just hope that the moderators of the said website would read this and write me an explanation on their take on this matter. This post is dedicated to all the photographers who have been robbed and disrespected.

Updates:

February 18, 2010: I visited the Office of the Mayor to present my complaint letter. I also presented a copy of the same letter to Councilor Donn Favis, the head of the Marikina Management Information Systems. I will continue my fight no matter what.

March 23, 2010: Finally, I've received a formal apology letter from a Mr. Ramil Nafarrette, claiming to be one of the web developers of the said website. Although, i still didn't feel comfortable reading about his opinion on fair use of copyrighted materials, which i thought was PURE CRAP because this was all about disrespect, I thought that his words were somehow sincere and apologetic.  May this occurrence serve as a lesson to every artist out there to be vigilant and protective with your creations.  Don't let anyone step on you and always put up a good fight when they try to break you.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

it only goes to show the lack of the integrity of the people representing our government...

i wouldnt be surprised if they think its OK to steal once photo..They've been stealing since time and memorial...

Lee said...

The fact that the official Marikina site stole your photo without permission or credit says two things to me: first it says that your work is impressive to them--enough so that they want to use it on their site. Second, it says that the leaders and developers of their site are dishonest theifs.

Anonymous said...

I hope they give you a credit of what you have contributed to their needs.

Anonymous said...

hi wenz, ganda ng mga photos mo...grabe!!! One of a kind tlga.
and i understand what u feel about wat happen... especially kung ganito kkaganda mga shots mo... they should ask for your consent...or they could just put ur name, ryt?... tsk tsk tsk... atleast u found out... kkhiya ang nagnakaw ng pics mo... malalaman ng mrami ang effort nya ng pagnnakaw. hehhehe...

Anonymous said...

Wow!!! it's just like a grade one student copying his/her seatmates work... mmmmmm...that's not nice!!! if you do that to them for sure you'll be in a big big trouble and need to pay them a big fine and they might be also charge a lawsuit against you...they can easily do it to others but you are not allowed to do it to them...really not nice!!!hope you'll get credit for it.

Anonymous said...

yung tropa ko nga ganyan din nangyari...pero sa manila bulletin lumabas ang pic niya...; P walang ng magawa...:(

Unknown said...

The integrity of the whole city rests upon the act of a lazy bum that cannot get a high res picture by themselves and just with a help from google images, found a nice one. Sorry Wencel...a great picture. Copy paste?
I was there late last year and the city of Marikina is not as it was before. I don't remember it as a town full of people that only think about themselves. I lived there for a good 23 years and I love my town. Not to emphasize on all people but if they're just "dayo" in our town and don't have our same values, just give us a litttle respect. Don't spit on our town and call it your own when you do plagarism.
Wencel, keep up the good work. This will be a form of flattery but stay vigilant for the sake of your art. What's next, they win a Pulitzer for your work?

joandarling said...

hi, wencel,

here's an input on intellectual property rights regarding your "stolen intellectual property":

http://philippinelegalresearch.blogspot.com/2009/10/intellectual-property-rights-of-artist.html

hope it helps.

JC said...

this is really a bad practice... as far as im aware.. you still cannot email them until now since the mail server was broken...

i WAS one of the guys maintaining the site and i kinda know this will happen in the future...

i will do whatever i can to let them know about this issue..

Anonymous said...

ohhhh....you have all the right to take legal action against the Marikina Web Developer. I would personally write a formal letter to the Mayor explaining about the situation. The photo is posted to your blog but you have a copyrighted on the picture let alone your name on it. Seriously, you should take time to write a letter to the Mayor. Its not about monetary or being honored but its about respect of asking you if you would like to share your photos to be posted to their site.

JC said...

I also posted a topic for this at http://www.marikinavalley.com/spotlight-marikina-city/photographer's-sentiment/ I will make sure this will reach everyone. I will contact the guys there so they can take actions.

thanks for bringing this up.

harris said...

waaa, unga meron pa watermark ung pic oh, wencel angeles. Good to see u going strong bro! -Harris 2, Baguio (ako bumili ng dvd mo noon featuring sagada hehe)

Anonymous said...

dont they know the meaning integrity and honesty? im a photo enthusiast myself and i would definitely the same way. you should give you some credit.

Anonymous said...

dont they know the meaning integrity and honesty? im a photo enthusiast myself and i would definitely the same way. you should give you some credit.

Aki said...

tsk tsk! bad!! the thought of having to fight for your rights as a photographer can be daunting, but keep at it.

Anonymous said...

Wencel,
You should do the same as Carlo J. Caparas did some time ago, when he fighted for his intellectual rights as an artist. I really believe in what you do as an artist when it comes to photography. You really make a picture "paint a thousand words". Good luck!

Regards,
BO

Veesone said...

Always ask questions, especially when it comes to government. I seriously doubt that the Mayor was completely in the dark. To them, this might be a minor issue," Oh, it's just a picture", but it was and still is "YOUR" picture.Keep bringing awareness to this issue and these lazy bastards will get what they deserve.

Unknown said...

i fully understand the feeling . . .kahit nga isang photo that they use without your permission is outrageous . . .doesn't take a lot of effort to email you and ask . . .wouldn't you allow that when asked . . . if ever they do contact you and apologize . . .i know you would accept it and might even get that opportunity to work with them

mabuhay ka . . . wencel!

Anonymous said...

i understand ur sentiment, i have personal works, and sometimes it gets me when my brother or sister uses it for their personal diskarte, nakakainis, what gets me through it, isip ko na lang kapatid ko nman yan. I think we should let this go, sure you were not acknowledge the way you want, but i think your work was used not for profit, but for news, for Marikina City, there is such thing as "fair use". I was looking at the picture, and your name was still there. Tampo lang cguro yan, let it go, marikina naman yan. anyway, it's ur work, write them a formal complaint.

Anonymous said...

Sec. 185. Fair Use of a Copyrighted Work. -
185.1. The fair use of a copyrighted work for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching including multiple copies for classroom use, scholarship, research, and similar purposes is not an infringement of copyright.

Just saying.

Biyaheng Pinoy said...

Quoting from a past comment from MarikinaValley.com:

Regardless of all these laws and copyright justice, it all boils down to one thing. RESPECT. You disrespected me as a person, you disrespected me as a Marikina citizen, you disrespected my right as the rightful owner of the photo, and you brought such disgrace to the entire department of the Management Information Systems of Marikina.

FloridaBeachRealty.net said...

Keep posting, good blog!

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Marikeno said...

Mr. Ramil Nafarette AKA Anonymous, Pagnanakaw pa rin yun di ba? May nagsabi sa akin na taga municipyo na matagal niyo na raw ginagawa yan. Gaano katotoo yun?