During the Pet Boarding fiasco, Maslinda informed me that photos were just being uplifted from my blog and published in mainstream newspapers. I did not receive any letter or phonecall or whatever, asking permission if the photos could be used. Some of the photos were taken by Maslinda and I credit her in my blog, but when published in these mainstream newspapers and online newspapers, no credit was given.
Then, yesterday, someone, out of good faith, informed me that my photograph with Indy (the one that appeared in The Star) was published in a children’s magazine. Huh? Again? So I wrote to the magazine editor to enquire, ie. Why did you publish my photograph without asking me or at least, telling me that you’ll be using it and what it would be used for? Could you please send me the article so that at least I would know what and why my photo was published (and I’m speaking for Indy too, of course). The editor said that photograph already belongs to the newspapers’ library of photos and can be used. Granted, fine if there is indeed such a law, but surely it isn’t too much to ask to be informed? Even if I have no right to object, surely I can be informed? Does this also mean they can now use my photograph anywhere they like, as and when they like? It doesn’t sound right to me, but nowadays, many things don’t sound right to me.
And the story doesn’t end there….today, someone, out of good faith, sent me this:
http://thumbnails.thestar.com.
Apparently, Cow’s Fish Pose is in the newspapers today, and again, there is no credit to where the photo is taken from. Granted, the lady who sent it informed me yesterday that she had sent in a few photos from my blog, but that was just yesterday. And I did not know she would not even acknowledge the source of the photograph.
Please…
1. Ask.
2. Give credit to the source.
That’s all.
May I now request, please, that if anyone wants to use the photographs from my blog or my books, could you please ask me first? And when you use it, could you please credit the source? I do not want to be slammed for plagiarism. I could be sued.
This photograph of Cow is in my book, Pawprints on My Heart. What happens when I reprint this book in future and someone says, “Hey, Kah Yein took this photo from the newspapers, I remember, but it belongs to someone else!”.
What happened sometime ago was that as a public speaker, I was asked for my powerpoint presentation, which I reluctantly gave, because it was asked by a friend. A year later, I gave the same presentation and a member of the audience came up to me to ask if I had plagiarised (copied) someone else’s presentation. I said no, this is mine, I prepared it myself. Then, the person told me she had seen the same slides given by this friend (whom I remembered had taken my slides) at a corporate training where fees were charged. He even put his name on the set of slides. I was appalled.
Which brings to mind when I attended a course five years ago. We were told to share our powerpoints with our classmates and I said no. I said everyone should at least make the effort to prepare our own materials. The coordinator then called me “bloody selfish” for not sharing. I don’t think it’s me being (bloody) selfish for not sharing. It’s some classmates being (bloody) lazy for not doing their own work.
There was also a case of me writing an email out to a group, and somebody found it good, copied my email (in my words), deleted my name, signed her name and sent it out as though it was from her! I cannot comprehend the mentality of people who do such things, can you? Have they no shame?
Many people do not know that it is basic courtesy to RESPECT intellectual property, that one should not take other people’s work and use it, or worse, claim it to be theirs. Or, being plain lazy, one does not do one’s own work, but copy others’ and use it.
Our education system has truly failed in teaching us basic courtesy, respect, good manners and hard work.
Now, that is sad.
But let’s get back to our animal stories now….
UPDATES at 3pm:
I’m touched that quite a number of the readers here have reported to the newspapers about this matter – thank you very much for doing that. I think this lady did it out of ignorance of copyright laws and respect for intellectual property.
I thought people would, at the very least, acknowledge the source, especially when submitting something to the public media.
So, here we go now….
If you’d like to share any posts from this blog, please acknowledge the source, or send it out as a link. Sharing is good and I truly appreciate it very much, but just do it properly, because I also don’t want to be accused of plagiarising my own work (!) when I see it published under someone else’s name! It has happened before….but these kinds of things only happen in Malaysia Boleh? Semua boleh? Apa pun boleh?
Photos, Photos, Photos…everywhere
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20 responses to “Photos, Photos, Photos…everywhere”
Hi Dr. Chan,
I've reported to The Star that this photo was taken without your permission.
I've seen some people putting a copyright on the picture to prevent unauthorised usage. I don't know how to do it, but when I find out, I'll let you know.
Dear Dr. Chan, I saw the picture in The Star and was a bit flummoxed to see other person's name as the contributor of that picture. Yes, I have to agree with you about some Malaysians lacking the courtesy to credit the original contributor of any academic or non-academic property of others. I had experienced it during my studies and most of the time I refused to work in groups due to that reason. Seems like there's a long way to go before we can really declare ourselves the society with 1st-class mentality.. *sigh*
My dear Kah Yein, these ignorants and opportunistics have no respect or sense of other's intellectual (not academic) property. It is widely accepted and respected when presenters decline to give out their slides during presentations citing intellectual property. Companies will also cite business competitive reasons.
KY, stamp all your photos with the words "AnimalCare" the way many professionals do their pics.
You are right to hold contempt for these selfish and opportunistic people. And to think that ignorant head-in-the-sand coordinator of yours actually had the gall to label you "selfish" when in actual fact he/she is ignorant!
Let them go eat cake, dear, and take positive steps to protect your intellectual property, kay?
All the best, we love you for your kindness, hat you do and don't let such people spoil your otherwise beautiful day! 🙂
KY, pls. file your complain to the Star at http://thumbnails.thestar.com.my/report.asp?id=8655, which states clearly:
"Photo submissions are accepted on the basis of trust that they are original works. If you have seen a photo submission somewhere else, please send us the URL of the original location. Please fill in your details along with the details of your report and where you have seen this photo."
Grab back your credit for Indy and yourself. Real thick skin, some people … have no shame!
Dear Dr. Chan. I have wrote to The Star [seen this photo somewhere]. Goodness gracious – have they no shame?? A direct plagiarism.
Yes, I agree to the above comments – Stamp it with "animalcare.my".
Tan Lay Khim, you phoney and intellectual thief! That not your original photo! It belongs to Dr. Chan Kah Yein, taken from her AnimalCare blog, that is her cat and that is her house and furniture, not yours!
Tak malu punya orang! 🙁
Dear Kah Yein,
Using without asking is call "stealing". I had reported to the STAR.
SherlynL
Dr Chan, this has happen to many people the best is to watermark yr photos, a little troublesome but it feels better to know no one will miss use your pics w/o your permission.
No, in due respect, I don't think this has anything to Malaysia Boleh, Semua Boleh and Apa Pun Boleh because many of us in the professional field, even in the Civil Service understand and are aware of intellectual rights. I think it has more to do with the ignorance of the less educated and those that lack working experience in the corporate world. But for some reason, I find much similar ignorance in the staff of our learning institutions.
i'm REALLY SORRY that i didn't think b4 submitting the photo. i've written an apology to the star.
i ask for forgiveness for my ignorance & stupidity.
I have reported as well! Using without permission is totally intolerable!
Hi Kah Yein,
I used to work at The Star before and also other publications. As a photographer it does pain me to see people stealing photos and not crediting the owner of the image. This is worse when the image is used for commercial reasons (to get money, advertise, presentations, etc). The internet makes it so easy to take other people's images . It takes effort to shoot images and if people intend to use them they should pay a fee or offer a small token in exchange, or the least they can do is to credit the photographer after asking for permission. Don't worry about being called stingy or selfish, if in doing so we protect our rights then so be it. I'm sure many of us readers are very proud of your work and you should be too!
Using somebody else's photos are called stealing.And that's true!!
Valkyrie Edgely..
Hi Dr. Chan,
I've made a complaint too. Very undignified of TheStar.
Hi Dr. Chan,
I think its best that you watermark your photos from now on. It might be tedious but will save you from problems later on.
They might use them for unscrupulous purposes. Unsuspecting people might think that you're endorsing their cause or products.
Hi Kah Yein,
I've also submitted a report to The Star about the photo.
I hope your future photos will be watermarked from now on. People are always looking for shortcuts in life, and so they take/steal what belongs to others with no guilt at all.
You can try Picnik for watermarking and basic editing:
http://www.picnik.com/
I'm not 100% sure as I don't use blogger/blogspot, but it seems that you can edit photos that you store on Picasa Web Albums (also by Google, just like blogger/blogspot) using Picnik. You can log into Picasa Web Albums using the same login info as this blog, I *think* those photos you uploaded on this blog is also there.
If you don't want to deal with the integration, I believe you can still upload photos and edit on Picnik, as it's a web-based service.
But again, I'm not 100% sure on the integration part as I'm not using the service. 🙂
I am amaze at the ignorence of Khim by apologising to The Star. She is obviously still not aware of her mistake. Sigh…….
Even better than watermarking (but you can still watermark as an added effort to stamp your ownership much like you double-cross photostats of your IC with words like "For JPJ use only", etc.), you can use software to secure all your images by withholding permissions for download and saving. Secure all your files.
Khim, we forgive you, sometimes things may seem so innocent and we all make mistakes at one time or other, sometimes very silly ones too, that later when we think back we also cannot imagine how we could have possibly done them. Let us forgive and move on, kay? 🙂
Peace, love and forgiveness everywhere, everyone …
watermark the pictures and also apply javascript for no right click option.