Note: This Post is sticky for the time being. The regular posts continue below. I will be updating this post as and when I get some new information.
Update (27/12/2007): I have made this post unsticky in honor of these pictures from Prashar Lake in December (pictures courtesy Anil, my colleague).
Yesterday I took a flight from Delhi to Bangalore. I picked up the flight magazine (December Issue). I found that in their feature article they have taken a picture of mine with a credit to someone else. And of course there is no question of asking my permission as the credit is given to someone else. I am mad.
After consulting a lot of people through mail and putting the same question at Indiamike, I have written to the airline but this being end of the year I doubt I will hear back soon. I will wait for a decent period of time (say January 15 or should I wait longer?) before putting a post with the name of the airline.
Update 1 (24/12/2007): I heard from the airline and the editor who handles the work for the airline. I must say they are prompt. I wrote them over on the weekend and by Monday morning I got the reply. The editor says they got the picture from the person who they have attributed it to. According to the editor the person is one of the top travel writers in India. The editor has asked for one week’s time to get back to me. So far so good.
Update 2 (25/12/2007): I had googled the author to whom the picture was attributed and I wrote a mail to him asking if he had any idea how he got the credit for the picture? I got a reply. He says he was away and an assistant sent the pictures. When one of his was not opening, the assistant simply downloaded a picture from the internet and sent it to the magazine editor that turned out to be mine. He admits there has been a mistake and says he is willing to write to the editor and also pay me out of his own pocket. I agreed to writing to the editor but of course not to paying out of pocket. Looks like the thing will settled quickly? I will now wait to hear from the editor and the airline again.
Update 3 (26/12/2007): Heard from the editor again. He says they will print a correction in the next issue and pay me for the picture. Also said they would try to put a system in place so that such incidents can be minimized. I asked if I could get a copy of the issue in which the clarification occurs. I hope I will! The editor didn’t mention what they would pay I didn’t ask. But I think this should be the end of the matter.
I will make this un-sticky only when I see the correction. The worst part in this whole episode is the role of chance. Had I not taken that flight with the particular airline , I would have never known about this whole stuff.
There have been quite few incidents like this happening, especially since there is no medium over net to control the usage of photos… its easy to download and use..hopefully things would get sorted out soon and next time they take pain of asking before publishing…
What a frustrating thing that is! I hope that they make some amends to you and it gets sorted out.
copyright theft is a fairly common incident since the internet came of age. I keep hearing about this problem from people every now and then.. The airline is probably not guilty though they have to own the responsibility, because nearly every airline outsources the job of publishing their inflight mags and they don’t really control the content much. And to be honest, I have every doubt that your complaint would get any response at all..
Hi Mridula, Its an exceptional photo. After you have ensured that the photo is certainly yours, you should call up the airline and press charges.They should carry a notification next time in their magazine.
Consider adding a watermark to all your images now onwards.
Whoever stole your photograph apparently assumed that the probability of your travelling on a flight run by that airline while that particular issue of the magazine was in circulation, was quite low.I do hope that you manage to secure a copy and keep it safe, for your record, besides publishing the name of the person who has been credited with having taken the photo, as well as the name of the airline, on this blog-post. If they set things right, later on, you could update the post with the relevant details of that too. I suppose that should not be a problem, since you have already chosen to reveal your identity on your blog.Stunning photograph, BTW!:)
They used the photo to because they wanted to be associated with it , in the same way there are a number of things they don´t want to be associated with. Basically they have paid for good publicity , and are risking bad. Keep on being firm but civil and you will be in a strong position. If nothing happens , you could also reconsider the size of your posted photographs. The photo looks great in your link , but in the original context it would be smaller, still very good . It´s my guess that they would hesitate to bring a smaller photo (say 500 x 300 pixels ) to the printers instead of the present higher resolution.I´ve been in a similar situation with the local paper , it really ticks you off – and should do so. Hang in there.
I´d be very careful before laying responsibility on the photographer.Photographers don´t have influence over how their work is presented, or even write captions. Attributing the captions are done by writers and editors . It could even have been a mistake , collecting work from several different workers and sources, mixing up research and own material.In my own case I know it was the journalist who was at fault : having misplaced my name he substituted it with the staff photograhers because he knew that the editors wouldn´t let a a non credited photo be used with his article.
This is a real Joke. I guess now you should take firm action against it. I just cant believe how an airline comp do it. Recently I found some of the pics of one blog is taken from other sites, which you also visits :-)So this has been a common feature now a days, lets shout against plagiarism. Take care
Where was this photo taken – Auli? BTW how do you know that it’s the same photo that you took?? Someone else may have taken this picture from the same spot – isn’t it possible????
Sathish and Cindy, things seem to be moving in the right direction and thanks for stopping by.Arun you are right about the magazine being outsourced but the good thing is they responded and responded fast.Sudhir, thanks a lot for the comment. I was quite sure the photo is mine! And now it seems this could get resolved.Srinidhi, I will have to find out what is a watermark! Thanks for the suggestion.Vistet, thanks for sharing and I am hanging in there.Sidhu, whoever visits Auli I am sure clicks a similar photograph 🙂 About reveling the identity, I will think about it.Vistet in this case too it seems that the error happened at the photographer’s end. And thanks for stopping by again.Pijush, I am all for shouting against plagiarism. And thanks for sharing.Atul, the photograph was taken at Auli. And I am pretty sure the picture is mine because the cloud formation and the position of the trolley are exactly identical in both the pictures. Sure there are many such pictures on the net (I have done a Google image search) but this one always gets associated with me. Now I have heard from the photographer too, and he admits the picture is mine.
Loved the coorg pics….just returned from a hike in coorg….wat a lovely place isnt it?
Ajeya, I agree Coorg is a lovely place. So when are you putting up a post and the pictures?
I’m Joe’s friend and came to know about this through him. To be honest I am surprised to see the quick response you got (which is not common these days !). I am glad it is solved and they gave you credit for the photograph.
Din, Thanks a lot for your comment. I hope Jo too will get compensation. For me I think the airline wanted to see the matter settled and may have put some pressure on the editor. The airline listed the address of the CEO and his assistant replied promptly and remained on the issue till the end. That was my first point of contact. I am not at all impressed by the professionalism of the editor. I had to literally threaten him that I will publish the names both here and at Indiamike and only then I got the desired response.
A few years ago a reputed web site that deals with development issues ran a story on a turtle conservation initiative in a vilage in north Kerala. I realised the writer had copied large portions of the feature from the web site of our documentary film “Amakaar – The Turtle People”. The film tells the story of the same initiative, and instead of going there and doing his work as a professional, the writer chose to copy our work. When I brought this to the notice of the editor they tried to buck the issue, but faced with the evidence they apologised. Unfortunately the writer continues to “write” and publish on several sites.
Hello Mridula!How are you?Remembered this post when I read an article on Copyright infringement in MINT last week. Made a Blog Cartoon related to the issue.Sharing the same with you. Take care and RegardsRK
Anonymous, I know, it is so common! Thanks for sharing your experience.Bellur, Thanks for sharing the cartoon.