Life’s Lessons

Been using my iPad2 for almost a month now but I haven’t tried publishing a post from it. My main reason for getting a pre-owned iPad was to go online when we’re out because I find my laptop heavy for me. As if naman ako ang nagbibitbit ng laptop noh? Si Ace kaya.LOL. Okay, for the record, I wanted to document our life through Instagram at secondary reason
nalang yung medyo magaan ang bitbit pag lumalabas or may blogging events…or even out of town trips.

Since blogging is not the main reason for getting an iPad, I didn’t explore it much nor try to find out if I can blog from here until my Kumareng Paula commented in my previous post that iPad is really useful and “guessed” that I am using the iPad more than my laptop as she is using her iPad more than her MacBook. Actually, I don’t use much my iPad2 for work. I am using it for checking emails, facebook, twitter and instagram when I am still in bed in the morning and when I am about to sleep. So now I am trying to publish a post from my iPad and let’s see how this will go. Will I love blogging from it or not?

After I discovered that some of my photos are posted in one blog without my knowledge, and that many other Davao photographers’ photos are grabbed and posted in that blog without their permission, I sought other blogger’s take on the incident. One suggested I should reach the owner of the blog and tell him to take down the photos and if he doesn’t comply, I will report the blog to Google so Mr. Google will take down the blog. It’s hosted in blogspot so Mr. Google has the right to take down the blog and it will totally disappear from the web.

As I am reading Google’s policy on reporting copyright infringement matters, I was taken aback. Reporting for such case is not simple. I mean, the process is simple because I only have to provide some info but it is a serious matter and may take some legal action. So Mr. Google stated clearly that if the person (who will be reporting for copyright infringement concerns), doesn’t very well understood what covers it should seek legal advice before pursuing the complaint. I think I need not seek legal advice. Just by browsing for the criminal case question that I need to know about, I guess I’ll find the answer to my questions. Gaahhhh! This isn’t easy. But if the blog owner will not take down all the photos that he don’t own, other photographers would also find it fair enough to report his blog to Google so it will be taken down.

Photos shared in the web is not at all safe from photo grabbers who doesn’t even care to ask permission from the owner/s or credit whoever poncio pilato’s photo it is. I know there are cases of such photos stolen and posted by others in their weblogs or even their websites. As much as I want to search the web for such case with my photos, I don’t know what to do. So I just installed a plugin in my blog to disable select text and right click. I know my photos (forget about the content!) aren’t 100% safe from being stolen with that plug-in. But still, I was too lax to find other means to protect each and every photo that I am posting in my blogs and my flickr account.

The other night I read a known photographer and journalist’ status in FB through a friend’s wall about this blog she just stumbled. The blog is about Davao City – very informative and backed with tons of photos. While she is looking at the photos, some photos look familiar. Those are hers and her partner (who is also a known photographer in the city). The photos were grabbed and posted in the blog without their permission or even acknowledging the owners of the photos. Goodness!

Out of curiousity, I asked my friend for the said blog’s link. I wanted to know which blog because I might know who owns it. After a few moments, I got a message with the blog link. I visited the blog and scrolled down. After a few photos, I recognized something familiar. My photo is posted in the blog!

The photo below is a photo Ace took during our massage at the park experience that I posted in one of my blogs.

The photo is posted without my permission or even credit from where the blog author grabbed it. I believe I have other photos in that blog so I scanned some posts. Though I was expecting to see familiar photo, I was still surprised to see another very familiar photo! My photo of the Red Cockatoo I took at Crocodile Park years ago is striking in his page!

Though the photo has a watermark, it is almost invisible. Still, no credit or even a link to where he got the photo.

So blog author of Amazing Davao, strike two ka na!

It was beyond my sleeping time and I was too sleepy to continue scanning every blog post so I continued the search for my photos in the morning. Again, I found my photo of Arancillo Durian in one of the blog posts. For the third time, without CREDIT or link from the source of the photo.

The search doesn’t stop there. Something is telling me to scan more so I did….and found my photo of ISLA RETA “sitting” comfortably in somebody else’s blog! 

Strike four, Mr. Amazing Davao! To think that you are not really from this city, you should have asked permission from the owners of the photos you have posted on your blog. It’s pretty obvious that most if not all of the photos are sourced from the web. Though you have declared in your disclosure that photos are sourced from the web, it doesn’t excuse you from asking permission from the photo owners. If you haven’t been in the place or you don’t have a photo of the place/food/thing that you are blogging about, don’t post photos or better yet, don’t blog about it if you have no plans of asking permission from the owner/s. Have some respect because all my photos have my full copyright.