This is shocking but unfortunately true. Our leading dailies make a business out of the photographs clicked by many of us. And they have the audacity to use them without permission , credit or compensation as well, even if they are against the copyright license. One of my pictures got “flicked” from my Flickr stream and got published in a weekly supplement of TOI’s called, “What’s Hot”, dated 18th July’08. I happened to take a look at this supplement quite by chance because it was lying around and I had nothing better to do. I immediately called up the editor of this supplement – a lady called Poonam singh – who said she will look into the issue. I wrote about 3 mails in all, asking for (a very meagre) compensation for the damages done as well as credit. For one, I never got a response in written – but of course that would mean acknowledging the theft. When I called up, I was told that it is common practice to “use” free images from the net! Flabbergasted at the audacity of this all, I clearly asked whether TOI staff was blind or illiterate to not be able to make out the clearly written statement on my flickr stream and my copyright license, both of which stated that my images can NOT be used without my explicit permission – ALL rights reserved. This is plagiarism in its full glory. Not only this, on asking for compensation, Ms. Poonam singh clearly told me that as a next step I could even go to lawyers and that this case will then be forwarded to the legal department of TOI. Huh? Was this a threat? Or a challenge? They actually go ahead, use an image with “all rights reserved” clearly mentioned on my page, have the audacity to state that this happens all the time – the “graphics designer may not know” and that I could go take the legal route?
Well, I clearly understand that it was not the editor herself stealing my image, but some downtrodden employee. But then undoubtedly, Ms. Poonam Singh, who represents the Times of India, is not performing her job of being an editor, if her employees are violating copyrights! Who is responsible for educating employees about copyright violation and the legal ramifications of it? How come the Indian publishing industry takes this so lightly, whereas the Indian IT industry (of which I am a part) takes IPR’s, patents and copyright violations so seriously that they throw out employees who download pirated mp3’s on their machines? I have undergone trainings on ethics a zillion times in my career. We have had several instances of audits, policies stuffed down our throats and what not. Why? Because the Indian IT industry takes this matter seriously. On the other hand, nauseatingly so, the Indian publishing industry takes this as its birthright!
The Indian Copyright Act, 1957; Section 63 – states that copyright infringement, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to three years and with fine which shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees but which may extend to two lakh rupees.
The law is on our side, the proof is in our hands and YET victims like us, do not do anything about this. After I shared my story on flickr, I shockingly realised that this practice is so rampant! I now know of many more cases like me, all of us bleeding because our creation has been stolen and used for a commercial purpose and we could do nothing but helplessly watch.
When I asked TOI for compensation, I was told that they will pay what they pay to their own photographers, which is a grand sum of 250 INR. I am tired of using this word repeatedly, but yet again, I was shocked and told the editor to keep this princely sum with herself. I was then offered 1500 INR as a “last offer” since this picture had been taken and used without my permission (such euphemism for THEFT). Just who the hell is TOI to decide compensation for MY piece of work? I do not exactly shout this from the top of trees, but like hell they need to realise a couple of things. That photography is not just a passion with me, it’s also a road to an alternate career for me. That I take it seriously, I spend money in equipment, in attaining knowledge, I spend time, effort and my resources to make a “creation”, which later I SELL. That I am at this juncture of being somewhat known in the Delhi Photography circuit (not just amateur but professional as well). That I co-administer a rather active group of Delhi based photographers, which consists of the likes of Dinesh Khanna and Pablo Bartholomew. That I also sell my prints to well known connoisseurs in the same field. Just how the hell can the Time of India value my piece of work? That’s like stealing my Mercedes and paying me for a Maruti, mind you, only because they happened to get caught red handed? Yes, I am expensive, but did TOI care? They just stole my picture without asking me how costly I am.
I have no idea, how many such images are being used on a daily basis – they could be anyones, but I do know that this nefarious practice is increasing day by day. I also plan to start a “morcha” against this kind of theft. I know of a lot of cases already and if you know of any, please get in touch. All readers of this post, I would request you to please share it widely, so that we can attack this disease as a people and not as an individual. The next stolen picture could be yours. I will certainly take legal action against Time of India. Even if it proves futile, I would not like to be in a state where I am doomed to wonder for the rest of my life – what if.
UPDATE – this issue has been resolved, thanks to all of you for your support. I have received the desired compensation, corrigendum as well as a written apology. I’ll be updating about the details in a separate post.
I feel the frustration, TF. I’m taking down my Flikr photostream today. But what about all the stuff posted on my blog? (I normally post only the Grade B stuff there, but I have got carried away on occasion)
Moral – if it’s of value to you, do NOT put it on the Net.
J.A.P.
They can’t take you for a ride like this.
Good luck.
Would posting only low res pics with a watermark be an alternative?
That is ridiculous! Top guns are so openly violating laws!
I appreciate you contacting me – I too am effected by these thiefs stealing my picture and publishing it in their trashy paper. TF – it is frustrating to no ends. I hope that this action against them will rattle them out of their ignorant arrogance!
I know such practice has been carried out at many media organizations, ad agencies and other places. Sad but no killer Law had been passed for this.
Recommend writing an open mail to her and CC the head honchos. see if ms poonam dares to do anything sneaky. and contact indian express 🙂 they will highlight this happily
It’s really sad to find TOI stooping down so low. Wonder what their response would be if one of their photographs was stolen. The irony here is they are disrespecting their own trade.
It’s shocking how most people don’t respect creative arts. Copy-paste is becoming common and people manage to get away with it.
I really appreciate you pursuing this and not just giving up.
JAP – taking down the flickr stream wouldnt help! Certainly not in my case since I want to showcase my work. But yes, they need to be taught a lesson, no doubt.
Austere – watermarking doesnt help. That’s why I never ventured there so far.. most ppl photoshop the watermark out or crop the picture and use the picture anyway.
Rohit – and that’s the attitude we need to change, because it happens so much and we sit and do nothing whenever it happens.
Meeta – you and I have discovered one picture each, it could be many more.. it’s just pure luck I spotted my picture being used like this!
Shadez – the Indian copyright act is there.. and even if it is not, this is a cybercrime. They stole my property from my site without my permission.
Aditya – as I wrote in the post, I wrote mails first. It didnt help. But I’ll write it again with a CC to higher honchos.
Arun – that is exactly the problem! It’s so easy to copy/paste and ppl just take it for granted. Most ppl who suffer, just give up because they cant stand against the system. We all need to get together.
In my case the mails were left unanswered and there was no reaction whatsoever, so that will not bring much. Maybe you will have more luck getting a reaction as you live in India. The ideas here simply do not help. I watermark my photos and have a copyright statement on my blog and images – it did not stop them. Like TF said they cropped them out or Photoshop them away! We need to do more to get their attention!
Unfortunate, we do not have implementation in law, neither the time in our courts to fight this issue as ordinary citizens and to take on the “empty” morals of a newspaper such as Times of India. However, as a small token of my solidarity to a fellow creative person, I can do one thing. Stop taking TOI as my daily newspaper. Keep up the fight.
Why don’t you take this case to the court? Gather the people you know who have been violated against too – and start a class action case.
TOI will then do everything it has to – to not let a judge decide the case. And you will get paid the price you want. Plus your lawyer fees.
You need a stronger stick to get paid what you demand. Or else nothing will come off your case except mild awareness by a few people who read your posts.
Mojosanjay – not buying their newspaper would hardly cause them a dent. Getting this published in another Mainstream newspaper would hurt more.
Ankesh – that’s exactly what I plan to do. The legal route, as I wrote. Looking around for a suitable lawyer.
Absolutely shocking news ! You’re right you saw just one of your pics. Going by what you click, I wonder how many of them have been put up not just here but at other places too.
I’m forwarding your blog-post to a lawyer friend of mine.
Hi
I know of a case where this photographer is negotiating a compensation… why don’t you get in touch with him for ideas.
I thought ‘Times Of India’ was the best newspaper in India, but it was before I read this! I don’t know why people lose their minds just to earn money! I think you should go and ask other competent newspapers to publish this. (But don’t be surprised if they don’t maybe even they do it)
Seriously, people will stop publishing anything original on the internet if organizations are just simply going to copy it and not even going to type an e-mail seeking permission, especially when it is mentioned that ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. This is the height of illiteracy in India.LOL!
Well, HT guys have not reverted to my mail and I am not surprised at all.
I am sending them a legal notice soon. Let’s see what happens…
Yes…when you start the morcha I am there!!
Arch
You ought to understand the problems associated with your
internet facility. How can you be so surprised at what
has taken place. When you expose yourself to the likelihood of plagiarism, you should know enough to not act like a victim. Methinks thou doth protest too much.
Learn your lesson and change how you do things. Murphys law has bitten you in the ass. Give me a break and quit being a crybaby.——Doug Rosbury
The law professors of the law college in bangalore may only be keen to help.
Whats the current status of this. I received a payment of several hundred dollars from my party. Call me when you get time, i have some info i would like to share. You need to get this moving fast or you will lose interest in it and they will evade.
Why on earth do people put their pictures on the web? They can get stolen (as this story shows). Just keep the pics on your desktop and email to close friends or print it and hang it up!
Thanks for forwarding it Daksh. I also dont know how many pictures would have been used already.
Thanks for the info Susheel – yes I know about Dilip’s case and am in touch with him.
Saniya – TOI was never the best. Search for “slimes of india” on google and see what u get. And yes, many publishing houses refuse to publish such stuff, because obv they may have fingers raised at them as well.
Arch – am sure they will NOT get back. At max if you have a phone number mentioned in the mail, you might get a call. Also you could fax it, you will need it as proof of communication. Your case gets stronger.
Doug – it’s strange that you talk about a law – Murphy’s or otherwise, when it’s amply clear that you just did not get the point of this post. It is the LAW that has been broken and that is what needs to be addressed. I am not surprised that this has happened, I am more surprised by their disregard for law. Your comment is like saying – someone out there might shoot you, so why are you being foolish enough to get out of your house at all. It is because of this attitude like yours that someone has to “cry out” in order to put an end to it. I am not saying that my creating a fuss will surely change something, but if many of us do NOT take it lying down and do NOT think that the only way to avoid getting murdered is to sit in hiding, rather than taking the perpetrators to task, it may just start the beginning of the end to such casual plagiarism.
Thanks Anrosh – please share it with them.
Dilip – I wrote to 1-2 lawyers, who are yet to get back. Will call you surely.
Jeffj – why dont you ask that from a zillion flickr users? There’s something called “photosharing” which is one of the best ways a person can get to a serious level in photography. Like any other form of art, people “share” pictures in order to get feedback, learn, create! What use would it be if one just clicks for ones eyes only? What TOI has done is akin to them walking inside my house, taking a picture from the wall without my permission and using it commercially. NOT legal and NOT ethical.
TOI sucks…
theres anyways nothing newsworthy anyways… its just ads and celebrity shit anyways.
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Oh, great.
You’ve added to the constantly growing list of “why I hate TOI”.
Thanks 😀
Let us publicize this on the blogs and internet as much as we can. If they think they are media and they can get away with it, they will now realize that there is an alternative media now.
Let us digg this story here:
http://digg.com/arts_culture/TOI_believes_Flickr_is_for_flicking
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Why dont you write into flickr and see if that helps? I’m sure they wont appreciate it if stuff is filched (http://info.yahoo.com/copyright/details.html) check that link out. and make a fuss.
Hindustan Times used a photo of mine without permission for one of their Hindi supplements.
[Link to scan]
Looks like the highest amount of “research” their minions do is performing a google image search and then whacking off whatever’s available.
I dont upload at full resolution, but they didnt mind. They printed a low res photo anyway.
I’ve been thinking of doing something about it. Seems like a lot of other people are thinking the same too. I’ll be interested in this if you take some action.
I mean this attitude is totally wrong. If you want to use a photo, ask. I’ve given away photos for free to thousands of sources (online and offline) who have asked first.
And this is a personal photograph, shot by me, on my property, and you used it without a:Photographer’s permission, and b:Model release. You Sir, are guilty as hell.
And it’s offensive when they offer something like 200 rupees. By all means, give 200 rupees to your photographers. But when you use our photos without asking us, then we dictate the price. I’ll try to keep track of this page and see what’s happening…
The TOI (Toilet Paper of India) SHOULD be brought to court. They not only steal photos but also articles and intellectual content. Shame one them that they have little respect for creativity despite being a publishing house. This acts definitely warrants more publicity.
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Out of curiousity, how meagre was the compensation you asked for?
It is ridiculous how they (TOI) “proclaim” that they strive to protect the rights of Indian citizen in every sphere and then go out and do such a thing. What even amazed me more was the way they behaved even after coming to know about the issue otherwise one could have given them the benefit of doubt or ignorance (which, however, they should not bank upon being such a huge name in mainstream media, and should know about these nuances of the trade)
This is downright unacceptable. Being ‘big’ does not give them the rights to filch content like this, and with such arrogance.
Why don’t you publish the e-mail id of the people responsible, then maybe the whole lot of us can in turn communicate our displeasure at this?
I wish you luck in sorting this out. My only experience of this kind was with Rediff, but it was a pleasant one. Although the image in question was Creative Commons Attribution Only lincensed, they asked for my permission before using the image.
Too bad!But does having a copyright statement on a blog or photostream mean anything?I have it in my blog too. But am not sure I can do anything if anyone copies my stuff. I mean does it have any legal standing?Good luck with your case, would like to know if anything happens.
Hi,
In my case the editor was a little more sensible and they could pin the violation on a freelancer. But then they offered me 1000 bucks that I took because I was in no mood to chase then to court.
Another case I know of is of Jo and he too got 1000 rupees as compensation after getting a lawyer issuing them a notice.
http://jocalling.blogspot.com/2008/04/pranatha-books-kochi-open-copyright.html
Don’t give up.
This is a cowardly and shameful act from TOI. My fear is how do we find a photo is flicked or not other than chancing upon it. Say if Michael from Australia put a picture in Flickr and if TOI Stole it how the hell would Mike know? People like TOI are trying to take advantage of this. Non-creative warthogs. All the best for your fight. Meanwhile, I would advice you to post your pictures are private listing in Flickr and share the link only to your friends. I don’t put a lot of my pictures for public display, only a few.
I wish the media in India was more responsible..and laws were considered something to be scared of,,..For u going thru the legal route would be spending effort and money,,and for TOI, its just another small thing for their legal department. Legal dept happy as they get work to justify their existence..might is right is still what is practiced in India…
Make sure you get this published wherever possible. It’s sad TOI is being blatant bout the plagiarism. Make sure u get heard. All the best.
VERY sorry to hear this TFairy; we bloggers and Flickrers have got to set this straight before it goes any farther.
Ha you dont even know what TOI is all about! i worked with them for about a year – do you know they take your work and make it their own! bosses there take your presentations, reports and HARD WORK and call it their own… the rot is more deep than can be inmagined! they think because they are TOI no one will mess with them and they can do what they like.. i could help you out with all the ‘right’ email ids to send to;-) – what about all the pirated stuff they sell on their shopping site? i could open a can of worms. let me know if you need any help!
Sonali
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This is very common practice with these guys.Forget them many ad agencies do it they feel by changing tone of the picture they own it and can be used anywhere.Law in our country should take some strict actions on this.
Have done a report for techgoss on this
http://www.techgoss.com/Story/693S14-Bloggers-photos-flicked.aspx
This is shocking TF. Nita Kulkarni and I have started a blog called Bloggers against Theft and we would be glad to have other people, who have been victims of this kind of blatant disregard for ownership, post instances of their intellectual property being copied, and used without permission or compensation. I will be giving this post of yours a link and would be happy to put the entire article on our site if you like.
Behzaad – well stealing is a new low.
Thanks for writing about it Varun
Abhas – let’s do something more than just hate 🙂
Tarun – thanks for adding that. I would request everyone to digg it.
Thanks for linking desipundit.
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