...because reputed publishing houses like Hindustan Times will not even think twice before stealing your copyrighted photographs.Some of you might recall, last year my husband had made an Eco-friendly Ganesha for Ganesh Chaturthi, which had been uploaded to Flickr and last Friday one of my Flickr friends noticed the photograph in Mumbai edition of HT Cafe and informed me.
It is shocking to see such an unethical and unprofessional behaviour from a reputed daily. I also realised that lately a lot of such incidences are coming into light.
They have stolen my image and I am taking legal action against them!
That is one part of the whole issue. How does one stop this from happening time and again?
* Spread the message to stop copyright violation. (If you are a blogger, it makes it easier)
* Do watermark your images.(Might help to some extent)
* Join hands with organisation fighting for this cause.( Will keep you updated on this)
* If you are a Flickrite, please don't upload high resolution images.
P.S. Some of Mallika's images have also been stolen and used in networking sites like Orkut. I have made most of my blogs for invited reader's only.
Sorry about this, but this just seems like the right thing to do at this stage.
Stay safe and protect your images.
66 comments:
Arch, i was mystified when i could not get access to A Cup of Chai, but when i came here, i am shocked to read about this.
The worst thing one can do is keep quiet and i am glad that you ARE taking action.
Keep us posted.
Thanks Priya,
It's disgraceful for HT to do such a thing. It's time to take action and they will really have to PAY for this act!!!
Thanks for your support:-)
That is really shameless of them. I have seen many images in magazines like Good Housekeeping (Indian ed) which I know are part of Crate and Barrel/Pottery Barn catalog. I think the Indian press is too lazy to any 'decor' work on its own. Ewww
I was mystified too like priya when I discovered A Cup of Chai was only accessible to invited readers but i guess that would be the reaction to copyright infringement.
Thanks for the tips and good luck with the legal action.
I'll soon do an update on all the cases I could find and will link your post there too.
In the meanwhile whatever cases you find, please do keep me updated.
I was wondering why couldn't access your other blogs...but I am sure thats what one can do to protect it.Glad you are taking action. Totally with you in this.
Where I worked earlier, one of my colleagues wrote an essay(for independence day) and also won a prize for it...when I read it, I instantly realized it was from Wings of Fire- Abdul kalam. It was so disgusting....and the lady was basking in glory....and I detested her...thats so cheap...to claim something which is not yours......
here, "copying" is a serious crime and are penalised. in schools, they give an F. In research papers, the work is nullified.
If it is credited it is legal, but otherwise one takes a huge beating.
i was looking at the copyright laws. you can take legal action even if one is registered within 3 months of somebody plagarising the material.
http://www.iprlawindia.org/
This is horrible - do fight for it, it is just unacceptable. I do miss your chai blog and am hoping that you will invite me to it.
I've been a fan of your blogs for a long time and was wondering why you suddenly made them private.
all the best with taking action against HT.
Wow! Sorry to hear about this. What is the proper etiquette if you want to use someone's image on your blog? For example, would I email you and ask to use it? Just wondering.
Dear Archana,
I completely understand your predicament; I support you wholeheartedly in your decision to sue them.
I have never left a comment on your blog before, preferring to read/view your breathtaking images in silence. But that does not stop me from being one of your biggest fans! Would you beleive it if i said I started drinking tea solely thanks to your irresistible images? Solemn truth this.
Would be eternally grateful for an invite to view A Cup of Chai. I promise never to use your images for anything other than my solitary, long-lingering pleasure.
Thanks all for your support!
I am inviting all of you to 'A cup of chai'...now that I have my watermark on and hope you all will join me:-)
The rest of the blogs remain hidden for a while...
Thanks
Arch
samosas for one- Yes, an email requesting permission is all that it takes and a link back to my blog:-))
this is disgusting !!!
Even the big names in the industry doing this, and setting an example of this sort...
Archana: This is really terrible. Don't understand how press can act so irresponsibly. Am sure you will get justice. Take care and keep us posted.
My Best !
I love your blogs and your images. I cant understand how they can stole you image and not ask your first.
that is so unethical specially coming from a publishing house like hindustan times.
am glad you are fighting it;all the best.
With chaturthi being a day away, I was telling my husband about your blog and how it would be a good idea if we followed your steps in making an eco friendly ganesha.
More and more bloggers are getting affected by these copyright issues and it's sad that such a big newspaper is guilty of it. More power to you as you fight it out with these guys.. :)
Would love to get an invite!
-Reva
Thanks for answering my question. Good luck in your pursuit.
It's really shameful on the part of a leading publishing house to steal pics like these. It's not the 1st time that i've come across such an instance.
I'm glad that you are taking a legal action agaisnt this.
Do keep us posted.
what can i say, i have been a party to this and i know how it hurts :|
Hi arch, I am so happy you are taking some serious actions against HT, it is quite shocking what they so shamelessly did. Please dont be disheartened by this and dont let it deter you from displaying your wonderful creative talents. we are with you.
You are doing the right thing Archana.
All they had to do was ask- how difficult is that. All the Best.
Oh ARch, What a drag.
Sorry they stole your beautiful work. You do amazing photography...I can see why they tried to pinch it.
You need compensation for this...it is wrong!!!!!!!
xoxoxo
Hey Arch,
That is a bad thing that HT has done. How lazy can people get... I hope you win in your fight.
Cheers!
Jo
Man..! This is sooo bad…but the sad part is this that things like this have been happening with so many people, there have been violent protests against it too, yet it is not stopping and the people doing are conviniently getting away with it…
Its so unfair when u have to fight a case, go through all the trouble, when all u have done is taken a good image and put it on some site…
I wish u all the best of luck with the case…people doing such things should be taught a lesson..
Hi Archana,
This is shocking indeed.... and a shameful act by such a reputed name as HT. I'm glad you have chosen to fight this out, and my best wishes and support for the same.
arch~ I wish you luck, keep at it.
Ick! It is really frustrating as an artist because do people not read the copyright on Flickr?! It is also stupid of them to do that because now they won't get their hands on any of your wonderful photos which they could've used. I am glad you are taking some action. I've seen a few small places here & there stealing my shots w/out credit, and now I am going to be more cautious!
http://myinjimanga.blogspot.com/2008/07/steps-to-follow-for-copyright.html
d
Hi Archana,
I felt bad n
http://neelanjala.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/234/
I wrote this after reading this in your flickr. I hope u know kannada.
-soupi2
I'm another lurker who loves your blogs. I can't believe that HT would do that...I forget, exactly, but I remember there was another Indian newspaper that stole words from Sepia Mutiny. I'm glad you're taking action against that newspaper--they need to be held accountable for their actions, and give credit where credit is due!
Hi Archana
I am so glad you are doing something about this copyright infringement. It is absolutely disgusting.
I am an ardent fan of all your blogs especially the rang decor. I have been inspired by many a posts on the blog to make my own home look beautiful. I will miss reading your posts and seeing the pictures.
Good luck!
Kirthi
hi archana, this is so sad! I hope you get to the bottom of this soon. I'm also sad that you no longer feel safe at flickr and that most of your stream is gone now... can't believe how lazy some newspaper people are!
You are not alone, read this case of how TOI stole from a blogger.
Hi. My image was stolen by Hindustan Times.
http://nitawriter.wordpress.com/2008/05/30/a-major-indian-newspaper-steals-a-bloggers-photograph/
I wrote to the editor twice and even complained to the Press Council. Shockingly, even the press council, a supposedly watchdog body of the press in India did not bother to even reply! It is clear that this is why these incidents are happening. Watchdog bodies in India are a sham.
I even spoke to a senior person I knew in HT (not in editorial dept) and asked me if he could help me. He spoke to the editor himself but even then the editor did not bother to reply to my email. I realise why ofcourse. Replying would mean that they know it's been stolen! Such shameless people. No ethics. Even top editors of newspapers have no ethics! I am terribly disappointed in the media in India. I can understand if a sleazy third rate publication steals, but not a top publication which makes crores of profits. Shame on the Hindustan Times!
I have not followed up the case, but if you need any help from me, please let me know. Your photo is so beautiful, how dare they steal it!!
I am linking this post of yours (as well as Twilight fairy's) to my main post. My incident happened pm 29th May this year.
Thanks a lot for all your support!
anil p- Yes, I am aware of Priyanka's case ( pl. read comment above by Twilight Fairy)
This really is catching up, isn't it? Journos who scour the internet for ideas and don't mind lifting pics without even giving credit. Get off your computer and work ppl instead of stealing others work!!
Am really glad that you are taking action against slackers like these people. Do let us know how it goes.
Oh, and I really really want an invite to the chai blog!! ;)
Absolutely awful, archana. I would expect it with TOI, but thought HT was better. I do hope you can manage to make some headway in this.
Good Lord - that sounds AWFUL. I hope you sue the pants off the them though i am not very hopeful in this country.
all the best - i am spreading the word via my blog and hope everyone does so. you must give them some bad publicity along with the case....
http://thebratthebeanandbedlam.wordpress.com
Not nice at all. this is not pardonable. Maybe u should contact the ToI for a story on this. They will want to do anything that harms HT. :-) And maybe HT will start a war back.
Or better still, maybe we should go to India TV.
OK, enuf on the lighter side. This is a grave issue, and a good starting point is www.merinews.com, which is a CJ news portal. You can put this blog post as a feature entry there.
Trust me even water marking will not ensure the mnot stealing unless you put it right across the picture and not in one corner. And if you do that the whole picture looks not so itneresting.
This happened with Meeta, a food blogger that I read. She puts her tagline in each picture in a corner and Tiems of India conveniently edited that portion from the picture and used it.
Read about her experience here http://whatsforlunchhoney.blogspot.com/2008/07/open-letter-to-times-of-india.html
Arch,was on a holiday to india. Just saw your post n was pertrified. I'm with you for taking action on HT. I instantly recognised the Ganesha u posted last yr. Shocking is'nt it
I am so sorry to hear this!
I remember seeing this pic of yours on flickr!
and I added you tomy flickr too!
Hope you don't mind!
I lov lov the header image!
this is disgusting!!!
I hope u get suitably compensated!
But then again... thats how most of India works... plagiarising!
people do not think twice before grabbing stuff off the internet .. even in school kids would copy word for word from the library books!!!
so i guess that habit has never really left!
Is this really surprising? Songs have been stolen for years and years by Bollywood and unfortunately the guilty parties have never been penalised to the extent that it hurts.
Plagarism is not a concept that is paid attention to in India. It's sad because the general thought is, hey if everyone's doing it, why can't we.
The pictures are fabulous, and it's a pity that they did not request permission. Good for you for taking legal action. People need to be made aware that this blatant form of plagarising
is NOT OK!
I just discovered your blog, thanks to MM. I feel terrible for what has been done, I can just imagine how mad you must be. I would be hopping mad really!
I hope you won't make your beautiful an exclusive one coz I would love to hop over sometimes.
a hug :)
I recently had some of my photos stolen off flickr as well......and put onto 2 other (seemingly unrelated) commercial blogs/websites.
you can see my posts on the matter here:
http://shiborigirl.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/any-publicity-is-good-publicity/
What an atrocity! I very well remember that lovely Ganesha of yours. All they had to do was ask!
Copyright infrigement is a serious issue and we must all fight against it! We come across this all the time in the food blogging world - now they are doing it with other pictures too. Good luck Arch keeps us posted!
That's awful! You're lucky you discovered the theft, though. I need to find a way to put a watermark on my pictures, because I'd hate to have this happen to me.
Good for you for pursuing the case.
This is inexcusable. We all need to be aware that we can't just grab what we want when we want.
You may like to read a posting of mine at http://craftypeople.wordpress.com/2006/08/18/what-is-the-difference-between-a-bicycle-and-a-picture/
I sure hope you get the justice you deserve!
I'm copy-pasting and linking your post from my blog - I feel that's the best way to spread the word. Please let me know if you feel I should take it down.
Absolutely disgusting, yet commonplace, behaviour from HT!
Hi,
We were unaware of the violation and our deepest apologies for it. The image was sent to us by a freelancer and we had no reason to believe that it was copyrighted by you.Do send us your e-mail and phone number and we would like to sort the issue out.
Our contact address is ht.cafe@gmail.com
Sorry to hear about your copyright infringement, and I do hope you get compensated. It's really quite cheap of them .. and ignorant too. They could have so easily paid you a small fee and given you the credit for your pic. Maybe your taking a stand will pave the way to them doing the right thing.
I couldn't help feeling a bit guilty though, making this comment. After all, how many of us are using original software?
Hi archana..
Thanks for visiting my blog..Ur pics are amazing... it is inspiring too....
Have a wonderful day
meera
Hi archana, I'm sorry to haer about the stealing part. But I guess you shouldn't have deleted your pictures from the stream. I have had a similar experience from Times of India last year and made lots of efforts to get an answer from them but failed! Pls see this Dont embarrass me! I have been using CC license and still would love to share pictures with all in a proper way..but these guys just dont allow it!
Hi Archana,
Have been a silent admirer of your blog/ pics.
Ironically, MINT (from HT Media) carried an article on this issue.
Made a Blog Cartoon related to this topic.
Regards
RK
Just came across this post and wondered if anything happened further to your initiating legal action. What exactly did you do, and did anybody respond. The comment purportedly from HT here - that is obviously fake. Were you able to get any kind of acknowledgment or apology at all?
Hi Arch,
Just stumbled on your amazing blog today :) And went through almost all the pages.
It is not shocking to read about the STEAL.Even copyright infringement is so common-place these days. But we should not tolerate it, please let us know what happened about it!
I am glad you had the guts to sue these people. After all the work and time that goes into each shot it seems unethical for a newspaper to do something like this. Enough is enough!
hi Archana
I was looking for something on the internet and came across this post - this is try disgraceful and dishonest....!!
They could have asked you and I am sure for a fee you'd be happy to get your photo published and would have got the credit for it as well.
Do you think there are laws and systems in India which would bring some results to actions like these ?
Good luck and good work for taking an action !!
I had a similar experience on october 13, 2010. Deshabhimani, a malayalam newspaper flicked one of my pictures and published without permission or credit. Find more details on my blog at http://craniumbolts.blogspot.com/2010/10/plagiarism-by-deshabhimani-daily.html
Like all previous cases Deshabhimani too is unrepentant and not willing to compensate.
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