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Sensible Netnonsense

Where Pinoy pop culture and the digital domain collide

by Ignatius Javellana, Philippines

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Digital art theft--HALP!

Apr 21, 2008 10:44

Just the other week Byahilo has a whole hullabaloo regarding ABS CBN's (particularly the TV show of Boy and Kris) usage of photos from his site for the show... obviously used without permission. The issue seems to have already been resolved though, and Byahilo makes a point to thank those who helped in his fight as well as to take down the old blog post to ensure the media mogul's slate stays clean.

There is however, still another digital artist fighting for her intellectual property rights. It seems Edjie, more popularly known as Alodia and Blackmage9 in the Philippine online gaming, comics and art community, had her face removed from a poster.

Funny, though, since you can clearly tell that the photo itself is still her... they just removed the face. She's crying "foul" now because they didn't ask for permission and the posters are already printed and posted all over the metro.

Now, I know for a fact that usage of a person's art for any type of public consumption should be paid for, especially if said art is original. But knowing Edjie, if only the stupid art department and production company asked her for permission, they would have gotten it free of charge. Shame on you!

Here are the photos for your reference:
Original art by Alodia:

Earthday Poster with "borrowed" image:

So now, what's to stop big corporations and companies and conglomerates and other big-name players online AND offline from taking material off people like us who are trying to eke out a humble existence in this vast online world? Again, the clear lack of local legislature to protect the rights of the virtual community rears its ugly head.

I do sincerely hope that all of us remain vigilant of things like this. And I do sincerely hope that when these big names do make mistakes like these, they own up to them like the adults they are and make the proper reparations.

Kudos to ABS for being man enough to face the music. Though in all honesty, it should have kept the old blog post up. I mean it's a highly linked blog post to begin with... that would have been a good way for the company to get additional publicity.

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DaneFil

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DaneFil says...
Seriously, there are so many artist out there, waiting for an opportunity like that, to shoot for a big event, and it turns out the "big men" just steal other people's work without giving any credit, whatsoever.

Tsk, tsk tsk goes to the big men.

Apr 22, 2008 14:29

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acid42

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acid42 says...
Nakakainis. There really is no excuse for this kind of behavior. A simple email asking for permission could've made this so easy.

Instead, you get outright piracy.

People should go to that celebration wearing Earth globe masks a la the "Anonymous" protest rallies vs. scientology.

Apr 23, 2008 06:25

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Jesadac

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Jesadac says...
Hypocrites, the lot of them. They crush the little people for making pennies off of cheap unlicensed t-shirts when THEY own the copyright, but they turn around and screw the artists they claim to be protecting If I didn't know better, I'd think this was the RIAA

Apr 24, 2008 00:15

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About Ignatius Javellana

Iggy Javellana, who is now the Head of Advergaming for Level Up! Games Inc., is what you would call a "wired" individual: Online practically 24/7. He's an avid gamer, satiric blogger, budding musician and independent film enthusiast, and still hopes to one day become a rock star.