cityhits.blogspot.com uses Cerno’s worst photograph without asking

I came across a blog called “city hits” that was using one of the most horrible photos I have ever taken to “illustrate” one of its posts.

For the record, I had taken this image from a speeding car. I used it illustrate my post about a poorly thought out billboard/hoarding. Particularly about the negative message it communicated about the Dilly’s brand. My post was in September. Cityhits used the same image in a post published in December. I put Creative commons licence on my blog with a site wide link to it in August. The criteria for using the image is clearly stated. It was of course ignored.

This IS the 3rd Verld no? So I wrote the email (for the sake of form) at the bottom of this post. No response (I wasn’t expecting one).

Etiquette is treated like a waste of time and its link building potential left untapped due to ignorance, laziness or a stupid obsession with the short term bottom line – though I won’t make any assumptions about “cityhits” .

Perhaps I should have told them that they were using the worst possible image given the content of their article.They SHOULD have used or at least linked to Alefiya Akbarally’s work for Dilly’s. These are not only appropriate for the topic but also bloody good photographs.

Note that I am not pissed or upset. I actually feel sorry for them. Its such a bad picture given the fawning text of their article. The image makes “MATHUZONE ENTERTAINMENT” looks rather amateurish (shouldn’t they have a domain name if they wanted to be serious?).

So no, this case is not the same as the whole Lakbimanews copyright violations in July 2007.

Its poetic justice

My Email to Cityhits (not that it really matters):

Hi   I am the person who took the photograph you are usingin the post on your blog  called "Dilly’s goes to the movies"(http://cityhits.blogspot.com/2007/12/dillys-goes-to-movies.html)I will let you  to continue using this image if - you acknowledge the image credit by linking to  my blog from your post - preferably to my "about" page:  http://cerno.wordpress.com/about/ or to the original post itself or to just the blog URL

(http://cerno.wordpress.com/). Just add a short line

of text saying "Image by Cerno".

All I ask is for a simple link back to my blog   NOT

money. In return you'll get the OK to use the picture

legally with attribution for any other output

(print/video/web).

Background info:

The image used in your blog post was first used in a

post on my blog a few months (September) before your

post appeared

http://cerno.wordpress.com/2007/09/23/promoting-sex-in-the-workplace/

The original image is on my flickr site

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cerno/1426918303/

I've had a copyright notice on my blog since August of

2007 about using material posted on my blog.

http://cerno.wordpress.com/copyright-notice/

Best regards

Cerno

http://cerno.wordpress.com

Some references

Copyright & blogging: "Bloggers Beware: Debunking Nine

Copyright Myths of the Online World - Updated"

http://www.llrx.com/features/bloggersbeware.htm

blogspot.com copyright policy:

http://www.google.com/blogger_dmca.html

The google cashe of the page is at

(http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:bmjAGfJ3ky8J:cityhits.blogspot.com/2007/12/dillys-goes-to-movies.html+http://cityhits.blogspot.com/2007/12/dillys-goes-to-movies.html&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1)