And probably this is the most disheartening among them all. This time its BYAHILO vs a Local Government website.
If the goverment itself is violating the intellectual property rights of a person how can it (government) protect and uphold the rights of every citizen?
I just discovered it today that the Iloilo Provincial website has used one of my Dinagyang photographs as its main banner. It was pity though that the provincial government, the supposedly protector of the masses, simply copied my image, watermark removed and used it in their website without even asking for my permission.
What they did is stealing. The photo is mine! I took this photo, therefore the copyright of this image belongs to me. As far as i know, I have not issued any permit to any person or entity to use this image for whatever purpose.
Its a pity that I have to shell out my own money to buy my airline tickets, for my meals, and transportation expenses yet people like from the Provincial Government of Iloilo is just copying images from the internet.
Aren’t they aware of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines? they should have known better, because they ARE the government. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.
How can I campaign more about Dinagyang and Iloilo in general if the people inside the Provincial capitol are just busy copying my works without even asking for permission.
I condemn this photo stealing incident in the strongest possible terms and I demand a public apology from the Iloilo Provincial Goverment for this incident.
Check the screenshot of the website of the Iloilo Province and compare it to my photo:
My Photo
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