Panay News Photo Stealing update

First things first, until now I have not received an official word coming from the management. They have never dared to reply to my e-mail. I guess their silence is already tantamount to accepting guilt that PANAY NEWS IS STEALING PHOTOS FROM THE INTERNET AND USING IT WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE OWNERS.

While it is a fact that their writer has been communicating with me via SMS since Wednesday afternoon, the talks bore no good result.

I told the writer PRINCE GOLEZ who’s mobile phone number is +639083173355, to ask his bosses to reply to my e-mail, where I explicitly stated that I need a compensation this time since this is alread y the second time that Panay News has violated my rights as a photographer.

I was just so aghast at the callousness of the people behind Panay News. Can can they just move on with their daily lives printing newspaper and generating income from it while they are trampling on the very basic rights of photographers by stealing their photographs.

When I asked that Prince Golez why his bosses still not responded to my e-mail, here’s his text message:

I think the e-mail add is inactive or isn’t yet opened. Sir I’m still new at Panay News and the Dinagyang Issue was my first assignment. I hope You’ll reconsider my apologies and get credited in the Youth and Campus issue

Mr. Golez, you mean to say that being new in Panay News gives you an excuse to just copy images over the Internet and use it in your newspaper?

And here’s another text message that PRINCE GOLEZ sent to me yesterday:

Sir Eric, I didn’t steal your photos. It’s just that when I took it from the Internet your watermark wasn’t there so I wasn’t able to credit you. I’m apologizing now and will credit you on Monday’s issue and will tell the boss to answer your e-mail

You didn’t steal photos but you only copied on the Internet? So what do you call that?

And here’s another text message sent last night:

Sir Eric, the management obliged me to settle this matter with you. They said the management no longer sees fit that they talk to you since you already made a blog about it. And it is already spreading like wildfire. Our CEO mentioned that he only read your letter yesterday, the same day he also found out about the blog. The management however ordered me to write you an apology letter and credit you on our Monday issue. As to the X amount that you are demanding, the management could not assure that you could be compensated Since according them, the damage has been done. And there’s no assurance that after payment the negative blogs will cease to circulate . They said that if only you made a contact earlier and didn’t blog about it, your demand could have been settled immediately. They were unaware of any error my team may have committed. Again my sincerest apology for the unnecessary hassle it may have caused you.

First and foremost, I always believe in amicable settlement. That is the very reason why I contacted YOU, Panay News, immediately after I was able to get hold of a computer when I got back here in Manila coming from Bacolod. Check your records, I sent e-mail last January 27, 2009 t the follwing e-mail addresses:

goliathvsme@gmail.com;
pnnews@panaynewsphilippines.com;
panaynews72@gmail.com;
filespublications@gmail.com;
danielfajardosr@gmail.com

But I have never ever received a reply from any of those mailbox. Why didn’t you replied to my e-mail?

And because it looks like you are uninterested to settle this case, I was forced to blog about it on January 28, 2009. A DAY AFTER I SENT MY EMAIL. Now how can you say that If only I have contacted you earlier, you can make amends to this problem?

When you said “They were unaware of any error my team may have committed.” you mean your editors are blindly approving all contents that gets published in your paper? There’s no check if the contents passed a certain standard or if the content or photograph fits to be published? So what’s the job of your editor there, then? Or are your editors aware that not all the materials on the Internet is free for download and for use?

Panay News need to be taught a lesson. They are a newspaper of dubious reputation and zero credibility. They are a newspaper that simply copies photographs from the Internet and use it without proper attribution. They make money by selling their paper while stepping on the very basic rights of photographers who has made so much effort just to produce these photographs. And I must tell you, I am not the only victim of Panay News, there are severeal other photographers that have also been clamoring for proper attribution but as usual, Panay News easily got away with it.

Here are the people behind this trash newspaper:

Publisher: ADE FAJARDO; General Manager: DANIEL FAJARDO II; Managing Editor: MARIA FAJARDO; Web Master: DANNAH MUTUC F. LEGASPI; Web Consultant: JEMUEL LEGASPI ; Marketing Consultant: BENJ B. LACANILAO

If you are enraged at what these people are doing, go shoot them an email, make sire to CC all the e-mail addresses below:

goliathvsme@gmail.com;
pnnews@panaynewsphilippines.com;
panaynews72@gmail.com;
filespublications@gmail.com;
danielfajardosr@gmail.com

You may send your message to their writer PRINCE GOLEZ. He was the one who actually used my photo without permission. Go, and shoot him a barrage of text messages:

+63.908.317.3355