Spot the differences

We all grow up in a world of peace and harmony where we all agrees that stealing is a crime as well as something bad and not right to do.

Guilty as charged. I can't tell you how many I've stolen altogether but officially 1. :p

That being said many are still unsure about how intellectual property works. I.E the image above I just took it off the internet without crediting or informing the creator. Is it a crime or is it simply just unethical? Image from weheartit.com

I might have credited to weheartit.com but is that image originally from that site? Did they purchase the image from a stock image bank? Did they shoot it themselves? Are the models paid? I am not sure but if you want me to place my money on it I would say nope, it is not originally created by them partly because weheartit is a platform where users upload these images and very likely this user got it from some where else, added the word and do a mash up. So based on that, this edited artwork do belong to the user but what about the original photo?

It's hard to keep your images truly to yourselves once you upload it online isn't it? In case of "stealing" it means I take it from you but if in the case of the internet, you still have a copy after I "took" yours so is that still stealing?


Here is one of my favourite clip about cyber awareness about uploading things that make you regret. #LeakForJLaw

Despite being a online content creator, such rules are still very blur to even myself less said a mass audience right? So it's either you learn it the right way or the hard way.

Game Time - Spot The Difference 

Here's two pictures that I took off the internet from two different sources of the brand new Singapore Sports Hub taken during a media tour. Can you tell me the difference?

Not sure if you could tell the difference because there seems to have no differences at ALL.

Magic! 

I wouldn't jump into conclusion about who has stolen whose image here simply by the time of upload but I guess as reader you guys can link the dots yourself. Naming and shaming ain't usually my style especially when I have no "facts" about who is right or wrong but I also saw this conversation that went down on Twitter which kinda pisses me off a little.

Please don't "bro" me unless my dad fucked you mum or your dad fucked mine. I'm really not a fan of the whole "bro" culture.

So @HelmiSulaiman here did not claim that Patrick stole his image nor did he show remorse that he have stolen Patrick's image (I am assuming he did here). Neither did he said that he didn't know that it's not right but yet he was pretty sarcastic about the whole incident despite how Patrick handled this in a very civilised manner. I would probably tear him a new one or maybe just blog about it. oops.

Everyone starts off on the internet as a "n00b" and to me there is no shame of not knowing you made a mistake if you ask me. We all make mistake but trying to pull off a fast one just ain't cool. It's a small community here and sharing is the only way to build a stronger community together.

Oh, and how did I jump to conclusion that Patrick is the rightful owner in this case? I can't, I am simply assuming but also because our friend Helmi decided to switch his identity on both instagram and twitter multiple times there after. Guilty conscience much? And that is also why I did not even bother to mask out his handle or picture because it's no longer there.

Conclusion

We only get better building onto each other's idea and technology and that is the beauty of open source / internet but I guess there is no hard and fast rule on what is right and wrong on the internet these days especially with all the blurred lines. I would even say that these days no ideas are original, even the iPhones are built on the idea of our 1st phone, our 1st mobile phone, 1st color screen phone, 1st touch screen phones isn't it?

We all learn from mistakes and I should not, in fact I can't prove that Helmi in this case made a mistake but I guess he could have taken it with open mind and not be such a pain in an ass. Stealing intellectual property is a crime, plagiarism is a crime and in fact I've seen people failing their degree paper because of that. So the next time you are going to take something from someone without asking, at least credit it back. If you didn't, at least be gentlemen about it when caught because Mr.Smithbig brother is watching you. 

image source: blackathlete.net

If you are interested in Facebook, Twitter and Instagram images rights, check out this article. Not the most updated but one of those that is easiest to understand. 

Mr.Smith, sharing is caring but stealing is just retarding (I can't think of a better rhyming word)