Copyright is a property right, and it was first created solely for printers of books. Nowadays copyright has evolved, covering a wide range of works including computer programs, drawings, lectures, musical compositions, photographs, etc. Each country has its own laws and regulations when it comes to copyright, but there are consistencies in each nation. In the Philippines, copyright law is in the form of Republic Act No. 8293, also known as the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines.
If you want, you can read Republic Act No. 8293 in full here, or you can just skip to Chapter IV, The Law on Copyright here.
So, now that I got that awkward obligatory introduction out of the way, let me share my experience on how I got acquainted with copyright infringement, and how I (somehow) kicked its ass.
In April of 2013, I was called up by a friend offering me an opportunity to do a shoot for the creative agency he was working for at that time. The shoot is what they call "initiatives", which means the people in the agency "initiate" to create an idea for a campaign without being asked by a client. What that meant on my end was that I wouldn’t get paid when I do the shoot. Hoping that I could show the agency guys what I'm capable of (thinking they will include me in their pool of photographers), I agreed. I figured if I do a really good job, they would hire me for paying assignments in the future. Besides, the images would be entered in Cannes Lions 2013 and winning that would provide me with great exposure. So I came in, did the shoot, handed the images to the people I worked with (my friend wasn't a part of that project), and totally forgot about it.
More than a year later, I was browsing through the shelves of a bookstore and I saw a book that immediately caught my attention. Looking closely at the image, I realized it was my photograph being used as the book cover. At first I felt proud. I mean, come on! My photo is on a book cover! But then I realized that the people I worked with never told me (explicitly) that they would use my photo for commercial use. So I took a photo of the book being sold and posted it on Facebook in order to get some feedback on what I should do. I ended up contacting the print producer from the agency via email to inform him that my photo was used commercially without my knowledge, and without my permission. Shortly after sending the email, I got a call from him, but I didn't answer my phone. Frankly I didn't know what to say and I didn't know how to handle it. The next day, he called me up again and this time I picked it up. He told me that it was just a misunderstanding on my part (On my part!), because whenever photographers participate in their initiatives, it automatically means that the agency has the rights to the images. He also told me that the book was for an advocacy, and they didn't even profit from it. Honestly he just told me a number of excuses, and at one point, he even implied that I owed them something for having given the opportunity to do that shoot because I wanted to "get in". He also offered me a free copy of the book for my troubles. (Can you believe that?) At that point I was annoyed, insulted, and pissed. And I felt bullied. Before our conversation ended he told me that he would email me the final boards so I would have an idea how they used my images. As it turns out, they used three of my photos in the book! With the help of my girlfriend we did some thorough research and found out that the agency not only used my photos for the book, but for press releases as well, which means they really got a lot of mileage from my images. I was furious, and I wanted to prove a point, and I wanted to make these guys realize that they can’t treat photographers like this. We are professionals and should be treated as such. Again, I posted something on Facebook, asking my college professors, lawyer friends, and mentors a detailed guide on what my succeeding actions should be. After everything, I emailed the print producer again, but this time, I was prepared. I read up on copyright laws and what it meant for a photographer in the Philippines. I demanded to be properly compensated for the commercial use of my photos, but I chose not to demand to be given credit, or to have the books retracted anymore. (Well, I’m nice like that.) I wanted to though, and I could have. In the end the print producer agreed to compensate me, although he managed to haggle. I got a little less than what I asked for, but I figured it’s better than nothing. I’m still happy with what I got anyway.
You might say I burned a bridge with what I did and I will never work for them again. Ever. Well, you're probably right. But you know what? I don’t care. It’s not like they sent a lot of paying jobs my way anyway. Besides, I don't think I would be comfortable working with people who operate that way. I wanted to “stick it to the man”, and that’s what I did (somehow). This whole debacle taught me a lot on how to protect myself from these situations. Should it happen again, I know what to do and how to do it. And since I’m an artist, I’m just waiting for the day that I’d get a brush with copyright infringement. Again.