Following some heavy handed treatment from Picrights.com, including a fine, for the unintentional and completely harmless unlicensed use of an image on the internet I have decided it’s just not worth trying to highlight the good things happening in the world of food anymore and have reluctantly shut down the Food for the Soul blog indefinitely.
I completely understand the need to police the use and misuse of content online and the Chef Foundation website does include licensed images that I have been happy to pay a fee for. However, the image in question, which is readily available on the internet, did not carry any copyright protection or warning and I was not aware of any licensing requirement at the time. Food for the Soul is a non commercial blog site associated with The Chef Foundation, a hobby really, all about the special souls in food, and this image, a photo of locusts gathered to eat (not shown here obviously), was included in an article to raise awareness of the use of insects as a source of protein in our diets with links to the charity Farms for Orphans in the Congo, something I would hope the photographer would approve of. There is no profit or financial gain whatsoever, no sponsorship, funding, paid endorsement or membership fees.
I am sure this means tiddlysquat to the copyright boys busy surfing the web eager to find any minor infringement they can pounce on but I fail to see any real threat or the abuse of the rights of the photographer………If it is so important to protect these rights then why not ensure that the photos carry copyright protection or at least a copyright warning “may contain traces of nuts” or something similar. Picrights action feels exactly like a financially motivated entrapment policy operated to raise funds and has little to do with anybody’s rights.
To quote from Picrights “It is a common misconception that a copyright notice or watermark is required for copyrighted works.” Well I don’t understand a company, whose sole purpose is to protect rights, but whose first choice of action is to impose fines on people who do not realise they have breached any regulations instead of charging a licensing fee at the time of download. A bit like receiving a parking fine 6 months later for leaving your car in a “No Parking Zone” but where there is no signage or restricted access or anything to say you can’t park there……….sorry, why can’t I park here?
………..So what’s all the fuss about……….. well it pulled my chain ………and frankly felt like bullying……………If you post stuff all over the internet completely in the public domain and in an open forum with no copyright protection whatsoever then someone somewhere is going to download it………….its 2021 ……….grow up, exercise some discretion, put down your “Rights ” banner and please review your company policy which is sadly misdirected.
Amen
I have really enjoyed posting articles showcasing many of the great things happening in the world of food on Food For the Soul over the past 7 years and would like to thank all my subscribers for their support……who knows we may be back one day.
