Where is your photo now?

Following my blog entry last week about the possible mis-use of personal information on the internet, I read a story on the BBC today that backs my claims.

The Smiths from the US were shocked to find that their family photo had been flashed across a billboard in Prague, the Czech Republic advertising delivery services offered by a grocery store. The Smiths had used that picture on their Christmas card and it was also on their family blog.

The owner of the store thought the picture was "computer generated". Somehow, it didn't matter to him/her that the people in the picture were unknown to him. It didn't matter if they were not Czechoslovakians. They were a good-looking family.

Being in the publishing business has taught me to be careful about copyright infringements. I remembered having to pay US$800 for a picture of a girl holding a brightly-coloured balloon for a cover picture. The picture library charge differently according to the use, like for a magazine cover or for a story in one of the pages, for instance.

Some people think that content on the Internet is free for all. Copyright protection is one thing; intrusion of privacy is another. 

So if anyone sees me or any member of my family on any newspaper, magazine, website or darn it, anywhere else other than here, please please, let me know.