Hello John & others,

I too have had some of my pictures used by others without acknowledgement.
I think the word is "plagiarism"

Several of my colour pictures of a NSW 20 class steam loco and train on the
former East Maitland to Morpeth branch line were loaned by me for use on a
rail fan calendar. On a visit several years ago to the old Morpeth railway
station museum, I found several of these photos of mine on display (no name
shown on them).

My most memorable recollection of plagiarism was a picture I took of the
former Victorian Railways steam hauled Spirit of Progress train departing
from Albury for Melbourne. I had loaned this picture for use on a railfan
calendar quite a few years ago. Shortly after the calendar had appeared, I
visited a big Sydney model railway exhibition and was quite surprised to see
my Spirit of Progress picture had been reproduced into plastic table place
mats which were being sold at a profit by a stall-holder at the exhibition.

That was not the end of the story -- A few years ago, the ARHS published an
article about the Spirit of Progress in which my picture appeared. It was
acknowledged -- not to me but to a N Read (no relation). Contact with the
editor resulted in a brief correction under 'errata' on a back page of a
subsequent issue of the journal.

But wait -- There's more -- Earlier this year, my picture appeared in a
booklet on the Spirit of Progress, acknowledged to someone else who had
obviously copied it. Contact with the publisher, resulted in my being sent
a copy of the booklet - free, gratis and for nothing.

Here endeth the story --for the present time, until someone else puts it
into print.

I attach a copy of the Spirit of Progress picture concerned. I have lost
track of the original in the loanings for calendars but this scan is from a
Kodachrome duplicate. It has suffered a bit from blemishes but it is still
recognisable. I cannot retake it as the locomotive and train have both gone
(although some remaining carriages look different), the broad gauge track
has gone, the old Albury South signal box has gone as also has the wooden
signal post from which I took the picture.

At least if a person's picture, text or other work is posted frequently on
internet forums, the source of the original becomes well known.

Noel Reed. Helping to keep plagiarists in business.

_____

From:TramsDownUnder@... [mailto:TramsDownUnder@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of John Shields
Sent: Friday, 12 November 2010 3:02 PM
To:TramsDownUnder@...
Subject: [TramsDownUnder] Use of material posted on TDU

I recently had the opportunity to pay a very brief visit to Ferny Grove.

This was the first time I had been to Ferny Grove since about 1965 when I
went there behind a DD17 and it has changed a lot since then, but I digress.

I visited the BTM. There were three people on duty, all very friendly and
helpful and in a short time I was able to experience a ride on a toast-rack,
a baby dreadnought, a droppy and a Phoenix. Other visitors (about ten of
them ) were also having a good time and having a narrated Brisbane tramway
experience through the ages from the early 1900s up to the sixties. The
trams were great and revived a lot of memories for me.

I visited the small shop/exhibits area and to my surprise I found a few of
my TDU Brisbane shots, as well as those of other TDUers, on the wall as a
part of the story.

Now, I'm not upset about the use of the photographs (I understand that for
all intents I forgo copyright privileges when I post on a public forum) but
I thought an acknowledgement, if not of the photographer but at least their
source (TDU) might have been both courteous and nice and I even mentioned to
those on the day that if BTM had got in contact I would have gladly provided
full definition versions for their use.

What do others think?