Reminder on courtesy on the Net

Today I went for my weekly pilates class at the Community Center.

As I was walking home after the class, I passed by the Cooking Classroom and looked the posters outside the room.

Something stopped me in my track.

There was a poster on a Christmas Log cake class. Then there was a picture of MY logcake. Taken from MY website. WITHOUT my PERMISSION. And the instructor for the class is NOT me.

I was furious.

How can anyone take my picture from my website without asking first? And putting the picture there seems to give the impression that is done by the particular instructor. NO? Unless, there is a disclaimer saying the pictures are just for illustration only, which there is none.

I immediately went to the office to ask the staff how that can happen and I want it to be taken down. I also wanted a reply for this matter.

Some people may think, it's only a silly picture, right.

I'm sorry, NOPE.

While I am flattered that you use my picture (you must have thought it looked nice before deciding to use it I guess?) when you take something that is not yours, you ask permission. Especially so when the poster is showing something that is not done by the instructor, it sounds really wrong to me.

I take time and trouble to bake and decorate my cakes and try to make them as photogenic as I can. I also take the trouble to set my table, take numerous photos and then select the one which I think looks best. So, just taking it and using it without asking is NOT ok.

This asking for permission thingy especially applies on the internet. Not only to pictures, but to articles as well. If you are going to publish the information somewhere or use it for publicity purposes, be sure to ASK or at least cite the sources.

I'm glad I saw the poster today. There are so many logcake pictures on the net, so many community centers around,  and I had to see this particular poster using my picture. I ought to buy lottery today.