Stamp controversy: Pixman satisfied to have embarrassed Pos Malaysia
Filipino photographer Romy Ocon has decided to not sue Pos Malaysia over the alleged theft of his photo for use in the postal service’s Visit Malaysia 2014 stamp series.
“As things stand now, I have obtained my major objective - stop Pos Malaysia from using my work without permission and make the matter a public embarrassment.
“The vast majority of comments on the issue has but one verdict - Pos Malaysia is guilty of photo theft and gross ignorance,” he told us in an email interview.
On Friday, the 48-year-old wildlife photographer accused Pos Malaysia of stealing his photo and using it without his permission in Pos Malaysia's stamp collection for Visit Malaysia Year 2014 (VMY).
In an online photography forum, Romy detailed how he found out and compared his original photo against a montage of Pos Malaysia stamps scheduled to be released under the Malaysian tourism campaign. ( Read the original story here )
He told us that, after consulting his lawyers, he will not go to court yet. However, he added:
“After this public embarrassment, photo pirates will have second thoughts before they will lift photos without the owner's permission and use such intellectual property in a mass circulated medium.
“That for me is victory enough, as sweet as any legal court can grant,” said the Manila-based photographer.
We contacted Pos Malaysia to get their reaction to Romy's decision, and more importantly, on whether the VMY stamp collection was to be launched next Wednesday as planned during the VMY Stamp Week. The officer who declined to be named responded with a 'no comment' to both questions.
We persisted, asking Pos Malaysia to help clarify the confusion over the stamp launch and was directed instead to follow up with Jaffri Amin Osman, a representative from World Communications Network Resources Sdn Bhd. We were told this company is commissioned to work on the collection with Tourism Malaysia.
We’ve tried reaching Jaffri, but so far have not received any response to emails,calls and text messages to Jaffri.
On Monday, the company's design house Media Eye Sdn Bhd, told us in a statement that the collection was only a draft and has yet to be released, because itwas subject to final approval from the parties involved. (Read the story here)
World Communications Network Resources is a public relations agency, which has also serviced clients such as Bank Negara and the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry. The company is said to have affiliates in Australia and Singapore, according to a UK-based public relations association PRCA website.
We did a search on the Companies Commission of Malaysia's online database and learnt that Jaffri is the controlling shareholder of World Communications Network Resources. The company's paid-up capital is RM5 million and the other directors are Shaik Sulaiman S. Mohamed Ismail and Yasmin Osman. The company recorded a revenue of over RM4 million at the end of June and profit of over RM70,000.
Romy is not the only photographer accusing Pos Malaysia of photo theft. Singapore-based American photographer Con Foley had also confirmed that one of his photographs was featured in the upcoming stamp collection. He claimed he was neither contacted nor credited, and was considering legal action against the agencies involved. The Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) branch in Perak had also pointed out that there could be five more images by wildlife photographers being used without permission.
Earlier reports mentioned that Pos Malaysia’s Stamp and Philately Unit had publicly assured a Facebook user last Friday that the collection’s scheduled release during Stamp Week, from November 13 to 19, would not be delayed.
Since then, we have been unable to access the Facebook page of Pos Malaysia’s Stamp and Philately Unit.
