Linda Ikeji: Photographer Accuses Blogger Of Stealing His Photos

As written by by photographer blogger Sheifunmi Nomia-Yusuf and reported by fuse.com.ng

I was commissioned few days ago to assist a photographer to document a wedding on October 25th at oriental hotel which i can gladly say was the best wedding of 2014 at the moment which got the social media buzzing.

I left for work very early and got to the grooms location before 7am due to environmental sanitation that day. I documented the details, the groomsmen etc till noon before they all left in the convoy while i drove behind them to Oriental Hotel where the nikkai and Reception will then hold. I Photographed along side my main photographer during the nikkia and told her afterwards that i wanted to go to the reception before it was filled to document it. Honestly when i got to the main entrance of the reception i was Amazed at the work that was all done there, from the Decoration to the designs etc. I was so amazed i felt i had to share this on my instagram page, and so i pulled out my Smartphone and created few photographs and videos casually.

Few minutes after the photos and videos were posted,it started media generating Attention/Engagement. bellanaijaweddings was the 1st to repost my photograph and credit was given, same thing was done on the website. Infact, bellanaija gave credit to to all the authors of any photograph it used within that short time. Linda Ikeji on the other hand created a post on the next day of event which was Sunday 26th of October,2014. She posted 26 photographs, 4 out of which i owned/authored. Linda Ikeji didn’t deem it fit to give photo credit to the authors of the 25 photographs she posted on her blog.I can gladly say shes guilty of PLAGIARISM.

I’d love to quote what linda Ikeji stated in a post after Google restored her blog few weeks back “To understand this I am going to start from the beginning but before that I want to talk about plagiarism. My understanding of plagiarism is when you take someone’s work and republish it verbatim as your own work. I don’t do that. But if I have ever done that in the past then I apologize. It was an oversight. I do get a lot of original content, way more than any other blogger in this country. Some of the biggest news stories in this country in recent times was broken by LIB. From Goldie’s death (God rest her soul) Aluu4, ABSU rape, P-Square saga, Solomon Akiyesi and plenty more. And when I take news from other sources, I always credit them. When I don’t give credit is when the news is everywhere so I write it in my own words and make it mine. I don’t believe that is a crime. I ADMIT THAT I HAVE USED PHOTOS WITHOUT GIVING CREDIT. I APOLOGISE. THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. You learn every day. And I have learnt from this.”

Honestly, in my opinion Linda Ikeji hasn’t learnt from this at all like she claimed, and it has happened again. I really don’t see how typing in those letters to give credit will affect how much she earns. Or can i say Linda Ikeji is too Lazy or Too Proud to research who Authored the photographs she posts?

This isn’t the 1st time Linda Ikeji has been guilty of this, she has done it to Obi Somto and TCD Photography who are my colleagues in the Photography Industry. All i simply want is for her to do the needful by giving credit for photographs and other intellectual property of not just my creations but for other photographers and individuals.

I had to write this for not just myself but for other creatives, this issues had been going on for as long as i can remember and i expected more from Linda Ikeji. I don’t want credit because its the biggest wedding of 2014 so far or because i want traffic or attention. ALL I SIMPLY WANT IS FOR LINDA IKEJI AND OTHER BLOGGERS TO ALWAYS GIVE CREDIT FOR PHOTOGRAPHS THEY NEVER CREATED OR AUTHORED.

Source: fuse.com.ng