Learning Lessons From Others' Mistakes

Wow, had a crazy wake-up call/lesson learned this afternoon.

Some poor, not all that bright blogger wrote a blog in May of this year about a news story and ended up using what he likely thought was a perfectly innocent, likely free photo off the internet.

What he had no idea of at the time (though should have researched) was that the man who both took and starred in the photo is now a writer and very well known actor for a comedy website that many people frequent (myself included). He is a beloved face on the website for his humor, charm and immodesty about his own good looks.

So when this paragon of comedy innocently did an image search on his own face (please, don't act like you've never done it) he was shocked to find this picture of himself just floating wilhe-nilhe about the internet. It was unlicensed and unaccredited everywhere it popped up portraying him as a dufus.

So he went on this comedy website and wrote an article linking back to most, if not all, of the places that had used his picture without permission (including this unsuspecting blogger) and said that, while he was not going to throw a fit or demand people take it down, couldn't they use this more flattering image that he would also provide for free? And thus he posted a similar but unarguably more flattering picture.

In this comedian's defense; it wasn't right for people to use his photo unlicensed and unaccredited and I too would be annoyed to find an unflattering photo of myself floating about the internet with hashtags of #dumbass and #assholes.

In the bloggers defense: When you run a small blog with few readers and less money, it is much easier to find photos via a google image search, than through a professional website that you must pay for and then credit the photographer.

Lessons to be learned: Don't take unflattering photos of yourself and post them on the internet. Don't use unaccredited photos unless you want it to possibly bite you hard in the butt someday.

Now, this poor blogger's previously quiet site has been blown up with comments (unwittingly?) directed there by the comedian...and they are not nice comments.