Plagiarism of the Day

This picture was awarded the honor of POD for today {8/15/2008}. No doubt, this is one of the best photos on the site. The composition is perfect, as is the lighting, not to mention the tasteful use of a fish-eye lens. It is apparent that whoever took the picture is a master of his craft and deserves full credit for his masterpiece... So why shouldn't this picture have been awarded the prestigious POD?The uploader of this photo meant no harm; he saw a "killer pic" of Steve Romo and decided to share it with the Pinkbike community. While this in itself is perhaps excusable to a certain extent, it is still plagiarism. What is completely unacceptable is that this photo ended up becoming POD. The POD should be reserved for the amateur photographers out in Pinkbike-land that work hard to try and take unique and captivating photos and receive barely any recognition for their efforts.

Anyone can go on Google images, steal a bunch of "killer pics" and re-upload them here without accrediting the original source. There is no skill involved at all whatsoever in doing this and if one chooses to do it anyways, then they sure as hell don't deserve to get POD for it.

I'm not a photographer myself but I can only imagine what it would feel like watching as day after day, pictures stolen from other sites and publications wind up as the POD while the fruits of my labor remained hidden away in the far reaching corners of the server, never to be seen. It must be frustrating to the photographers knowing that while they are taking great photos with the talent and equipment available to them, a 14 year old with access to the internet can one-up them, by stealing photos of pro-riders taken with multi-thousand dollar photography setups, with just a few clicks of a mouse.

While a majority of the content featured as POD is original and well-deserved, the fact is, that all of it should be, not just the majority. It is not that difficult to make sure you have a true winner. First, check the user's age. The chances of someone under the age of 15 having access to a DSLR and fancy flashes are slim to none. You can also tell if an image is genuine by comparing it to other pictures in the user's albums; if all the pictures are of the same, high-caliber, then there should be no need for further investigation. Moreover, if you see an ocean in the background and the location says "Moab, UT", then there may be something fishy going on; then again, it could just be a simple mistake. Finally if all else fails, ask them through a PM, "That's an awesome picture (insert picture here), where'd you take that?", if they reply no, then don't feature it, simple as that.

There is already a surplus of original POD-worthy material here on Pinkbike with thousands of new pictures being added by the day; so the next time you start chanting "PODPODPOD", make certain that you are supporting a worthy candidate.

/rant