Just got this from Tumblr
Hello,
http://justinkelly05.daportfolio.com/ has informed us that you are using their copyrighted material without permission at http://thisisnotpinoy.tumblr.com/post/33988783914/si-malakas-at-si-maganda-by-justinkelly05, and we have removed the content in question.
Please contact us immediately if you believe this was in error. For more information, you can read Tumblr’s Community Guidelines at http://www.tumblr.com/policy/en/community
For all the lawyers, http://www.tumblr.com/content_policy forwards on tohttp://www.tumblr.com/policy/en/community automatically.
Repeated copyright violations may result in account suspension.
Please let us know if you have questions or concerns.
Tumblr Support
support@tumblr.com
What do you guys think about this reply,
To Tumblr Support:
Recently a post of ours has been removed due to alleged copyright infringement. We as a community of bloggers and Filipinos are disappointed in the site’s decision to delete this post, which has been featured in blogs that have gained features in news organizations such as the Huffington Post (thereby bringing acclaim to your own organization). Your actions are disappointing as they do not abide by your own content policies pertaining to fair use and racism.
Amateur artist Justinkelly05 recently published a picture entitled Si Malakas at Si Maganda (“Strong One and Beautiful One”), supposedly based on the creation story from the Tagalog people of the Philippines. In the picture in question, the “artist” decided to use models of light complexion, blonde hair, and European heritage to depict the ancestors of all Filipinos. In fairness, you may not be familiar with the phenotypical makeup of the average ethnic/aboriginal Filipino, but we, for the most part are Southeast Asians of dark-olive complexion with black hairor—in the case of aboriginal Filipinos called Negritos—dark-skinned with curly hair in a way that would be called “Black” in Western nations. The post in question brought up the morality of using White models to portray the ancestors of our peoples and the morality of the overall system of oppression that allows such racist acts to occur.
Your policy on copyright infringement goes as follows
Copyright and Trademark Infringement. Respect the copyrights and trademarks of others. If you aren’t authorized to use someone else’s copyrighted or trademarked work (either expressly or by legal exceptions and limitations like fair use), don’t. It is our policy to respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement as per our Terms of Service and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
ThisIsNotPinoy, the blog in question, did not claim to be the creator of the work. Credit was given where it was due. What the blog did do, was bring critique to the work as the photographer committed acts of racism against our peoples by (1) whitewashing the creation story, thereby depriving Filipinos to represent ourselves and our culture and (2) dressing the white models chosen to portray us as caricatures of wildness and exoticism. As the post was a critique on the work that in no way disputed the creator’s copyright to the photo, the post is (or at least, was) in fair use. Seeing as the post was deleted without proper notification or legal review by Tumblr’s legal team, we assume that you are not familiar with the term. Fair use is defined as
for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.
The post was protected by Tumblr’s content policy since the post was commentary and criticism, and yet it was deleted.
It is our understanding that Tumblr is not for
Malicious Bigotry. Don’t actively promote violence or extreme hatred against individuals or groups, on the basis of race, ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, or sexual orientation. While we firmly believe that the best response to hateful speech is not censorship but more speech, we will take down malicious bigotry, as defined here.
The wording here is quite interesting. “Malicious Bigotry” denotes a sense that there are forms of bigotry against minorities that are acceptable. It’s a sort of phrase that brings to mind “Legitimate Rape.” As a woman of color, I wish to express that racism, no matter how small the act, is always malicious. It objectifies, sexualizes, dehumanizes people by telling them that they are not good enough to represent their own cultures and experiences because of the blood that runs through their veins and the skin that is too dark for print and film. Racism is an institution where it is okay to whitewash and make caricatures of people because organizations, even the ones as fine as Tumblr, will uphold these acts by drowning out the critique of oppressed minorities for the sake of legal issues that have no standing.
There are whole Tumblr blogs dedicated to calling out systemic racism. ThisIsNotPinoy is not one of those blogs. We simply posted our commentary (commentary protected by your content policy) on an act that demeans our people. Instead of backing its bloggers, Tumblr has gone against its policy to be a site for free speech and against all forms of “Malicious Racism.” For this reason, Tumblr users are seeking and creating for themselves inclusive communities on new websites. I urge you to take a more proactive stand against racism and bigotry and for the right of your users to express their views on such matters. Not just for the Filipinos who were offended by the racist picture of Justinekelly05 and your deletion of its critique (and whose offence your organization seems to care little about), but for the sake of your site’s reputation as a leading blog site.
Sincerely,
ThisIsNotPinoy.tumblr.com
That racist fucker actually complained? Fuck Tumblr Support. You didn’t even do any fuckin copyright infringement. At fuckin all. All you did was repost the photo directly from dA with the credits all included.
Ahhh but nahhh. Sure. Take the side of the racist white photographer who is crying out his white tears because a bunch of Filipin@’s and those who aren’t but saw it, spoke up on how racist that shit was. Nope. Breaking around the sites own rules and terms in favor of the racist white person. Yup. Welcome to motherfuckin Tumblr where the people who run the site and its Tumblr support are racist fucks who don’t give a damn about PoC and racism toward us. Nope. Never once have they, never will they.
SHAME ON TUMBLR SUPPORT ONCE AGAIN!
Frankly, I wouldn’t bother with the discussion about cultural appropriation and racism, since this is going to be totally lost on them. Just go with the paragraph about credit and copyright; they want to stick to some stupid letter of the law, and you don’t need to waste your breath arguing about the spirit of the laws they won’t even take a second look at. They probably have the “Malicious Bigotry” thing on there just to cover their asses, not because they actually understand what it means.
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Tumblr support 4 cultural appropriating whitewashers
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