A Vietnamese photographer has demanded a public apology from a library in Hanoi for using his work without prior approval and adding an incorrect caption to it.  

According to photographer Na Son, one of his photos was used by the Hanoi Library in Hoan Kiem District for their photo exhibit on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the capital’s Liberation Day.

The Vietnamese capital was completely freed from French rule on October 10, 1954.

Son’s black-and-white photo, taken at Long Bien Bridge – one of Hanoi’s icons – in June 2008, captures a young man carrying a woman on his bicycle.

The couple is wearing an old-style suit and “ao dai” (traditional Vietnamese dress), which were prepared by the photographer to re-create the city’s historic atmosphere. 

Son added that his photo was displayed at the exhibit without his knowledge or prior permission, and wrongly captioned “Hanoi during the 1960s.”

He added that after he posted a complaint on his Facebook page, a person who claimed to be from the library’s photo selection division sent him several text messages.

That person told Son that the photo had been downloaded from the Internet with no photographer’s name or caption attached.

The person added that the exhibit is free, so such a blunder should be forgiven.

However, Son insisted that such an explanation is unacceptable.

“I want someone with authorization from the library and exhibit to publicly apologize to me, and the man and woman in my photo, in writing. They committed copyright infringement and cheated exhibit goers with their irresponsible photo download and wrong caption,” the photographer stressed.

Tran Van Hoi, director of the Hanoi Museum, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Sunday that he removed the photo from the exhibition as soon as he learned of Son’s complaint on Facebook.

“The free exhibition isn’t for commercial purposes. If the photo’s author isn’t comfortable about that, we would remove it. It’s no big deal,” he added.

Hoi said that a museum representative was set to meet with Son on Monday to work out the problem.

The photographer added that the photo has also been used without permission several times by local newspapers, also with incorrect captions.

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