Did Rappler really commit plagiarism?

Maria Ressa, CEO of Rappler, has recently found herself in hot water over claims that her social news network “stole” photographs for a story that it posted back in December 2012.DZIQ business reporter Erwin Aguilon called Ressa’s attention on Twitter by posting a screenshot of a Rappler story dated 24 December 2012 that have used one of his pictures without permission.Ressa promptly replied the same day, saying she is not aware of the picture and suggested Aguilon to seek the proper channels back in Rappler to address it.The photo was removed and an erratum was issued in the very same day which said, "This article had used a photo by Erwin Aguilon without his permission. We apologize for the lapse and have removed the photo."Her next tweet, however, seemed to have rubbed both Aguilon and the social media community the wrong way.  My tweet was taken out of context – easy to do in 140 characters.Ressa's opinion rapidly caught flak in the past three weeks as it made the rounds online, despite already addressing the problem following newsroom rules, but Aguilon and a notable number of observers insisted that not asking his permission makes it stealing.In a official statement out this 18 October, Ressa explained to one of the bashers via the messageboards that her tweet about the public domain was taken out of context."My second tweet was to remind him what we post on any social network is in the public domain, meaning the information is publicly available. I was not referring to the legal definition which is connected to copyright and ownership.""As a journalist, I have great respect for content creators and know they own the content they create.  The post cited him as a source but was used without his permission. Rappler immediately took down the photo and posted this editor’s note." she adds.The full text of Rappler's response to the plagiarism allegations is as follows:Plagiarism is a serious matter that Rappler does not take lightly. We have internal processes to safeguard against it and, in the event these safeguards fail, we have sanctions for those who commit mistakes. Just like other news groups, we have administrative procedures that are in place. These include due process. We are aware of lapses committed by some of our staff whose attention we have called. Rappler has also acknowledged these lapses and has apologized to concerned individuals, even as we have dealt with specific cases in private. While content posted on social media is in the public domain, it does not and should not give people the right to use it as their own. We stand by this principle and continue to measure ourselves by the highest journalism standards.