Stolen pictures

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benny

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 14, 2004
2,573
0
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Singapore
Hi guys,

Whilst you guys may be keen on shooting fishes and showing your pictures online. Is there anything that you can do to prevent your pictures from being "stolen" and used without permission?

Seem like this is quite a common problem and I believe some of the members of APF also has had this situation.

Comments?

Cheers,
 
Watermark it? That's the only thing that I can think of which won't require you to place a large copyright in the middle of the picture. Does require money for it though...
 
I once thought of using a digital watermark service that would also let you know where in the great wide web the pictures were residing, but it was a major expense. So I decided I would never put my best work on the web.

If I post a picture on other forums, it usually is very, very bad or has my name embossed across the entire fish.

I did have one picture (that I know of) stolen and used on a major auction site. The person argued with me that they got permission from Aqualog to use it! The stupid (blank) argued with me via e-mail that I was a liar, blah, blah, blah. Even after I told him where he stole it from. I posted the problem I had with the thief on all the fish lists I belonged to. The owner of the site was very gracious and removed my photo.
 
I took some phots of some golf gear that i was selling on Ebay. I did some close up shots detailing logos etc. I found the photos that I took advertising a similar club the following day. I spent a day or two emailing various people but no one really cared. Seems to be that way with photography these days.
 
I had some of my inkfin calvus pictures stolen by some creep from Europe a few years ago. I sent an e-mail to his service provider giving them 24 hours to take his site down before I sue. His site was dead the next day.
 
I have had several times where I found my pics (the red severum usually) in headers of forums and websites. Usually an email to the Admin is all it takes. Have not had to get nasty yet :)
 
There is nothing you can do Benny to prevent from stealing pictures. There is always way around it. Either Source Edit, Shift Combo or simple screen shots with special softwares will steal photographs from any website.

All we can do is ask to take them off or follow up legally..... look below

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You can take legal actions against those who are stealing our hard work. We are covered under 17 U.S.C. Section 101 et seq. and could be liable for statutory damages as high as $150,000 as set forth in Section 504(c)(2) therein.

If you ever in such situation, use below template.

Dear [name]:

It has come to my attention that you have made an unauthorized use of my copyrighted work entitled [name of work] (the "Work") in the preparation of a work derived therefrom. I have reserved all rights in the Work, first published in [date], [and have registered copyright therein]. Your work entitled [name of infringing work] is essentially identical to the Work and clearly used the Work as its basis. [Give a few examples that illustrate direct copying.]

As you neither asked for nor received permission to use the Work as the basis for [name of infringing work] nor to make or distribute copies, including electronic copies, of same, I believe you have willfully infringed my rights under 17 U.S.C. Section 101 et seq. and could be liable for statutory damages as high as $150,000 as set forth in Section 504(c)(2) therein.

I demand that you immediately cease the use and distribution of all infringing works derived from the Work, and all copies, including electronic copies, of same, that you deliver to me, if applicable, all unused, undistributed copies of same, or destroy such copies immediately and that you desist from this or any other infringement of my rights in the future. If I have not received an affirmative response from you by [date give them about 2 weeks] indicating that you have fully complied with these requirements, I shall take further action against you.

Very truly yours,
 
Just occasionally I do a Google image search for a fish I have photographed and put on the web. I have found my photos in strange places occasionally, including the webpage of Austria's best zoo and an auction site. They have usually come from the photos I have put on Fishbase, where every image is labelled as copyright of the photographer. I e-mailed the zoo and asked them to acknowledge my copyright on their site, which they did. The auction was nearly over, so I didn't take any action there.
The thought that consoles me is that it is a sort of compliment, and that it is hard to get rich from jpgs that are only 600 x 400 pixels. I type a copyright claim on anything larger - but only in the corner and I know it can be cropped or edited out.
Of course we are all entitled to keep our photos off the web, and it is wise to do so if there is a chance of selling them elsewhere: but I do want people to see my photos (the better ones, of course ;-) ) so I accept the risk involved.

Alan
 
Finz said:
II sent an e-mail to his service provider giving them 24 hours to take his site down before I sue. His site was dead the next day.
Yes, this is usually the most EFFECTIVE way of dealing with stolen pictures. I seldom contact the "thief" directly myself. The legal sounding letter is useful sometimes, but unless you back it up with some real muscle, you might end up dragging on with the illegal user.

To my amazement, I actually once had a client (yes, had; no longer one) who asked me to use some of the photos which were CLEARLY not his but taken casually from the web. One of them actually had a bold URL right across the bottom. And when I told him that I could not upload those files, that guy then said he could use anything AS LONG AS he made some changes (like touching up a bit here and there or crop out a corner). You could guess my reaction, and he simply went mad and "ordered" me to just use it as he would take any responsibility. Can you believe it?
 
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