A look into the some thoughts of image thieves

madelaide

Premium Member

« Reply #25 on: March 18, 2010, 17:18 »

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Ms. Smith,

Thanks for coming forward. I live in Brazil, and an overseas call is definitely not worth moneywise. However, as I had already told you in my email to you, you could have legally purchased the image from Dreamstime, and that was all I had asked you.

I am surprised that working with the legal market you were unaware that what you were doing was wrong.

So it seems that, according to this attorney, it is ok that you steal a car, take a ride around the town with it, then return it to the owner and go away, as you don't have the car anymore, and you did not profit from it. Those are interesting values.

Your website is your showcase to the public, and it is part of your business. Of course my image doesn't help your business at all, but I'm sure this would qualify for a lawsuit, however the value involved is definitely not worth it, especially being outside your country.

I will nevertheless send you a private message (check messages on the top of this page) with my email address, so you can send my what you consider a fair compensation to my Paypal or Moenybookers account. Whatever you send, I will donate to charity.

Thanks for your time,
Adelaide


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karasma

New Member

« Reply #26 on: March 18, 2010, 17:30 »

#link

Thank you Adelaide. I've received your e-mail and will respond shortly.

All the best,
Kara


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« Reply #27 on: March 19, 2010, 04:40 »

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Quote from: karasma on March 18, 2010, 12:45

Thank you for following up

I had a quick look at your site and it has some real informational value. Good images can enhance the appeal and attractiveness of your site. Why don't you just buy some images in the future? On Dreamstime for instance, you can already license more than half screen wide images for 1$ with a very modest credit package. The bad publicity for you and all the email hassles aren't just worth the ridiculous low prices stock images cost these days.


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karasma

New Member

« Reply #28 on: March 19, 2010, 08:04 »

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Thanks so much FD amateur --

I appreciate your suggestion and it's an excellent idea - I am reviewing Dreamstime now.

A bit of background about me...

After an extended illness, my God-brother passed away in the the beginning of February, my God-mother/best friend/confidant died two weeks later and her funeral was February 19th. (I posted about this on 2/15)
Madeline sent her original e-mail to me on February 20th...

I'm very careful not to use images protected by copyright, so I feel it's important to put all of this into the proper perspective. I also hope it will help guide the tone/attitude taken when communicating going forward. Actions are not always done out of conscience maliciousness.

Madeline and I are communicating offline. Her thumbnail image has been removed from my site, and I have made her a fair offer for it's use.

I truly appreciate you taking time to look-through my site and would like to include it in a blog post I'm writing about being "called-out" for unauthorized image use. There are a multitude of artists and photographers who have gone similar challenges, so this is information audience will surely appreciate.

All the best,
Kara

Quote from: FD-amateur on March 19, 2010, 04:40

Quote from: karasma on March 18, 2010, 12:45

Thank you for following up


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cclapper

Premium Member

« Reply #29 on: March 19, 2010, 08:23 »

#link

Quote

Actions are not always done out of conscience maliciousness.

No they are not. But if you went to the DT site, and if you grabbed the image and posted it on your site, you must have realized that the images on DT were for sale, not for free, no?

It is good that you have come forward and are willing to make an attempt at making things right. That is way more than most people who steal images do. But you are only responding because you have been outed in public. If Madelaide would have kept it to herself, I'm guessing you would have done nothing.

Since weeks went by without madelaide hearing back from you, you wouldn't have given it a second thought. The real test is whether you do the right thing, even when no one is looking.


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karasma

New Member

« Reply #30 on: March 19, 2010, 08:58 »

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Hi cclapper --

While I do not recall the specifics, it's more than likely in my haste to publish that I accessed the image via Google Images, and never actually accessed the original website; which I certainly know better than to do. Actually, did not complete my registration at Dreamstime Stock Photography because I stopped to respond to this message...

Unfortutnately, your "guess" is incorrect. Madeline posted a comment on my blog (which only I see prior to my approving BTW) and I responded immediately.

Quote from: cclapper on March 19, 2010, 08:23

Quote

Actions are not always done out of conscience maliciousness.


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cclapper

Premium Member

« Reply #31 on: March 19, 2010, 10:29 »

#link

Quote

Unfortutnately, your "guess" is incorrect. Madeline posted a comment on my blog (which only I see prior to my approving BTW) and I responded immediately.

Here is what madelaide posted here:

I wrote her weeks ago explaining she could not do this. I even said "As a serious bunisesswoman, I am sure you will act correctly, respecting my intellectual property rights." Now, writing to DT will only make her remove the image, without any compensation for her insistence on doing something illegal.

We need to find ways of punishing such people. They know they are doing something wrong. Even if it's just about hurting their reputation, it is already a way to punish them. Any idea of how to do that? Are there sites were I should post a complaint? Probably a blog comment will not last a single day. I would like something that would make people in her field know she did something wrong.

And a few posts later:

Quote

Yes, I can contact their host and DT, but in the end she will simply remove the image. No punishment, life goes on. And she works for the legal market! What type of consultant is she? I could accept she not knowing this was illegal, but after I emailed her saying it wasn't legal, offering her a chance to buy it or contact Dreamstime for clarification, she simply ignored this and kept using it - this is absurd!

I have added the bold.

I am only going by what madelaide said. It's between you two now. But I totally support her and anyone else in this forum who finds their images being used illegally.


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madelaide

Premium Member

« Reply #32 on: March 20, 2010, 16:22 »

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Quote from: karasma on March 19, 2010, 08:58

Unfortutnately, your "guess" is incorrect. Madeline posted a comment on my blog (which only I see prior to my approving BTW) and I responded immediately.

Just a correction: I never posted a comment in your blog - maybe someone else did, as we all support each other on these matters. Have in mind that to some people the image stock business is their sole or main income source, so any such event of copyright infraction is a very serious subject, and that's why I never swallowed having the infractor merely removing/replacing the image, especially at professional/commercial/editorial sites that should know about intellectual property.

I did send you an email on February 20th. I understand you may have missed it - I also get a lot of spam mail - but I supposed a subject "Unauthorized use of image‏" would have caught anyone's attention.

I have just sent you an invoice for the amount you proposed. I would like to add, however, a comment about your sentence "I replaced your image with are free of charge or .20 to .30". Regarding the free images, be sure they are free images, acquired from sources that specifically say those are free images. I can put an image I purchased in a website without any copyright notice in it, and it is still owned by someone else who licensed it to me, so it can not be used or even hotlinked without proper authorization. And regarding the 20-30c images, these are possibly prices for volume sales in subscriptions, but yes, images can cost very little.

I'm glad you have signed up to Dreamstime, it's an excellent site with works by many talented people, and I'm sure you will be able to enhance the products you offer with the quality images you will be able to acquire.

Regards,
Adelaide


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madelaide

Premium Member

« Reply #33 on: March 21, 2010, 13:29 »

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Ms. Smith sent me a sum for damages and, as promissed, I donated that for charity, with an extra contribution on my side. I chose Save the Children's fund to Haiti.


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