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Author Topic: Biggest Rip Off in microstock history! Shocking finds..  (Read 54970 times)

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« on: January 03, 2013, 20:19 »
+6
Thanks to MSG, and a member who sent me a personal message (not disclosing who, as he/she may not like it..) we have(most probably) discovered the biggest scam in 10 years of microstock history..

Apparently they came up on MSG before: http://www.microstockgroup.com/shutterstock-com/who-is-high-leg-studio/
and today: http://www.microstockgroup.com/general-stock-discussion/same-sales-with-400-images-and-4000-images-in-signelements/msg288079/?topicseen#new (lower down the page)

and the scam still continues, while they probably already made 100s of thousands of dollars stealing other people's works..

Here is my original image which made me %100 sure that they are thieves:
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-illustration-5965507-various-shapes-and-graphic-design-elements.php?st=931b75c
I can recognize my work from 1 million lightyears away.. There is no way I am wrong here..

and here are the ugly "warped" versions by these infringers:
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-26039425/stock-vector-logo-set.html?src=872305bcf7f5059bba0928db43dfe1cf-1-13

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-26039422/stock-vector-logo-set.html?src=872305bcf7f5059bba0928db43dfe1cf-1-7

Every vector artist reading this must take some time and check this portfolio here to see if they find their own work as well:
http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-146584p1.html

They obviously think, it is OK stealing as long as you disguise it with warps and distortions..

edit: I am adding it here (as well) for people who didn't see the links..
« Last Edit: January 09, 2013, 08:02 by cidepix »


« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2013, 20:37 »
0
I have contacted shutterstock.. It's unbelievable how long a scam can go on..

so much work going into disguising the vectors I guess.. nearly 40.000 vectors.. That is no human work.. not with the quality of some of those works..

Some of them are just ugly warps and distortions as I said, and some others are more complicated.. but any vector artist will tell you, it is not easy to produce this many vectors..

possible but not easy.. requires thousands of sleepless nights..

They call themselves a studio.. it is possible someone has some artists working for him and some of those artists happen to be OVER-INSPIRED by other original works..
« Last Edit: January 04, 2013, 06:48 by cidepix »

fritz

  • I love Tom and Jerry music

« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2013, 20:40 »
0
Site mail to SS. Sad, but that's the only thing you can do. Happen to me before and I mail to theft to remove the file and believe or not the answer was" Who the FYCK are you to tell me what to do"

« Reply #3 on: January 03, 2013, 20:44 »
0
Site mail to SS. Sad, but that's the only thing you can do. Happen to me before and I mail to theft to remove the file and believe or not the answer was" Who the FYCK are you to tell me what to do"


I found more, not just mine.. here:

http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?searchterm=love+angel+devil&search_group=&lang=en&search_source=search_form#id=7831480&src=8e374a439576628e328aabc47b3696e9-1-1

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-8596135/stock-vector-love-symbols.html?src=d57ff83b66fd73e0d4aad1a74198eec0-5-59

just swapped the figures, and applied their usual ugly warps and distortions along with some rip off wings that doesn't even fit to this style..



« Reply #6 on: January 03, 2013, 23:55 »
0
ja that sounds nasty and big.

But please, can you explain to us photographers and laypeople, what a warped vector is.
I mean what have they done to the original files?

« Reply #7 on: January 04, 2013, 03:38 »
0
ja that sounds nasty and big.

But please, can you explain to us photographers and laypeople, what a warped vector is.
I mean what have they done to the original files?

If you open any file in photoshop, on any layer with something on it, click on free transform, then right click, you will see the "warp" option.. play with it and you will learn what I mean..

Warp is also available in illustrator: Effect > Warp (with lots of options)

In illustrator, you don't even have to use "auto warp" options.. you can just manually pull from any point of the drawing and modify the shape of it..
« Last Edit: January 04, 2013, 03:45 by cidepix »

aspp

« Reply #8 on: January 04, 2013, 05:34 »
0
Does Shutterstock ever contact the buyers in cases like this to notify them that they must unuse the content they have bought ? Do they ever reimburse the original artists ? What happens to the money they collect for selling stolen content ?

Poncke

« Reply #9 on: January 04, 2013, 05:40 »
0
Cidepix, it might be drastic measures, but you can sue Shutterstock if they dont take it down. Its weird tho that they dont follow their own copyright policies as soon as big bucks are involved. And can you imagine how much money you lost out on. I am really sorry for you dude.

« Reply #10 on: January 04, 2013, 05:56 »
0
Cidepix, it might be drastic measures, but you can sue Shutterstock if they dont take it down. Its weird tho that they dont follow their own copyright policies as soon as big bucks are involved. And can you imagine how much money you lost out on. I am really sorry for you dude.


Thanks but I think the industry suffers from this gigantic scam more than me as an individual.. If it's not taken down as soon as possible, it is also a message to all the thieves that as long as they camouflage the theft well, it is ok stealing.. When I look at the images, for example his santa and reindeers, I can see how the legs of the deers are chopped off, and the outlines simplified, so not many people will recognize it even if it's their own drawings:
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-22312423/stock-vector-vector-christmas-greeting-card.html?src=ab757b5cfb60e599e37b86c45171e87a-1-47
notice the simplification..

I suspect it is ripped off from this one:
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-120438004/stock-vector-beautiful-winter-landscape-with-background-of-night-sky-with-a-bright-moon-and-the-silhouette-of.html?src=1e29c0ee90241bee01bbaf36488dd5ec-1-0

but you can't tell because of the simplification.. this kind of sophisticated camouflage is all over the place..



« Reply #13 on: January 04, 2013, 06:32 »
0
vectorious claims to have 18000 files:
http://www.vectorious.net/subscription

what about the remaining 22000 in high leg's portfolio?

Reef

  • website ready 2026 :)
« Reply #14 on: January 04, 2013, 07:02 »
+1
http://www.vectorious.net/      600 Vectors for $30

The future of Microstock?  SS are slack with stuff like this.

Can it get worse? How about the 2 x 70gig Torrents out there that contain high quality SS photos. Seems to be all new material as well. That's a huge security breach.


« Reply #15 on: January 04, 2013, 09:11 »
+2
If the theif has made hundreds of thousands of $ - well then so has the ms site. That is a LOT of revenue, and you wonder how much harder it is to be motivated for them to shut down someone like this, when your own pockets are getting stuffed with money?

I truly feel sorry for the original artists like yourself that have invested time and creativity to producing vectors, only to have a scumbags come steal them and rip you off. I hope they get shut down pronto. And its kudos to you and others that find such violators and post them on these forums, so that ALL artists are aware of whats going on, and together to try to do something about it!

« Reply #16 on: January 04, 2013, 09:44 »
+2
Clearly there is a lawsuit against both the copyright violator and the distributing agency.
BOTH.

I suggest you copyright owners gather up and file a lawsuit. There can be a lot of money there.
You are both being copied and redistributed.

And if you have informed the distributing agency, they cannot claim they were innocent.

The agency might be interested in setteling the matter with an agreement. Their problem will be if you represent all the copyright owners, or if there will be further demands in the future.
So settle, and they will have precedence. Which can limit and control the damages.




Poncke

« Reply #17 on: January 04, 2013, 10:06 »
0
I agree with Jens. Sue the heck out of SS and the lot. If they are lining their pockets with stolen goods, they need to suffer as well. I would post it in the SS forum too if I were you. Make it public, shame them all.
« Last Edit: January 04, 2013, 12:05 by Poncke »

« Reply #18 on: January 04, 2013, 11:45 »
0
Here's a sister company to Vectorius:

http://www.designious.com/

« Reply #19 on: January 04, 2013, 20:33 »
0
It seems that people are afraid of posting in this thread.
I can understand why.

« Reply #20 on: January 04, 2013, 20:45 »
0
im not afraid of posting in the thread, i just dont do vectors, so there wont be anything i can do about it. but i have found my images on torrent sites, so i know how it feels to get ripped off. i hope something can be done to stop the thieves, but i fear no one wants to spend the money.

« Reply #21 on: January 05, 2013, 07:26 »
+1
So what's going on here? SS are normally very quick to deal with such violations and usually suspend the portfolio almost immediately. How come the High Leg Studio port is still available at SS?

Poncke

« Reply #22 on: January 05, 2013, 07:42 »
0
So what's going on here? SS are normally very quick to deal with such violations and usually suspend the portfolio almost immediately. How come the High Leg Studio port is still available at SS?
Well, suspending 36k vectors, bringing you a massive amount of $$$ obviously is not something you want to do. Thats why I think you can sue Shutterstock for copyright violation, because they keep the account live.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #23 on: January 05, 2013, 07:43 »
0
It seems that people are afraid of posting in this thread.
I can understand why.
Who's afraid? I wouldn't see why.
I am very interested to see how the hagiographified SS deals with this, and am concerned that, at the very least, the ports aren't suspended pending investigation.
I suspect the OP might be prevented from fully revealing how the issue is ultimately resolved.

Poncke

« Reply #24 on: January 05, 2013, 07:46 »
+5
What I find weird is that simple people's ports are suspended as soon as someone reports a (false) copyright claim against them, yet this port stays live regardless of massive violations. Simply put, Shutterstock is full of sh!t when they say they take copyright violations seriously. They only take it serious when it doesnt hurt them.


 

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