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Author Topic: Photaki - the next crook?  (Read 26991 times)

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Justanotherphotographer

« Reply #75 on: February 10, 2016, 15:21 »
+4
A recipe for some very p****d off and confused customers.


Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #76 on: February 10, 2016, 18:28 »
0
.
« Last Edit: February 10, 2016, 19:30 by Shelma1 »

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #77 on: February 10, 2016, 18:46 »
+2
And here's one of the images you've supposedly taken down, still available on vecree.com for free and attributed to freepik:

https://vecree.com/856213/black-shopping-bag-for-black-friday-vector-free-download/

The yellow sombrero is there as well. And also "designed" by "freepik."

*sigh*

I can't even begin to imagine how many websites your ripoffs are on.

« Reply #78 on: February 10, 2016, 23:58 »
+2
It looks like this site just crawls and indexes freepik but has not control over it, just as freepik crawls and indexes other sites.

« Reply #79 on: February 11, 2016, 04:02 »
+2
And here's one of the images you've supposedly taken down, still available on vecree.com for free and attributed to freepik:

https://vecree.com/856213/black-shopping-bag-for-black-friday-vector-free-download/

The yellow sombrero is there as well. And also "designed" by "freepik."

*sigh*

I can't even begin to imagine how many websites your ripoffs are on.


This site only indexes freepik and redirects it to their website only.
And do you really want only this image to be removed??

I guess there are tons of images in their website which are exact copy and are illegally published at their website.

Moreover, website like http://all-free-download.com/ .... they are also biggest culprit, do a search and I am sure you will find many designs which are published and available for free download.  Total illegally taken.

They are no business but a scam and theifs.

Justanotherphotographer

« Reply #80 on: February 11, 2016, 06:38 »
+1
Well put it this way. They claim they were just a search engine up until recently so were only pulling work from other sites so not responsible. But then they not only stated that users have to attribute the work to them but would have to pay for a subscription to avoid attribution.

Imagine if Google did that, said that you could use images from their image search in you projects and had to attribute it to Google or pay up?

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #81 on: February 11, 2016, 07:10 »
+2
Imagine if Google did that, said that you could use images from their image search in you projects and had to attribute it to Google or pay up?
Don't  give them  ideas  :o

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #82 on: February 11, 2016, 07:26 »
+5
I continue to find example after example of my work being copied almost exactly by freepik, even after asking them umpteen times to take all their ripoffs down. I don't want to bore everyone here with it, so I'm taking it to social media and Shutterstock's violations department. Now I take screenshots of everything as evidence, since they take stuff down or alter it slightly once I've made it public. So no more links, as they're "disappearing" all the evidence. I think I'll also start adding up the number of downloads their fake work has gotten so I can send them a bill. They pay their "designers" for downloads, after all.

« Reply #83 on: February 11, 2016, 07:33 »
+4
The waybackmachine does have what they've removed https://archive.org/web/
I think until a bunch of you get together and seek legal advice on this, they are going to carry on doing it.  This is where a private forum would be useful.  How much should they compensate you for loss of earnings?  Could be quite a lot of money if the image was selling well before it had thousands of downloads without the copyright holders permission.  Do you need to be compensated by the site and the people that have downloaded it and used it?
« Last Edit: February 11, 2016, 07:50 by sharpshot »

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #84 on: February 11, 2016, 08:05 »
+15
I'm seriously considering some sort of legal action. Some of the tracings of my images have tens of thousands of downloads on freepik...they've been up there for years.


« Reply #85 on: February 11, 2016, 11:36 »
+7
I'm seriously considering some sort of legal action. Some of the tracings of my images have tens of thousands of downloads on freepik...they've been up there for years.

Given that this crew appears to be based in Spain, going after anything in the US you can might be more straightforward, cheaper and faster. You already mentioned Shutterstock - trying to get them to cut off the affiliate status for all this person's companies. It gives them legitimacy even if they don't earn much from affiliate sales.

The hosting companies, if they're in the US, and payment processors are the other options. At some point, the earn-money-from-other-people's-work big gorilla, Google, was making efforts to appear to combat piracy by adjusting searches to remove or penalize sites that were mostly pirate work. Possibly you could convince Google that this was a rogue site - without search engine position, I'm assuming it would really slow them down.

If you know any illustrators based in Spain that they've ripped off, perhaps they might have some avenues to pursue?


Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #86 on: February 11, 2016, 11:51 »
0
Excellent suggestions.

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #87 on: February 11, 2016, 12:09 »
+6
Step 1 taken.

« Reply #88 on: February 12, 2016, 00:01 »
+4
Step 1 taken.

Great... let them be behind the bars..

I suggest everyone to be very aware of such scams and do not.. again say do not go to such websites and give your stuffs or else you will cry later on..
Its like selling yourself for few pennies..

Also Shelma.. please update the topic name from "Photaki - the next crook?" to "Freepik and Photaki - the next crook"
Let everyone know about this scam.

Justanotherphotographer

« Reply #89 on: February 12, 2016, 02:16 »
+1
I'm seriously considering some sort of legal action. Some of the tracings of my images have tens of thousands of downloads on freepik...they've been up there for years.

Given that this crew appears to be based in Spain, going after anything in the US you can might be more straightforward, cheaper and faster. You already mentioned Shutterstock - trying to get them to cut off the affiliate status for all this person's companies. It gives them legitimacy even if they don't earn much from affiliate sales.

The hosting companies, if they're in the US, and payment processors are the other options. At some point, the earn-money-from-other-people's-work big gorilla, Google, was making efforts to appear to combat piracy by adjusting searches to remove or penalize sites that were mostly pirate work. Possibly you could convince Google that this was a rogue site - without search engine position, I'm assuming it would really slow them down.

If you know any illustrators based in Spain that they've ripped off, perhaps they might have some avenues to pursue?
Actually the income from SS is their primary source of revenue

« Reply #90 on: February 12, 2016, 04:57 »
0
Hi,

We are trying to explain things with transparency and sincerity. We are here to talk with you. We just wanted to personally respond to comments, to meet you, to know how could we collaborate. We have addressed all claims of users, we have offered you to talk via Hangout or Skype, etc.

Shelma, as our Social Media team told you, we are checking all of the designs that you are demading. Please, it would be easier for both of us if we could have a conversation by email ([email protected]), Skype or Hangout.




« Reply #91 on: February 12, 2016, 05:12 »
+11
Freepik, please answer my questions.  Why should it be up to us to find the images that are being downloaded thousands of times without the copyright holders consent?  By the time these images are found, the person that originally made that image might of already lost a substantial amount of earnings.  Please tell us how you are going to go through all your images, identify all the ones that are being used without consent and fully compensate the copyright holder.  Then there's the problem with your designers making images that are very similar to other people's work instead of doing their own work.  How do you justify that?  Why would any sensible person here want to collaborate with a site that is doing that?


Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #92 on: February 12, 2016, 05:44 »
0
Step 1 taken.

Great... let them be behind the bars..

I suggest everyone to be very aware of such scams and do not.. again say do not go to such websites and give your stuffs or else you will cry later on..
Its like selling yourself for few pennies..

Also Shelma.. please update the topic name from "Photaki - the next crook?" to "Freepik and Photaki - the next crook"
Let everyone know about this scam.

I can't uodate the thread title...I didn't start the thread.

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #93 on: February 12, 2016, 05:56 »
+5
Hi,

We are trying to explain things with transparency and sincerity. We are here to talk with you. We just wanted to personally respond to comments, to meet you, to know how could we collaborate. We have addressed all claims of users, we have offered you to talk via Hangout or Skype, etc.

Shelma, as our Social Media team told you, we are checking all of the designs that you are demading. Please, it would be easier for both of us if we could have a conversation by email ([email protected]), Skype or Hangout.

Go Skype yourself.

« Reply #94 on: February 12, 2016, 06:04 »
0
Freepik, please answer my questions.  Why should it be up to us to find the images that are being downloaded thousands of times without the copyright holders consent?  By the time these images are found, the person that originally made that image might of already lost a substantial amount of earnings.  Please tell us how you are going to go through all your images, identify all the ones that are being used without consent and fully compensate the copyright holder.  Then there's the problem with your designers making images that are very similar to other people's work instead of doing their own work.  How do you justify that?  Why would any sensible person here want to collaborate with a site that is doing that?

Im answering you, sharpshot:

We make an exhaustive analysis of the resources created exclusively for us. It isnt your labor, but ours. We do it, but its inevitable that some go unnoticed. This not only happens in Freepik but in all image banks. We are victims of copy in many occasions.

At the moment the the plagiarism is detected, we delete the content immediately. The affected author can contact us ([email protected] or [email protected]). We deeply investigate the case and compensate the author if necessary.

We dont order similar designs, and if there is any plagiarism is because we have been deceived for the designer.

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #95 on: February 12, 2016, 06:20 »
+4
You compensate the author? Oh, really? Is my check in the mail?

« Reply #96 on: February 12, 2016, 06:30 »
+7
Freepik, please answer my questions.  Why should it be up to us to find the images that are being downloaded thousands of times without the copyright holders consent?  By the time these images are found, the person that originally made that image might of already lost a substantial amount of earnings.  Please tell us how you are going to go through all your images, identify all the ones that are being used without consent and fully compensate the copyright holder.  Then there's the problem with your designers making images that are very similar to other people's work instead of doing their own work.  How do you justify that?  Why would any sensible person here want to collaborate with a site that is doing that?

Im answering you, sharpshot:

We make an exhaustive analysis of the resources created exclusively for us. It isnt your labor, but ours. We do it, but its inevitable that some go unnoticed. This not only happens in Freepik but in all image banks. We are victims of copy in many occasions.

At the moment the the plagiarism is detected, we delete the content immediately. The affected author can contact us ([email protected] or [email protected]). We deeply investigate the case and compensate the author if necessary.

We dont order similar designs, and if there is any plagiarism is because we have been deceived for the designer.

first I hate when you guys say the word "inevitable" and "sorry"
second compensate, are you kiding? you guys have already give those images 1000s times with commercial license for free.
If we calculate the commercial license cost which other websites give and multiply with the download number. will you guys give a proper compensation?

and guess what.. there is no model release, no property release, no watermark nothing.. only copyright, is this right business?
also you guys have designers team who's work is only to do a popular search of shutterstock and start copying.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2016, 06:35 by CrFx »

« Reply #97 on: February 12, 2016, 07:14 »
+6
Freepik, please answer my questions.  Why should it be up to us to find the images that are being downloaded thousands of times without the copyright holders consent?  By the time these images are found, the person that originally made that image might of already lost a substantial amount of earnings.  Please tell us how you are going to go through all your images, identify all the ones that are being used without consent and fully compensate the copyright holder.  Then there's the problem with your designers making images that are very similar to other people's work instead of doing their own work.  How do you justify that?  Why would any sensible person here want to collaborate with a site that is doing that?

Im answering you, sharpshot:

We make an exhaustive analysis of the resources created exclusively for us. It isnt your labor, but ours. We do it, but its inevitable that some go unnoticed. This not only happens in Freepik but in all image banks. We are victims of copy in many occasions.

At the moment the the plagiarism is detected, we delete the content immediately. The affected author can contact us ([email protected] or [email protected]). We deeply investigate the case and compensate the author if necessary.

We dont order similar designs, and if there is any plagiarism is because we have been deceived for the designer.
With other image banks, there is a good chance that the images on the site without consent can be removed before a license has been purchased by a customer.  On your site, they have already been downloaded thousands of times, so there's really no comparison.  For your model to work, you have to be sure that what you are virtually giving away has the consent of the contributor.  You need to stop blaming other people, if your designers are making images that are too similar to other peoples, you are responsible for having that content on your site.  Just using Google image search, you can see if they are doing their own work or have been using others for their designs.

What will your downloaders do if the copyright holders demand payments for using their images without consent?  If they ask for records of who has downloaded their images without their consent, will you give it to them?  You might well end up having to compensate people that have downloaded images from your site that shouldn't of been there.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2016, 07:20 by sharpshot »

« Reply #98 on: February 12, 2016, 08:06 »
+1
Freepik, please answer my questions.  Why should it be up to us to find the images that are being downloaded thousands of times without the copyright holders consent?  By the time these images are found, the person that originally made that image might of already lost a substantial amount of earnings.  Please tell us how you are going to go through all your images, identify all the ones that are being used without consent and fully compensate the copyright holder.  Then there's the problem with your designers making images that are very similar to other people's work instead of doing their own work.  How do you justify that?  Why would any sensible person here want to collaborate with a site that is doing that?

Im answering you, sharpshot:

We make an exhaustive analysis of the resources created exclusively for us. It isnt your labor, but ours. We do it, but its inevitable that some go unnoticed. This not only happens in Freepik but in all image banks. We are victims of copy in many occasions.

At the moment the the plagiarism is detected, we delete the content immediately. The affected author can contact us ([email protected] or [email protected]). We deeply investigate the case and compensate the author if necessary.

We dont order similar designs, and if there is any plagiarism is because we have been deceived for the designer.
With other image banks, there is a good chance that the images on the site without consent can be removed before a license has been purchased by a customer.  On your site, they have already been downloaded thousands of times, so there's really no comparison.  For your model to work, you have to be sure that what you are virtually giving away has the consent of the contributor.  You need to stop blaming other people, if your designers are making images that are too similar to other peoples, you are responsible for having that content on your site.  Just using Google image search, you can see if they are doing their own work or have been using others for their designs.

What will your downloaders do if the copyright holders demand payments for using their images without consent?  If they ask for records of who has downloaded their images without their consent, will you give it to them?  You might well end up having to compensate people that have downloaded images from your site that shouldn't of been there.

Well said...you are doing them a favor educating them here, sharpshot! I salute you.

« Reply #99 on: February 12, 2016, 08:11 »
+6
Freepik, please answer my questions.  Why should it be up to us to find the images that are being downloaded thousands of times without the copyright holders consent?  By the time these images are found, the person that originally made that image might of already lost a substantial amount of earnings.  Please tell us how you are going to go through all your images, identify all the ones that are being used without consent and fully compensate the copyright holder.  Then there's the problem with your designers making images that are very similar to other people's work instead of doing their own work.  How do you justify that?  Why would any sensible person here want to collaborate with a site that is doing that?

Im answering you, sharpshot:

We make an exhaustive analysis of the resources created exclusively for us. It isnt your labor, but ours. We do it, but its inevitable that some go unnoticed. This not only happens in Freepik but in all image banks. We are victims of copy in many occasions.

At the moment the the plagiarism is detected, we delete the content immediately. The affected author can contact us ([email protected] or [email protected]). We deeply investigate the case and compensate the author if necessary.

We dont order similar designs, and if there is any plagiarism is because we have been deceived for the designer.

On many other sites when plagiarism is detected, all of the contributors submissions are deleted and the contributor is banned from the site - not just the plagiarized items. How many complete portfolios and contributors have you kicked out? Repeat offenders damage our income, damage your business, and damage the stock industry.


 

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