MicrostockGroup

One thing that bothers me is that all we can do is to stop the image from being used.  There is no chance we will receive any compensation for someone having committed a crime. 

That's true too. It's little consolation. I wonder why the stock sites don't do anything other than this 

The market's too big. Too many resources would have to be invested to get all claims sorted out.

It would end up that our commissions would be lowered so the agencies can pursue OUR copyright. The agencies just want to eliminate the big boys sharing stuff on rapidshare etc.

If an individual web site uses one of your images illegally, what's gonna happen? Been there done that. The web site owner claims: "I didn't know - sorry" and the case is closed. Unless you have a $1.000 loose change in your pocket to hire an IP attorney to make a claim for damages and lost license fees (lol).

One idiot got a hold of my image in full res and used it on his web site (in a smaller size). Unfortunately Google and Yahoo were indexing the file so the entire www community had free access to the high-res image. People started using it as backgrounds for their ebay auctions etc. I almost had a heart attack.

Eventually the agencies make far more money focusing on selling and marketing our images rather than  claiming damages. Usually those claims are settled in court and that takes a long time until you will see some money.

@ Lisa when you send the DMCA to the web host, just throw in a sentence mentioning that a cease and desist order is also on its way. That should get them going. I've dealt with web hosts that shut down the site within minutes.

I'm sick of it. Once you hit the point of producing material that's being ripped off in any way possible you don't want to contribute to the micros anymore. My stuff is becoming too valuable for me.

Lisa, on a few occasions it is possible to receive a compensation, what if this image was used in Toronto or London or Tokyo?  How far and how much would you spend to straighten things?

And what about people who redistribute images?  That is a real crime, right?  Who chases them and puts them in jail?

Very good advice.  I will definitely do that if it happens again (and of course it's going to happen again )

Honestly, this is a risk we all take in microstock, isn't it?  

And it's a risk we have to be honest with our models about.  After the amount of time I spend explaining possible (mis)uses of their photos to models I was honestly surprised that this lady was as upset as she was.  But she's a sweet lady and a great model so it was worth it to me to spend some money having a lawyer draft a letter.

If one of my images is misused in London, Tokyo or wherever then not much I can do about it, but also I am not likely to find out, nor are the models.  

Guess I will have to take each on a case by case basis.  I think the vast majority of them can be resolved pretty cheaply with a letter though.  

The company I wrote to that agreed to take the image off the show was owned by Turner Broadcasting.  I assume they have deep pockets if they wanted to pursue it but clearly it wasn't worth it to them.  Especially since my demands were modest and reasonable.  

1. Don't give away images for next to nothing on subscription and desperate people can't pirate them effectively, it's very simple economics
2. Use a different password on every site on the internet (nice firefox plugin here: https://lastpass.com/ )  and you will avoid people stealing your info to commit fraudulent purchases and/or downloading your files directly from photog backup archive features
3. File your images with your official governmental copyright office and make the decision really simple for the honorable Joe Q busy judge who really has better things to do (and more morally offensive crimes to contemplate) than read up on the current laws regarding the internets

That would exclude Shutterstock. They are still my #1 microstock earner... and for a few others. Their reputation is outstanding. Whatever next to nothing means - if you start with SS you get 25 cents no matter how good or bad you are...
True. 101 of being safe on the internet.
Technically absolutely correct.

Realistically I couldn't find a lawyer on contingency basis in 2 US states although having registered copyright. Lawyers want to see money upfront or deal with a case the delivers a significant sum in order to obtain their share. It's near impossible to prove actual damages and when they see what you should have received as a licensing fee they'll just laugh at you. They don't work for a $5 image if they usually charge $300-$500 per hour.

Who did that awesome burglar illustration in the article?

Oh yeah, it was me. 

Thanks.

It is so blatant that some people just buy images from SS and then upload not even changed back...

Interesting to see...

Also, there are copies and copy-cats which are quite OK if you ask me... I've found some great variants of my ideas...

But, somewhere must be drawn some red line...