Technology exists to put hidden watermarks in jpgs.  Of course pixels have to be altered, but  it can be done in such a subtle way that the human eye couldn't distinguish it.  This is not new and I'm surprised that IStock and other microstocks aren't doing it. It would let you filter out images that were purchased at other agencies.

perharps a bit OT but related in a way,...
wait till the nigerian scammer run out of scamming craigslist, kijiji, etc.. and you'll find them here too, JG.  the latest we've heard was they prey on ads for tutors, relay (deaf and hard at hearing), spamming and flooding calls to moms and pops store asking to place orders from encyclopedia to lingerie. one anecdote came like this, "sorry sir, this is the cancer society you just called!" . response, "so what do you sell, we like to spend about $1000 today". another from a music instructor, "have a couple of twin who needs urgent tuition for 3 months while stopping over in your part of the world. we like to reserve you as a tutor and will need your bank account so we can send a bank transfer for your special training. we are in a hurry and need to confirm this so we will gladly send you full payment ASAP. all we need is your bank account info".
i am sure very soon, you will hear from them , in one form or another. as you probably already know, similar scammer have been mailing literally everyone with faked bank links to get your password telling you if you don't verify, you could have your account frozen. as well, you get the telephone call, "this is mayberry (replace any name) calling about your credit card, there is no need to worry but please stay on the line for one of our agents to speak with you. it is very important , please have your credit card , PIN and personal infos ready".

Luckily a lot of these people get caught by other contributors who see the images were stolen.  Hopefully most of them get caught before they reach a payout, so they are also wasting their time.  I no some don't get caught for a while, so more needs to be done.

Perhaps the sites should state that they will do a check on portfolios of people reaching their first payouts to make sure they are legitimate?  There needs to be some deterrent to stop this happening.

Thanks for the heads up, have reported my stolen images.

madelaide - downsizing, or resampling, would very likely destroy it.  Maybe there's some black-hat stuff that NSA uses, that distributes the "watermark" data around the image.   

I don't think there's a simple answer to this problem.   

Bottom line, I think, is establishing the identity of contributors.  If I just create a login and start submitting photos by FTP, the site has no leverage on me. If they know and have verified my identity, and I submit someone else's copyrighted material, then it's a law enforcement matter.  The problem of identifying such material still exists.

Thank you for alerting me to this.  I have sent a message to the compliance department at istock.  They will take care if it.

I really am sick of these thieves. 

Yes... Digimarc... But it is expensive for authors... Maybe agencies can do some arrangements about that!

BTW, check this address too:

http://www.zcool.com.cn/


I don't understand Chinesee but, it seems many of images from many sites are there.

perharps something to do with submitting RAW originals?
although this may be not so ideal, as i wouldn't want to give away my digital negatives. but if it's to prove that i am the creator of the images, and that the sites will not sell the RAW to buyers giving them only post processed jpgs?

not sure.  just thinking out of the box. does anyone know if it's possible to counterfeit  a RAW original?  and, can any one trust a stock site not to abuse the RAW image?

with all these incidents of some stock sites screwing contributors, (one latest that's been preoccupying most of us here... case in a nutshell: exclusives of site Xbeing boned ,,,)
it's also difficult to trust anyone.

i just filed a complaint with www.ic3.gov which helps to solve these crimes.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C),
and the Bureau of Justice Assistance
(BJA).

IC3's mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints
regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime. The IC3 gives the victims
of cyber crime a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities
of suspected criminal or civil violations. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies
at the federal, state, local and international level, IC3 provides a central referral
mechanism for complaints involving Internet related crimes.

If you guys see more of this rampant stealing and copyright issues please report it to this service.  Anyone else know of any other government services you can use to stop these thieves.  Its a huge pain in the butt. 

wow,  John Griffin you are one pro-active CEO. Wish the others will follow suit.
 Is this a global jurisdication network? Does this blanket include China, Africa ie. Nigeria,India, Eastern Europe,Australia, SE Asia,South America,etc... or just USA, UK, Western Europe? Do you know?

Jolly good show indeed, Mr. Griffin.

I would not be surprised if other stock agencies were already marking their images in some way. BUT I would be surprised if they'd talk about it, even to the owner of another agency.  They'd use one of the more sophisticated hidden watermarking schemes that supposedly will survive resizing or crropping - so they'd have it in place in case they found someone ripping them off in a major way. 

It seems to me this is only going to get worse. Subscription pricing would let a crook cherry-pick thousands of highest-quality images that would, over time, bring in much more than he paid for them when re-posted as new portfolios elsewhere.