Author Topic: This is how Depositphoto handles unauthorized use of your images! (Read 14298 times)

asmai · « **on:** September 03, 2013, 09:15 »

So i found this image of mine used with Depositphoto watermark and reported to them April 15 :

http://lifecaremedi.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/brain-section/depositphotos_5732428-human-brain-anatomy/

They replied promptly : "Thank you for contacting us! We will solve this situation in no time."

June 3, i emailed them to ask what has been done, the image is still there, here is their reply " I have contacted the website, where you found the image and we are still waiting for an answer. Please be patient. I will contact you as soon as we have any updates."

Sept 2, nothing happened, i emailed again to ask what are they are planing to do aside from waiting for a reply that will never come, the site owner obviously ignore them.
And here is DP answer " We are doing all we can to get the author to take down your image.
This may take some time. In any case, the image is protected by our watermark.
I would recommend you to also contact the website owner"

I dont know, what do you think? Agencies are supposed to handle this kind of things? or is it up to us to handle? the image size is big, looks like it is a comp download so the user must have an account with DP, and they dont do anything but write a note and wait months for answer?

tab62 · « **Reply #1 on:** September 03, 2013, 09:17 »

I had one being used for their main page and contacted the web owner directly- they took it down that same day I called them...

cobalt · « **Reply #2 on:** September 03, 2013, 09:20 »

I would contact the website as well and also post daily a complaint on their facebookpage until the image is either bought or removed.

asmai · « **Reply #3 on:** September 03, 2013, 09:20 »

Quote from: tab62 on September 03, 2013, 09:17

I had one being used for their main page and contacted the web owner directly- they took it down that same day I called them...

the same website?
So that would mean DP actually did NOT contact them??!!!

stockphoto-images.com · « **Reply #4 on:** September 03, 2013, 09:27 »

LOL. The site AND the image is hosted on Wordpress.

One email to them is enough to have the image removed within 24 hours.

Go here: http://automattic.com/dmca/

They do this real quick for ya.

asmai · « **Reply #5 on:** September 03, 2013, 09:27 »

Quote from: cobalt on September 03, 2013, 09:20

I would contact the website as well and also post daily a complaint on their facebookpage until the image is either bought or removed.

Do you need a facebook account for that? I dont have one and i dont want to open one just for this.

And , is it DP duty to deal with this? they also have more authority as a company to do so. That is why we pay them huge percentage of commission to deal with this kind of things, no , or am i missing something here? I cant possible police the web for all unauthorized uses of my images from agencies.

asmai · « **Reply #6 on:** September 03, 2013, 09:32 »

Quote from: stockphoto-images.com on September 03, 2013, 09:27

LOL. The site AND the image is hosted on Wordpress.

One email to them is enough to have the image removed within 24 hours.

Go here: http://automattic.com/dmca/

They do this real quick for ya.

Are you sure it is that easy?

I just emailed DP to ask specifically if they did submit a DMCA, and they say they did.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #7 on:** September 03, 2013, 09:36 »

Quote from: asmai on September 03, 2013, 09:32

Quote from: stockphoto-images.com on September 03, 2013, 09:27
LOL. The site AND the image is hosted on Wordpress.

One email to them is enough to have the image removed within 24 hours.

Go here: http://automattic.com/dmca/

They do this real quick for ya.

Are you sure it is that easy?

I just emailed DP to ask specifically if they did submit a DMCA, and they say they did.

they haven't, it never takes 4 and half months, the times I have sent it took less than 1 week

stockphoto-images.com · « **Reply #8 on:** September 03, 2013, 09:37 »

Quote from: asmai on September 03, 2013, 09:32

Quote from: stockphoto-images.com on September 03, 2013, 09:27
LOL. The site AND the image is hosted on Wordpress.

One email to them is enough to have the image removed within 24 hours.

Go here: http://automattic.com/dmca/

They do this real quick for ya.

Are you sure it is that easy?

I just emailed DP to ask specifically if they did submit a DMCA, and they say they did.

I've never had Wordpress to remove an image with an agency's watermark on it - however you are the copyright owner which should be all that matters.

I've contacted Wordpress many times before and their response was always very fast and the images have always been removed.

asmai · « **Reply #9 on:** September 03, 2013, 09:51 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on September 03, 2013, 09:36

Quote from: asmai on September 03, 2013, 09:32
Quote from: stockphoto-images.com on September 03, 2013, 09:27
LOL. The site AND the image is hosted on Wordpress.

One email to them is enough to have the image removed within 24 hours.

Go here: http://automattic.com/dmca/

They do this real quick for ya.

Are you sure it is that easy?

I just emailed DP to ask specifically if they did submit a DMCA, and they say they did.

they haven't, it never takes 4 and half months, the times I have sent it took less than 1 week

That's what i think now.

asmai · « **Reply #10 on:** September 03, 2013, 10:10 »

Quote from: stockphoto-images.com on September 03, 2013, 09:37

Quote from: asmai on September 03, 2013, 09:32
Quote from: stockphoto-images.com on September 03, 2013, 09:27
LOL. The site AND the image is hosted on Wordpress.

One email to them is enough to have the image removed within 24 hours.

Go here: http://automattic.com/dmca/

They do this real quick for ya.

Are you sure it is that easy?

I just emailed DP to ask specifically if they did submit a DMCA, and they say they did.

I've never had Wordpress to remove an image with an agency's watermark on it - however you are the copyright owner which should be all that matters.

I've contacted Wordpress many times before and their response was always very fast and the images have always been removed.

Thanks for the info, i sent it to DP now, i'll let them do it. They probably did not do it this way (if they did anything at all).

lisafx · « **Reply #11 on:** September 03, 2013, 10:44 »

If you are concerned enough to have kept following up on this, and are upset that DP hasn't dealt with it, I really don't understand your hesitation to send a DMCA notice directly. You've wasted a lot more energy pursuing DP with no results than it would have taken to just send the DMCA yourself and be done with it in a week or less.

flashon · « **Reply #12 on:** September 03, 2013, 11:13 »

That is a huge water marked image. Does DP always have this large sized preview images on site?

asmai · « **Reply #13 on:** September 03, 2013, 11:24 »

Quote from: lisafx on September 03, 2013, 10:44

If you are concerned enough to have kept following up on this, and are upset that DP hasn't dealt with it, I really don't understand your hesitation to send a DMCA notice directly. You've wasted a lot more energy pursuing DP with no results than it would have taken to just send the DMCA yourself and be done with it in a week or less.

Maybe i was not clear, I am not really concerned about this image per se. What i am concerned about is the way agencies react to protect our images, how seriously they take it. That is the main reason why i go with them, so i dont have to police the web by myself. I am very happy with Shutterstock for example because i have not yet found my images in use with SS watermark, and i sell a lot more through them. And i sure dont want to send DMCA by myself, i dont want to give away all my info and then i also have to prove that i am the copyright owner, which may not be obvious sometime as my username on agencies is not always my real name, whereas the agency watermark has its name on the image, the image is on their website, they are also a company that is much easier to be verified and have more authority, and they got a big chunk from our royalty to do that.
I definitely can not go round and send DMCA to all unauthorized uses of my images, that would take all of my time and energy, that is why i still sell though agencies, for them to take care of that part for me.
This is just one of the case where i get a chance to see how DP handles this and so i can decide my future relationship with them accordingly.

asmai · « **Reply #14 on:** September 03, 2013, 11:27 »

Quote from: flashon on September 03, 2013, 11:13

That is a huge water marked image. Does DP always have this large sized preview images on site?

I know, this is not the preview, it must be a comp download or something like that, so the user must have an account with DP, and yet they cant do anything about it.

tab62 · « **Reply #15 on:** September 03, 2013, 12:19 »

also when I contacted the web owner I offered to do a photo session (for money) of the image that they had required without paying for it

stockphoto-images.com · « **Reply #16 on:** September 03, 2013, 12:30 »

Quote from: asmai on September 03, 2013, 11:24

Quote from: lisafx on September 03, 2013, 10:44
If you are concerned enough to have kept following up on this, and are upset that DP hasn't dealt with it, I really don't understand your hesitation to send a DMCA notice directly. You've wasted a lot more energy pursuing DP with no results than it would have taken to just send the DMCA yourself and be done with it in a week or less.

Maybe i was not clear, I am not really concerned about this image per se. What i am concerned about is the way agencies react to protect our images, how seriously they take it. That is the main reason why i go with them, so i dont have to police the web by myself. I am very happy with Shutterstock for example because i have not yet found my images in use with SS watermark, and i sell a lot more through them. And i sure dont want to send DMCA by myself, i dont want to give away all my info and then i also have to prove that i am the copyright owner, which may not be obvious sometime as my username on agencies is not always my real name, whereas the agency watermark has its name on the image, the image is on their website, they are also a company that is much easier to be verified and have more authority, and they got a big chunk from our royalty to do that.
I definitely can not go round and send DMCA to all unauthorized uses of my images, that would take all of my time and energy, that is why i still sell though agencies, for them to take care of that part for me.
This is just one of the case where i get a chance to see how DP handles this and so i can decide my future relationship with them accordingly.

With all due respect asmai but I provided you with enough information to stop the issue you brought up once and for all.

After all it is YOUR intellectual property and there is nothing written in our contracts with the agencies that they will fight in OUR interest every single time.

Fact is that the watermarked image is free advertising for Depositphotos. It's not a high priority for Depositphotos to have this image removed.

It should be a high priority for you though since the image is being used after all even with a watermark.

This goes two ways, ignore the infringements of your images in the future and keep doing what you're doing or take responsibility for your own copyright right and fight for it yourself. In very, very few instances where a lot of financial damage has been done, an agency might assist you (happened once to me with Shutterstock and some EL issue).

Also I want to add, since you brought up how awesome SS is because you haven't seen any of your images with the SS logo on the web. Simply do a search in Google for free SS illustrations packs free for download. I'm sure your (nice) illustrations might be in there. So much about SS fighting theft of IP. No agency can prevent it - it happens and there is unfortunately not a lot we (or I as an individual) can do about it.

asmai · « **Reply #17 on:** September 03, 2013, 12:56 »

Quote from: stockphoto-images.com on September 03, 2013, 12:30

Quote from: asmai on September 03, 2013, 11:24
Quote from: lisafx on September 03, 2013, 10:44
If you are concerned enough to have kept following up on this, and are upset that DP hasn't dealt with it, I really don't understand your hesitation to send a DMCA notice directly. You've wasted a lot more energy pursuing DP with no results than it would have taken to just send the DMCA yourself and be done with it in a week or less.

Maybe i was not clear, I am not really concerned about this image per se. What i am concerned about is the way agencies react to protect our images, how seriously they take it. That is the main reason why i go with them, so i dont have to police the web by myself. I am very happy with Shutterstock for example because i have not yet found my images in use with SS watermark, and i sell a lot more through them. And i sure dont want to send DMCA by myself, i dont want to give away all my info and then i also have to prove that i am the copyright owner, which may not be obvious sometime as my username on agencies is not always my real name, whereas the agency watermark has its name on the image, the image is on their website, they are also a company that is much easier to be verified and have more authority, and they got a big chunk from our royalty to do that.
I definitely can not go round and send DMCA to all unauthorized uses of my images, that would take all of my time and energy, that is why i still sell though agencies, for them to take care of that part for me.
This is just one of the case where i get a chance to see how DP handles this and so i can decide my future relationship with them accordingly.

With all due respect asmai but I provided you with enough information to stop the issue you brought up once and for all.

After all it is YOUR intellectual property and there is nothing written in our contracts with the agencies that they will fight in OUR interest every single time.

Fact is that the watermarked image is free advertising for Depositphotos. It's not a high priority for Depositphotos to have this image removed.

It should be a high priority for you though since the image is being used after all even with a watermark.

This goes two ways, ignore the infringements of your images in the future and keep doing what you're doing or take responsibility for your own copyright right and fight for it yourself. In very, very few instances where a lot of financial damage has been done, an agency might assist you (happened once to me with Shutterstock and some EL issue).

Also I want to add, since you brought up how awesome SS is because you haven't seen any of your images with the SS logo on the web. Simply do a search in Google for free SS illustrations packs free for download. I'm sure your (nice) illustrations might be in there. So much about SS fighting theft of IP. No agency can prevent it - it happens and there is unfortunately not a lot we (or I as an individual) can do about it.

Please dont take me wrong. I appreciate very much the information you provided me.
My main issue here, however, is with DP, not the use of this image itself. I can put a stop to the usage of that image, but there will be many more coming, especially from agencies where people can get big size comp download easily and are not enforced to use it right.

Granted, there is no contract saying agency should fight for you, and in many cases there is nothing much you (they or we) can do, but a good agency would try to do something about it. And, exactly as you pointed out, it is easy in this case, and yet, DP could not do anything after 4.5 months, and as you said, they might have interest not to remove it to get free advertisement for themselves.
So the question is is DP a good agency for me? for us? For me it's certainly no, i am starting removing my images from there today and considering closing account.

stockphoto-images.com · « **Reply #18 on:** September 03, 2013, 13:39 »

Quote from: asmai on September 03, 2013, 12:56

... So the question is is DP a good agency for me? for us? For me it's certainly no, i am starting removing my images from there today and considering closing account.

We all make this decision with any given agency almost on a daily basis because we don't know what happens tomorrow and some agencies have proven that tomorrow is the day to screw us over.

Realistically, DP is a "small" agency with relatively little manpower (obviously as your example shows) - so it depends on what to expect from them.

I don't expect even SS to do anything in a case like yours mentioned here. It's my IP, so I will fight for it. Period.

Regardless of DP sending a DMCA out or you sending DMCA out it won't change the fact that many people out there will use our images illegally. So it's not Depositphoto's fault for not enforcing your copyright. Even if DP would have managed to get the image taken down, it's not changing anything about who else will steal your image in the future.

My motto is: If the agency cannot do it, I will.

roede-orm · « **Reply #19 on:** September 03, 2013, 15:21 »

Quote

Realistically, DP is a "small" agency with relatively little manpower (obviously as your example shows) - so it depends on what to expect from them.

But if an agency does not fight for the interests of contributors, it's not an agency in the sense of the word.

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Author Topic: This is how Depositphoto handles unauthorized use of your images! (Read 14298 times)

asmai

tab62

cobalt

asmai

stockphoto-images.com

asmai

asmai

luissantos84

stockphoto-images.com

asmai

asmai

lisafx

flashon

asmai

asmai

tab62

stockphoto-images.com

asmai

stockphoto-images.com

roede-orm

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