The real test would be to let the false account stay open until sales reach the point of payout.

I wonder if the result would be that THEN Shutterstock notices, and closes the account... so they don't have to pay.

I can't bring myself to do that test, though.  I would feel dirty.   Anyone else who wants to give it a try, please post results.

I didn't say I thought it was the fault of some country or other.  I am sure that Shutterstock is aware of the differences in copyright laws in other countries, and that for some places, they face no risk of legal fallout.   I blame Shutterstock, not the other countries, for Shutterstock's taking advantage of the differences.

If you think you can report them to somebody who will do something, do so.

No offense but it's Shutterstock's fault you lied on your application? It's shutterstock's fault you stole images from unsplash to upload?

I realize it's hard to have a victim society if you have to take responsibility for your own actions, you have to be able to pass the blame to someone, preferably a corporation, but at what point is it the criminal's fault for being a criminal?

You honestly expect Shutterstock to have an army of reviewers to police every single one of the millions of submissions they get every week and cross reference those to every other agency and/or website on the internet to ensure they're all legit? You may as well blame the owner of a building because someone went onto the roof and jumped.

You openly admitted that you had to lie and steal to cheat their system but it's still somehow Shutterstock's fault.

Maybe i am wrong.... but if SS sells stollen images dosen't usa government collect taxes from that too? I mean when a sale happens SS gets around 65% but it has to pay taxes from that stolen sale.

So my point is in some way Government is collecting taxes from stolen images. My guess is beside collecting taxes I bet the government would love to receive a major Fine from SS too. Don't you think?

Therefore, instead of even go to SS why not go directly to authorities and explain this? legal authorities can only start investigations if there's a complaint or denunciation of illegal acts. And if not maybe newspappers like the story.

Quote from: memakephoto on March 15, 2020, 10:57

You honestly expect Shutterstock to have an army of reviewers to police every single one of the millions of submissions they get every week and cross reference those to every other agency and/or website on the internet to ensure they're all legit?

Yes.
They used to do that.
Other sites still do.

They are capable to monitor (clients also) and remind that to us (other agencies) when they want exclusivity or a reason to do huge price drops.