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Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Photography Discussion => Topic started by: bendicks on December 30, 2011, 19:11

Title: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: bendicks on December 30, 2011, 19:11
I do a google search on my name very month or so and today I came up with 2 different users with my pics in their Flickr stream. One of them has over 1000 images with many that I checked using google image search belong to lots of different photographers at shutterstock, 123rf and so on.......the other guy only has a little over 50 with 6 of them being mine.

You may want to see if any of yours are there...........I'll be sending a copyright notice to yahoo (flickr).

1000+ Large assortment styles and subject type
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64445673@N06/page10/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/64445673@N06/page10/)

50+ Food Only
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28782207@N03/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/28782207@N03/)

-Don
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: ouchie on December 30, 2011, 19:15
curious:

How did they get them without any watermark!?
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: ShadySue on December 30, 2011, 19:57
curious:

How did they get them without any watermark!?

You could lift them from a site which had legally bought them, but on such a big scale ... ?
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: ShadySue on December 30, 2011, 19:59
How did you find these pics by searching on your name.
(By which I mean, how was your name picked up?)
Oh, or maybe the two I happened to click on weren't yours?
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: clickinchic on December 30, 2011, 20:02
I've been an avid reader at MSG for years but never have registered.  I just found one of my photos (after about a 5 second perusal) at this thief's Flickr account.  I just fired off an email to Yahoo (who handles Flickr image theft).  Thanks for the post!
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: clickinchic on December 30, 2011, 20:09
Just found another image.  I should probably stop looking because what's the use of my blood pressure going up further?  Reported is reported.   :'(
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: ShadySue on December 30, 2011, 20:26
curious:

How did they get them without any watermark!?

Is it possible (though unlikely) that they have actually paid for the images rather than simply stolen them?
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: lbarn on December 30, 2011, 20:29
Some have Shutterstock numbers on them (some in Spa series) , so I would guess he did purchase them, but I don't think that gives him the right to display them under his name, and allow others to freely download them and use them?
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: clickinchic on December 30, 2011, 20:30
OY..just clicked on the gallery and saw more of my photos.  There is no image credit and there is absolutely nothing to suggest that the Flickr poster is not taking credit.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: ShadySue on December 30, 2011, 20:31
Some have Shutterstock numbers on them (some in Spa series) , so I would guess he did purchase them, but I don't think that gives him the right to display them under his name, and allow others to freely download them and use them?
No, but there's a (moot) difference between misuse and outright theft.
They're not being freely offered: they're marked as copyright all rights reserved, and right clicking is disabled. Of course they can still be screendumped.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: clickinchic on December 30, 2011, 20:32
If you look at the upload dates, they appear to be the same for a certain photo category (with many images uploaded) on a given day.  I wonder if they are trying to get recognized by Getty?
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: lbarn on December 30, 2011, 20:34
Some of them, if you right click to view other size, the other sizes aren't "right click protected" thus they could be downloaded
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: clickinchic on December 30, 2011, 20:36
I just was able to view one of my images at original size.  Maybe they did purchase them, but how they are re-posting them is wrong.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: ShadySue on December 30, 2011, 20:37
OY..just clicked on the gallery and saw more of my photos.  There is no image credit and there is absolutely nothing to suggest that the Flickr poster is not taking credit.
I'm not saying what they're doing is right, obviously, but image credits may not always be required; e.g. on iStock they're only required if the photo is used editorially. Over half of those I've found via GIS are not credited: however, I have more pressing misuses I want them to deal with before I start on non-credited images.
And yes, the implication is that the photos are the work of the owner of the photostream.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: ShadySue on December 30, 2011, 20:38
Some of them, if you right click to view other size, the other sizes aren't "right click protected" thus they could be downloaded
Oh, sorry, I just tried one and assumed they'd done a blanket protection as I did with my photostream.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: stormchaser on December 30, 2011, 21:11
I just found a few that belong to someone I know. I will notify him.

So, if you guys have Flicker accounts why not just comment "Thief This Is Not Your Image" because that will attract attention if Flickr juts lollygags around in their usual do nothing style. Yet they are quick to suspend accounts of people who have done nothing wrong.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: clickinchic on December 30, 2011, 21:28
The images of mine posted in the abuser's Flickr account are not on my Flickr account.

Edit to add that I did post something similar as a comment under my images.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: bendicks on December 30, 2011, 22:02
How did you find these pics by searching on your name.
(By which I mean, how was your name picked up?)
Oh, or maybe the two I happened to click on weren't yours?


I have my name in the exif data under the copyright section and when I did my search google it showed 2 links with
(EXIF | Close-up Of Mexican Pork Carnitas | Flickr - Photo Sharing!) as the link title and the same for the other except different title. So I went to the link and it showed my image with all the EXIF data, thought maybe flickr was using it as an example for exif, clicked the image and ended up at the persons stream and found more of my images.

I am figuring they lifted them from my zenfolio site since the exif data was still on the image. I am assuming that shutterstock and the others strip alll data out of the image, I could be wrong here.

here is the link from google...
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=%22lynn%20don%20bendickson%22&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2F64445673%40N06%2F6159941104%2Fmeta%2F&ei=m3j-ToStGaPKiQKB4PnvDg&usg=AFQjCNGVvIwjIxpIxxoXFn6lJTBAKlk1Lw&sig2=QP4CAF-7QZx7WwDHZqv8MA&cad=rja (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=%22lynn%20don%20bendickson%22&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2F64445673%40N06%2F6159941104%2Fmeta%2F&ei=m3j-ToStGaPKiQKB4PnvDg&usg=AFQjCNGVvIwjIxpIxxoXFn6lJTBAKlk1Lw&sig2=QP4CAF-7QZx7WwDHZqv8MA&cad=rja)

when you click on the link you end up at flickr and you see exif data on the right with all my copyright info. click the image and you go to the persons stream.

-Don
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: bendicks on December 30, 2011, 22:38
I went and posted a few comments on my images at both streams like......."What camera did you use to capture this image with " on another "Nice image, did you take this photo"............see what kind of response I get.

-Don
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: BaldricksTrousers on December 30, 2011, 22:47
curious:

How did they get them without any watermark!?


Is it possible (though unlikely) that they have actually paid for the images rather than simply stolen them?


It looks to me like a designer's archive. It still doesn't give him the right to post them on Flickr. I've notified Shutterstock about both streams (and this one http://www.flickr.com/people/ecoagriculture/ (http://www.flickr.com/people/ecoagriculture/) which has one of mine and probably other people's, too)
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: RacePhoto on December 31, 2011, 03:30
curious:

How did they get them without any watermark!?


Is it possible (though unlikely) that they have actually paid for the images rather than simply stolen them?


It looks to me like a designer's archive. It still doesn't give him the right to post them on Flickr. I've notified Shutterstock about both streams (and this one [url]http://www.flickr.com/people/ecoagriculture/[/url] ([url]http://www.flickr.com/people/ecoagriculture/[/url]) which has one of mine and probably other people's, too)


Strange that one looks like snapshots, people at conferences and local shots and a bunch of duplicates. But here's the part that was interesting if they have one of your photos up there: "Users are free to use these photos as long as they are credited to their respective photographers."
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: BaldricksTrousers on December 31, 2011, 05:05
Yes, I saw that. To be fair, they do have a note on at least some of the shutterstock photos they have there (including mine) saying "copyright restrictions prevent the public use of this image" which makes me wonder why they are publicly using it and why they include it in their "free stock" collection. It's here, and I've left them a little message: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecoagriculture/2414593304/# (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecoagriculture/2414593304/#)

It's curious that they have access to my image but not, apparently, to my caption, since they have wrongly placed the scene as being in Malaysia when it's actually Sri Lanka.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: ShadySue on December 31, 2011, 06:38
How did you find these pics by searching on your name.
(By which I mean, how was your name picked up?)
Oh, or maybe the two I happened to click on weren't yours?


I have my name in the exif data under the copyright section and when I did my search google it showed 2 links with
(EXIF | Close-up Of Mexican Pork Carnitas | Flickr - Photo Sharing!) as the link title and the same for the other except different title. So I went to the link and it showed my image with all the EXIF data, thought maybe flickr was using it as an example for exif, clicked the image and ended up at the persons stream and found more of my images.

I am figuring they lifted them from my zenfolio site since the exif data was still on the image. I am assuming that shutterstock and the others strip alll data out of the image, I could be wrong here.

here is the link from google...
[url]http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=%22lynn%20don%20bendickson%22&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2F64445673%40N06%2F6159941104%2Fmeta%2F&ei=m3j-ToStGaPKiQKB4PnvDg&usg=AFQjCNGVvIwjIxpIxxoXFn6lJTBAKlk1Lw&sig2=QP4CAF-7QZx7WwDHZqv8MA&cad=rja[/url] ([url]http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=%22lynn%20don%20bendickson%22&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2F64445673%40N06%2F6159941104%2Fmeta%2F&ei=m3j-ToStGaPKiQKB4PnvDg&usg=AFQjCNGVvIwjIxpIxxoXFn6lJTBAKlk1Lw&sig2=QP4CAF-7QZx7WwDHZqv8MA&cad=rja[/url])

when you click on the link you end up at flickr and you see exif data on the right with all my copyright info. click the image and you go to the persons stream.

-Don


Thanks for the explanation. It's just that I have my name in all my EXIF files in the copyright section, and I can't find any of my own pics in Flickr by Googling my name. After c15 pages (it's an unusual name, but there are two prominent people who share it!) I gave up and tried "my name" Flickr and couldn't find any of my pics that way either, only links to my contacts' pages. I must be doing something wrong!
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: bendicks on December 31, 2011, 09:16
How did you find these pics by searching on your name.
(By which I mean, how was your name picked up?)
Oh, or maybe the two I happened to click on weren't yours?


I have my name in the exif data under the copyright section and when I did my search google it showed 2 links with
(EXIF | Close-up Of Mexican Pork Carnitas | Flickr - Photo Sharing!) as the link title and the same for the other except different title. So I went to the link and it showed my image with all the EXIF data, thought maybe flickr was using it as an example for exif, clicked the image and ended up at the persons stream and found more of my images.

I am figuring they lifted them from my zenfolio site since the exif data was still on the image. I am assuming that shutterstock and the others strip alll data out of the image, I could be wrong here.

here is the link from google...
[url]http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=%22lynn%20don%20bendickson%22&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2F64445673%40N06%2F6159941104%2Fmeta%2F&ei=m3j-ToStGaPKiQKB4PnvDg&usg=AFQjCNGVvIwjIxpIxxoXFn6lJTBAKlk1Lw&sig2=QP4CAF-7QZx7WwDHZqv8MA&cad=rja[/url] ([url]http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=%22lynn%20don%20bendickson%22&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2F64445673%40N06%2F6159941104%2Fmeta%2F&ei=m3j-ToStGaPKiQKB4PnvDg&usg=AFQjCNGVvIwjIxpIxxoXFn6lJTBAKlk1Lw&sig2=QP4CAF-7QZx7WwDHZqv8MA&cad=rja[/url])

when you click on the link you end up at flickr and you see exif data on the right with all my copyright info. click the image and you go to the persons stream.

-Don


Thanks for the explanation. It's just that I have my name in all my EXIF files in the copyright section, and I can't find any of my own pics in Flickr by Googling my name. After c15 pages (it's an unusual name, but there are two prominent people who share it!) I gave up and tried "my name" Flickr and couldn't find any of my pics that way either, only links to my contacts' pages. I must be doing something wrong!


Hi Sue

I also have always had the copyright info in my files but this is the 1st time I have found them via the EXIF  data.......It may be because I have my portfolio at my Zenfolio acct. and the EXIF data is intact there and the stock agencies most likely strip out that data. Also when I do a google search I put my name in quotes and also search different variations....first name, last name - middle name, last name - first, middle and last.....unfortunately at some agencies I used different variations of my name as I explained for my google search.

Well I am off to the higher elevations of the Sierra's with my dog in search some excellent still and video shots...learning to use my Nikon D7000 that I bought for video and my new Glidecam HD 1000 stabilizer and never without my trusty D700 for the stills.

-Don
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: clickinchic on December 31, 2011, 16:25
I sent a DMCA notice and they removed two of my images but his photo stream is still up, so I'm going to have to go through and search for more of my images.  Grrr.  Hello,

----

Thank you for reporting this incident to Yahoo!. We have taken the
appropriate action.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Regards,

Copyright/IP Agent, Yahoo! Inc.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: clickinchic on December 31, 2011, 17:00
Found about 7 more.  They need to shut this guy down.  I'm pretty sure they got them all from SS so I'm  going to alert them.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: pro@stockphotos on December 31, 2011, 19:52
Yeah the real problem with flickr is that I have seen many large websites like cnbc or yahoo using their photos in showing lists such as best cities to  (fill in the blank) or photos above stories.  I always cringed when I saw them, now they could be using stolen images according to this post.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: RacePhoto on December 31, 2011, 21:16
I'll try to control myself but...

O M G there are stolen pictures on Flickr?  ::) People claiming that our work is theirs? WOW what a surprise.

Not only that, I won't put anything worthwhile on Flickr because it will get stolen. The place is the pits.

I'm surprised that we don't just have a continuing thread with new additions every day for the latest offenders. It never stops.

Hey I know. File a  DMCA claim, that's fun and a worthless waste of energy. I wish someone would create a law that did something to discourage the thieves and photo plagiarism. That would make my New Year Happy.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: Ed on December 31, 2011, 21:22
Lots of recognizable images from other contributors.  Forget the DMCA notice - contact a lawyer and send them a bill.  Folks aren't going to get the message with slaps on the wrist.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: RacePhoto on December 31, 2011, 21:27
Lots of recognizable images from other contributors.  Forget the DMCA notice - contact a lawyer and send them a bill.  Folks aren't going to get the message with slaps on the wrist.

I want this thread to hit 100 pages before 2013. And for everyone that gets a lawyer or someone who files a claim, I want to send you an award for doing what needs to be done.

Some day there will be a wake up story on the news and some people, many of them my friends, will discover that "Everything on the internet is free" isn't true. I'm talking about honest people who think that if you can see it and right click, it's supposed to be free.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: BaldricksTrousers on January 01, 2012, 01:59
Found about 7 more.  They need to shut this guy down.  I'm pretty sure they got them all from SS so I'm  going to alert them.

If you are talking about the 1,000+ guy, I'm pretty sure the ones with "shutterstock" in his title do come from shutterstock, the ones with "dreamstime" in the title probably came from somewhere else  ;D
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: clickinchic on January 01, 2012, 02:40
None of my images that are on the Flickr stream have been uploaded by me to Flickr.  I do not post my micro images on Flickr. 
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: BaldricksTrousers on January 01, 2012, 03:19
Yes, it's pretty obvious that they are almost all microstock images. There are a few designs in there, which makes me suspect this is a designer.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: antistock on January 02, 2012, 09:34
i'm soooo fed up with these *insult removed*.

99% of the web users are simply clueless about copyright.
web sites don't do anything to discourage theft, even about their own content !
thieves don't give a *, and even if you catch someone what do you do when they're hosted in russia, china, india, turkey, pakistan, indonesia, philippines ?

the issue is always the same : it's just too easy for everybody to publish anything on the web.
it's not a gray area, it's 100% wild west, anarchy ! it's the real "land of free" and it's getting worse ... look at social networks.. look at all the blogs with stolen content encouraging readers to "share" their stole pics and texts anywhere with 1 click.

no wonder people love the internet .. they can watch movies, download mp3s and torrents, read books, steal photos, all for free and the risk of getting caught or sued is basically ZERO.

second thing, HOW these rascals find the pics in the first place ? once again because of the * google images !
take it away and 90% of piracy would instantly disappear but it's not gonna happen, ever, google made it's empire exactly providing stolen content, and don't let me start about youtube ...
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: clickinchic on January 04, 2012, 15:49
Speaking of stolen pictures...I just got the new iPhone 4s and am disgusted to see how they are making image theft even easier...and promoting it as a neat phone feature, even!    :-\

From the iPhone promotional material:  "Save images from the web.  In Safari, touch and hold an image to save it to your Camera Roll or copy it to paste into an MMS or email."
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: antistock on January 04, 2012, 23:13
Speaking of stolen pictures...I just got the new iPhone 4s and am disgusted to see how they are making image theft even easier...and promoting it as a neat phone feature, even!    :-\

From the iPhone promotional material:  "Save images from the web.  In Safari, touch and hold an image to save it to your Camera Roll or copy it to paste into an MMS or email."

exactly, and it's getting worse and worse.
and users are absolutely completely clueless, i also discussed with a few web devs i know and they were lamenting that google images should be improved so they can find the (stolen) images they need faster !

i also see more and more blogs and forum stealing entire articles and photos from famous news sites, they simply don't give a sh... , they know there's full impunity nowadays.

however, i've the feeling photography is still in a better position than written articles or music or software.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: Karimala on January 05, 2012, 00:05
Speaking of stolen pictures...I just got the new iPhone 4s and am disgusted to see how they are making image theft even easier...and promoting it as a neat phone feature, even!    :-\

From the iPhone promotional material:  "Save images from the web.  In Safari, touch and hold an image to save it to your Camera Roll or copy it to paste into an MMS or email."


Interesting you would mention this.  Just yesterday a friend told me about a $500 million class action lawsuit against the major cell service providers dealing with this very issue.

GDRI Files FAC in Antitrust Unfair Competition Lawsuit on Behalf of Creators, Artists and Rights Holders - $500m + Class Action (http://datarevenue.org/globaldr/lawsuit_II.htm)

As for Google and Youtube, they are exempt from any lawsuits under the DMCA as Online Service Providers (OSP), as long as they are registered with the US Copyright Office.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: lthn on January 05, 2012, 06:18
Ohh whim-whimp the whole world is against poor microstockers, even that super trendy apple... or maybe you should have had a clue before you started giving away your images for pennies en masse so any 10 year old can download it with his pocket money, and of course none of the agencies care much guarding the copyright because the penny product  just doesn't justify the expenses. Don't blame flickr etc... blame yourself. If you don't want this, remove your images from the sites that let it get downloaded 500 times by any goatfarmer, or just shut up and quit whining, face the consequences of your own actions.
Title: Re: More Stolen Pics At Flickr
Post by: shopartgallery on January 10, 2012, 08:41
He has my photo with the dolphin two...http://www.flickr.com/photos/64445673@N06/5935060031/#in/photostream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/64445673@N06/5935060031/#in/photostream) I sent the DMCA to Yahoo at [email protected] but no answer from them....How much it took till they answered to your email and removed your photos?