a) Interesting... Perhaps write an article talking about how companies like midjourney are essentially based on MASSIVE copyright theft - and how producers can fight back to get some of the same RECURRING revenue every time their asset is referenced? (One of the big "problems" companies like midjourney had was how to get rid of pesky little things called "watermarks"... and they STILL generate it with watermarks from time to time)...

Payments CAN be made retroactively (contrary to what the 'ai' companies would like you to believe) - it is quite simple (programatically) to retroactively go through the massive data library - attribute any image generation to any dervived 'ai' model - then compensate authors in micropayments. It is also very easy to do that going forward as well.

b) As a general rule - I'd say don't approve 'any' east indian accounts - because the way of doing business there is based a lot on theft, and try and not get caught. Many "western" people have been conditioned to think that is "racist" (it's not - it is a fact, and they need to realize they've been programmed with that belief system - and ironically there is now massive racism against white people, in the form of "BIPOC" (black/indigenous/people of color) agencies being pushed by the likes of blackrock/vanguard "investment" companies with their "DIE" (diversity, inclusion, equity) "mandates"). There is now a deluge of east indians being imported into Canada doing the same kind of "business" tactics at the rate of 500,000-1,000,000 people per year (not including "sponsored" family members, "baby production" because they get paid up to $800/baby/month (i.e., $7200/year/east indian baby), etc, etc... - so if it is an east indian name, don't approve the account. That will solve a lot of the 'theft' issues.

a) Interesting... Perhaps write an article talking about how companies like midjourney are essentially based on MASSIVE copyright theft - and how producers can fight back to get some of the same RECURRING revenue every time their asset is referenced? (One of the big "problems" companies like midjourney had was how to get rid of pesky little things called "watermarks"... and they STILL generate it with watermarks from time to time)...

Payments CAN be made retroactively (contrary to what the 'ai' companies would like you to believe) - it is quite simple (programatically) to retroactively go through the massive data library - attribute any image generation to any dervived 'ai' model - then compensate authors in micropayments. It is also very easy to do that going forward as well.

b) As a general rule - I'd say don't approve 'any' east indian accounts - because the way of doing business there is based a lot on theft, and try and not get caught. Many "western" people have been conditioned to think that is "racist" (it's not - it is a fact, and they need to realize they've been programmed with that belief system - and ironically there is now massive racism against white people, in the form of "BIPOC" (black/indigenous/people of color) agencies being pushed by the likes of blackrock/vanguard "investment" companies with their "DIE" (diversity, inclusion, equity) "mandates"). There is now a deluge of east indians being imported into Canada doing the same kind of "business" tactics at the rate of 500,000-1,000,000 people per year (not including "sponsored" family members, "baby production" because they get paid up to $800/baby/month (i.e., $7200/year/east indian baby), etc, etc... - so if it is an east indian name, don't approve the account. That will solve a lot of the 'theft' issues.

a) This sounds like a big investigative journalism job. I wouldn't mind pitching the story to some larger technology/photography publications with larger budgets so I can dedicate a significant amount of time to it and potentially resources. Thanks for the idea

EU AI Act is in effect from August and we should be getting the first claims soon. I'll keep an eye out for anything related to Stable Fussion / Midjourney, etc.

Meanwhile, in the US there have been some positive developments for creators - https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/ai-companies-lose-bid-dismiss-parts-visual-artists-copyright-case-2024-08-13/

b) This day in age, unfortunately, it's tricky to single out ethnicities / countries due to political correctness gone awry, who knows I may be committing some sort of violation of Wordpress's terms and conditions or whatever and I'm in no mood to get into disputes with Big Brother. But it's what I see on almost a daily basis.

Antonio Gravante is doing a great job identifying stolen accounts at Shutterstock and pushing for them to be shut down.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N1oYYhfCVKP4llm7aC7GSeWjjs4DFhLcb3QWAT2kcXw/edit?pli=1

So, far he has identified some 2,564 accounts and you only need to do a small sample of a few dozen accounts at random and you'll see where most of the thieves come from. Hope he's getting paid for this work!

Shutterstock does have some mechanisms in place to combat thieves from "high-fraud places" but probably doesn't go far enough:

"Why is my account in a 90 day waiting period?
Contributors from certain countries have to wait 90 days before they are eligible for payment.

If you see the message "Your account is currently in a 90 day waiting period. You will be eligible to receive payments after xx/xx/xxxx" on your Earnings Summary, your Shutterstock contributor account has been flagged by our system as originating from a high-fraud area. For this reason, we must apply an additional restriction to the payout guidelines of your account."

https://support.submit.shutterstock.com/s/article/Why-is-my-account-in-a-90-day-waiting-period?language=en_US

Quote from: Injustice for all on September 02, 2024, 04:39

in my opinion you could earn more on Adobe,but you know it too,because you simply upload little,but for you it is relative because you already have a job.

thank you Alex for always being brutally honest 

I do need to upload more on there! Also they have some quite well-paying "missions".

One agency that I'm seeing quite decent results is Motion Array. In July I earned $60 on just 50 downloads in a portfolio which was around 230 assets.

yes,I participated in a mission.

there was also a rumor that Adobe didn't pay for missions,I can guarantee you that this isn't the case,Adobe is a serious and reliable agency.

Motion Array from these results looks promising,thanks!

Dear Colleagues,

Even though my earnings are nothing to brag about this month I'm happy to share with you a story about how a colleague managed to recover some monies from a stolen account at Adobe Stock. Also some news about PhotoCase shutting down after some 20+ years in business.

https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2024/08/30/august-2024-brutally-honest-earnings-report-copyright-theft-special/

Alex

From your report: "�Agencies should make it easy to report,� Dmitry said. �But instead, they make the process tedious and cumbersome. On Adobe and iStock, it�s difficult to even find the form. Shutterstock makes it hard to find an email address for copyright infringements, and they constantly reject your claims over minor DMCA technicalities.�"

Some day, SS which is hiding behind the protection they have, against charges, because users are responsible, will get hammered. The law that protects them, also says, they need to be proactive in policing and removing.

Someone, some day, will get a class action lawyer who will go after SS on behalf of 1 million contributors, and then some crap will hit the fan! 

As for Adobe, it took one search "file dmca claim adobestock" and the link was right there: Intellectual Property Removal Policy

https://www.adobe.com/legal/dmca.html?msockid=2e522b4b6b636d5e2aa13b116a1d6c2e

I don't see that as difficult or hidden.