Author Topic: Copycats (Read 18757 times)

picomatic · « **on:** April 16, 2010, 17:48 »

It’s really sad to see the growth of creative rip-offs in microstock. More and more NEW submitters seem to have no talent other than looking at successful work done by others. They then create a slightly different style of inferior quality of the original. I guess some wackos just enjoy stealing ideas and money from others. If you’re a copycat reading this SHAME ON YOU, and _________________________________ !

cthoman · « **Reply #1 on:** April 16, 2010, 17:59 »

This sounds like a spillover from the cupcake discussion on SS. That definitely opened my eyes to what other people actually think is copying or not.

Randy McKown · « **Reply #2 on:** April 16, 2010, 21:47 »

I wouldn't say so ... considering that our fearless leaders styles were not original to begin with and simply copycats of what was already the mainstream style for advertising for ... hmmmm ... more years than I can remember. LOL .. Micro has always been pretty sterile IMO and when you do come across something new and semi-groundbreaking it usually doesn't sell enough or at all and is there basically for other photographers to surf by and say that's cooooool ... and it ends there.

red · « **Reply #3 on:** April 16, 2010, 22:45 »

Add to that all the "how to make money in microstock" sites who advise new comers to "study" the images of the top sellers...

sweetgirll · « **Reply #4 on:** April 16, 2010, 23:00 »

I see more and more copycats in vectors....

People blatantly copying the top earners....

There is an illustrator that I love, he kinda set a trend some time ago,
drawing some beautiful "showgirls",
and ends up, his style has been copied by others now ...
I'm not talking about subject, or idea...I'm talking about artistic style...
and every illustrator has a particular style, that is like a tradedress,
with the exception of the ones that copy others...off course.

so I guess is a no man land now...that's really sad.

sharpshot · « **Reply #5 on:** April 17, 2010, 02:35 »

It is annoying when you think of an original idea and have the only available image on the sites, then see other people making very similar versions. I complained once but never had a reply, the sites don't seem to care at all. I am guilty of looking at the top sellers and getting "inspiration", so perhaps I shouldn't complain when it happens to me.

Istock have an exclusive collection but how many of those images have similar copies available on the other sites?

Eireann · « **Reply #6 on:** April 17, 2010, 05:20 »

@Picomatic,
does this have anything to do with SS's cupcake?
Just to remind you that the guy who did it is far from being a newbie.
He has a very large port, has been at it for a long time and has a billion silhouettes and icons and the such.
Plenty experienced, plenty of choice, plenty of sales, no need to resort to such methods.

Nothing wrong with being inspired. I do it all the time.
But that's a copy, plain and simple and he should take it . down.

Dreamframer · « **Reply #7 on:** April 17, 2010, 05:46 »

I know a guy who was struggling to be accepted as vector artist at IS. When he finally made it, he started to upload hundreds of his vectors, but IS started to send him warnings that he is gonna be banned from Istock because his vectors were copycats of already existing work at Istock. So, he replied that problematic vectors are actually his original work, copied by other artists and uploaded to IS. He also gave few examples of his vectors, uploaded to StockXpert even before similar vectors from other artists appeared in IS database, but he was finally banned from Istock.
Now, who was right...IS or the artist, I don't know. It's possible they both had right at some degree.

Lcjtripod · « **Reply #8 on:** April 17, 2010, 06:10 »

Quote from: picomatic on April 16, 2010, 17:48

It’s really sad to see the growth of creative rip-offs in microstock. More and more NEW submitters seem to have no talent other than looking at successful work done by others. They then create a slightly different style of inferior quality of the original. I guess some wackos just enjoy stealing ideas and money from others. If you’re a copycat reading this SHAME ON YOU, and _________________________________ !

The micro sites even suggest studying the best seller in order to learn what to submit. IE: They are asking new member to copy the best.
This is not new to micro or to photography in general, in fact any of the arts, COPY the other guy is the name of the game. To beat them ... out do them with better stuff and submit it before they do. Early bird gets the worm.

-Larry

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #9 on:** April 17, 2010, 07:15 »

I went to look for this thread on SS, but what is the first thing I come upon?

"Learn How To Earn Money from Microstock at a Panel Sunday" : http://submit.shutterstock.com/forum/abt80513.html
Speakers: Daryl Lang, Elizabeth Engle, Yuri Arcurs, Cathy Yeulet

Sigh.

The cupcake is obviously copied. There's not even a chance it wasn't.
http://submit.shutterstock.com/forum/abt80527-0-asc-0.html

sharpshot · « **Reply #10 on:** April 17, 2010, 08:14 »

Quote from: Whitechild on April 17, 2010, 05:46

I know a guy who was struggling to be accepted as vector artist at IS. When he finally made it, he started to upload hundreds of his vectors, but IS started to send him warnings that he is gonna be banned from Istock because his vectors were copycats of already existing work at Istock. So, he replied that problematic vectors are actually his original work, copied by other artists and uploaded to IS. He also gave few examples of his vectors, uploaded to StockXpert even before similar vectors from other artists appeared in IS database, but he was finally banned from Istock.
Now, who was right...IS or the artist, I don't know. It's possible they both had right at some degree.

I don't think the person who created the original images that were then later copied should be punished like that. Would be interesting to see how original these vectors are and what the copies look like. It is hard to judge without seeing them and if this is true, I wouldn't of accepted istock's decision without appealing it and asking them why they would allow this to happen.

melastmohican · « **Reply #11 on:** April 17, 2010, 09:47 »

I do not know if you can protect something so simple like cupcake in example. Anybody who can draw can copy it in 5 minutes. This discussion is a pointless as problem of patents for software or business processes. If you allow them it would hurt innovation in long run.

loop · « **Reply #12 on:** April 17, 2010, 10:56 »

Quote from: Whitechild on April 17, 2010, 05:46

I know a guy who was struggling to be accepted as vector artist at IS. When he finally made it, he started to upload hundreds of his vectors, but IS started to send him warnings that he is gonna be banned from Istock because his vectors were copycats of already existing work at Istock. So, he replied that problematic vectors are actually his original work, copied by other artists and uploaded to IS. He also gave few examples of his vectors, uploaded to StockXpert even before similar vectors from other artists appeared in IS database, but he was finally banned from Istock.
Now, who was right...IS or the artist, I don't know. It's possible they both had right at some degree.

If they banned him, tey had to be pretty sure that he was the copycat, no matter what he said. While is true that IS has answered to complains sometimes removing copycat images, it is also true that if the plagiarized work it isn't too obvius, they tend to overlook the complaint. I'm talking of my own experiencie.

Klauts · « **Reply #13 on:** April 17, 2010, 11:32 »

Quote from: sjlocke on April 17, 2010, 07:15

The cupcake is obviously copied. There's not even a chance it wasn't.
http://submit.shutterstock.com/forum/abt80527-0-asc-0.html

Glad you think so, I thought I was going mad.

VB inc · « **Reply #14 on:** April 17, 2010, 11:42 »

Quote from: Whitechild on April 17, 2010, 05:46

I know a guy who was struggling to be accepted as vector artist at IS. When he finally made it, he started to upload hundreds of his vectors, but IS started to send him warnings that he is gonna be banned from Istock because his vectors were copycats of already existing work at Istock. So, he replied that problematic vectors are actually his original work, copied by other artists and uploaded to IS. He also gave few examples of his vectors, uploaded to StockXpert even before similar vectors from other artists appeared in IS database, but he was finally banned from Istock.
Now, who was right...IS or the artist, I don't know. It's possible they both had right at some degree.

I would tend to think he was most likely the copycat by your statement. If he was any good, he wouldn't have a problem getting accepted by IS. People usually copy other peoples work because they are usually in the dark for what makes an image a hot seller. This is a combination of skills and a general knowledge of stock industry. This guy abviously doesnt have the skills to get accepted into the IS library and without the skills, i would bet no knowledge of the industry either.

Dreamframer · « **Reply #15 on:** April 17, 2010, 12:32 »

He is a good illustrator, but I didn't really examine if his work is original or not. That was last year. I tried to find some examples to show you guys, but StockXpert is closed, and IS rejected him. I tried to find some of his illustration on SS, but I am not even sure if he submits there, so I gave up. I remember there was some tree with swirls, and some illustration of few leaves in a glass sphere. Of course there are many illustrations with these concepts, but the ones he showed me were obviously copied. They looked almost the same. And for these two examples his illustrations were almost a year older than the same illustrations of another guy, but.... maybe IS found some of his illustrations that were newer than some others... So, anyway, what I wanted to point is that ye there are many, many similar images, but I guess agencies (at least Istock) tries to keep an eye on this problem. I honestly doubt this can be stopped. We have to live with this because it's that kind of a business.

ThomasAmby · « **Reply #16 on:** April 17, 2010, 13:20 »

Quote from: Whitechild on April 17, 2010, 12:32

He is a good illustrator, but I didn't really examine if his work is original or not. That was last year. I tried to find some examples to show you guys, but StockXpert is closed, and IS rejected him. I tried to find some of his illustration on SS, but I am not even sure if he submits there, so I gave up. I remember there was some tree with swirls, and some illustration of few leaves in a glass sphere. Of course there are many illustrations with these concepts, but the ones he showed me were obviously copied. They looked almost the same. And for these two examples his illustrations were almost a year older than the same illustrations of another guy, but.... maybe IS found some of his illustrations that were newer than some others... So, anyway, what I wanted to point is that ye there are many, many similar images, but I guess agencies (at least Istock) tries to keep an eye on this problem. I honestly doubt this can be stopped. We have to live with this because it's that kind of a business.

Sounds like Milinz (MilsiArt on Shutterstock: http://www.shutterstock.com/results.mhtml#gallery_username=milinz). I believe he posts in here as well

picomatic · « **Reply #17 on:** April 17, 2010, 17:35 »

Hi

No this was not about "cupcake" but i have looked at the issue and looks like
a copy to me!
Dates of creation are where the truth lies. SS offers no public info on dates, i prefer they would.

Whats interesting to me is that most the people copying my videos & images styles are not from the USA.

thanks for all your chats here........

Jonathan Ross · « **Reply #18 on:** April 20, 2010, 22:14 »

Hi All,

Picasso once said " A good artist copies, a great artist steals ". This has been going on a lot longer than stock from writing to architecture and on and on. You name it if someone comes up with a good idea people try to copy and cash in. Look at it as the greatest form of flattery because getting frustrated will never change the outcome it will only make your life more stressful. There isn't an image idea I have seen in Micro that wasn't already done by someone else in RF or RM Macro time and time again years ago.

Good Luck,
Jonathan

Phil · « **Reply #19 on:** April 21, 2010, 00:58 »

to me the cupcake is to close, Milinz's stuff inspired me to do some fire. Some concepts are the similar but I'm not the same league and there is no way they could be a considered a copy (if I got that close I'd be pleased with myself, but wouldnt submit to sale anywhere).

but we have 'draganizing' an image, 'the dave hill' style, ring flash fads etc etc. I'm sure now with PS5 we'll see a big run on grunge hdr / tonemapped images.

i have magazines from the 50's & 60's with pretty girls holding phones doing the 'our operators are waiting to take your call', the clothing / hair etc styles are different but it is the same concepts etc. I dont think stock was around then but they may as well be stock shots. Not much is new...

PixelBitch · « **Reply #20 on:** April 21, 2010, 01:33 »

It's all been done before...we just need to do it our way to reflect our times...and those that can't do that copy those who can.

Quote from: Phil on April 21, 2010, 00:58

to me the cupcake is to close, Milinz's stuff inspired me to do some fire. Some concepts are the similar but I'm not the same league and there is no way they could be a considered a copy (if I got that close I'd be pleased with myself, but wouldnt submit to sale anywhere).

but we have 'draganizing' an image, 'the dave hill' style, ring flash fads etc etc. I'm sure now with PS5 we'll see a big run on grunge hdr / tonemapped images.

i have magazines from the 50's & 60's with pretty girls holding phones doing the 'our operators are waiting to take your call', the clothing / hair etc styles are different but it is the same concepts etc. I dont think stock was around then but they may as well be stock shots. Not much is new...

Randy McKown · « **Reply #21 on:** April 21, 2010, 02:03 »

Quote from: PixelBitch on April 21, 2010, 01:33

It's all been done before...we just need to do it our way to reflect our times...and those that can't do that copy those who can.

and those who can simply copy it by watching TV and looking at mall/catalog displays to see what the non-stock pro assignment shooters are doing. LOL

LadyDart · « **Reply #22 on:** April 21, 2010, 02:13 »

What do you think about this situation: one girl - a very popular illustrator on SS, decides to make some Christmas baubles only to find out that there is very similar photo allready on line - by another girl -very popular photographer on SS, then she contact her by pm, and gets "..it is OK, upload it.." answer from her. So, now you have unintentional copy on line and everything is fine...nobody complains, and you can choose between photo and vector.

ifongokea · « **Reply #23 on:** April 23, 2010, 01:51 »

Hi all,
I'm not very new in microstock, but only active for 18 months or so.
I need some advice in this situation,
My image:
http://www.dreamstime.com/water-image2922941
and others image:
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-water-image10005785

What do you think?
Thanks in advanced

fotografer · « **Reply #24 on:** April 23, 2010, 02:04 »

I really don't see your point here. They are both images of water like 1000's of other similars. Nothing new or original in either and they aren't even very alike..

Quote from: ifongokea on April 23, 2010, 01:51

Hi all,
I'm not very new in microstock, but only active for 18 months or so.
I need some advice in this situation,
My image:
http://www.dreamstime.com/water-image2922941
and others image:
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-water-image10005785

What do you think?
Thanks in advanced

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Author Topic: Copycats (Read 18757 times)

picomatic

cthoman

Randy McKown

red

sweetgirll

sharpshot

Eireann

Dreamframer

Lcjtripod

Sean Locke Photography

sharpshot

melastmohican

loop

Klauts

VB inc

Dreamframer

ThomasAmby

picomatic

Jonathan Ross

Phil

PixelBitch

Randy McKown

LadyDart

ifongokea

fotografer

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