Author Topic: Somebody who bought my picture uses it to promote investments to my fb friends (Read 4983 times)

NixyJungle · « **on:** September 20, 2020, 18:24 »

I used to sell picture where I am holding a bunch of Uzbekistani money (check picture below the post). I am holding 600 banknotes in total value of 100$. Not so much money actually.

Somebody bought that picture and uses it to promote some investment plans about Amazon. Not sure what is it.

What is weird it that at least 30 people with whom I am friend on Facebook sent me a screenshot with that ad. Apparently, that person is showing that ad to all my Facebook friends hoping they will trust when they see my face and maybe invest.

I don't want my picture to be used in that way. I sold that picture 4 times and every time got 0.33$ for it on Shutterstock (long before they cut sales to 0.10$). It sounds like improper use of a license. Shouldn't they pay some extended license for commercial multi use?

Can I complain to Shutterstock so they can forbid that company to use my picture for that ad?

Thanks.

cathyslife · « **Reply #1 on:** September 20, 2020, 21:05 »

When someone buys a license to use your image, they can use it however they like, as long as it falls within the license terms. So no, you can’t forbid anything, unless they are violating the terms of the license. But you might check to see if your FB account has been hacked. Or check that your privacy settings are set to only allow friends to see your friends. If you aren’t friends with the person using the picture, they shouldn’t be able to see your friends.

NixyJungle · « **Reply #2 on:** September 20, 2020, 21:11 »

Quote from: cathyslife on September 20, 2020, 21:05

When someone buys a license to use your image, they can use it however they like, as long as it falls within the license terms. So no, you can’t forbid anything, unless they are violating the terms of the license. But you might check to see if your FB account has been hacked. Or check that your privacy settings are set to only allow friends to see your friends. If you aren’t friends with the person using the picture, they shouldn’t be able to see your friends.

Thanks for reply.

I don't think my account is hacked. Nothing suspicious happened.

Nobody can see my friends, not even my friends. Maybe they showed ad to so many people and some of them happened to by my friends.

I don't know how much they can use and re-use picture that has the cheapest license. I got 0.33$ on Shutterstock. It's not one of those extended licenses where I sometimes get 50$.

What if ad is a scam? Can they forbid them to use it further?

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #3 on:** September 20, 2020, 21:24 »

The way Facebook's ad placement works, the person who licensed your images isn't the one who picks which specific FB users see an ad. They can set general criteria (people in a certain country or area, people of a certain age group, male vs female, etc.) but not who.

It's likely that you and your friends are in the demographic the ad is targeting and it's no more complicated that that. I hope your friends are savvy enough to ignore ads like this, even with your picture in it

You should read what a royalty free license is - a purchaser can use the licensed image as many times as they like."Shutterstock hereby grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use, modify (except as expressly prohibited herein) and reproduce Visual Content worldwide, in perpetuity,"

https://www.shutterstock.com/license

ShadySue · « **Reply #4 on:** September 20, 2020, 21:32 »

Quote from: NixyJungle on September 20, 2020, 21:11

Thanks for reply.

I don't think my account is hacked. Nothing suspicious happened.

Nobody can see my friends, not even my friends. Maybe they showed ad to so many people and some of them happened to by my friends.

I think that's probably what's happened. How likely is it that the buyer would know the person in the photo was you?

Quote

I don't know how much they can use and re-use picture that has the cheapest license. I got 0.33$ on Shutterstock. It's not one of those extended licenses where I sometimes get 50$.

They can re-use it as often as they like online, no EL needed (check the licence agreement below).

Quote

What if ad is a scam? Can they forbid them to use it further?

I don't think there is anything about that in the SS licence agreement:
https://www.shutterstock.com/license

Jo-Ann beat me to it, but I'm posting the reply anyway, so that you can consider:

You might like to think about whether you are really happy using yourself as a model (I'm not) - you have very little control over how the image is used, and the image can be misused against the terms of service.

NixyJungle · « **Reply #5 on:** September 21, 2020, 07:39 »

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on September 20, 2020, 21:24

It's likely that you and your friends are in the demographic the ad is targeting and it's no more complicated that that. I hope your friends are savvy enough to ignore ads like this, even with your picture in it

Most probably is this one. All of them are similar age like me.

Quote from: ShadySue on September 20, 2020, 21:32

You might like to think about whether you are really happy using yourself as a model (I'm not) - you have very little control over how the image is used, and the image can be misused against the terms of service.

I usually don't sell pictures with myself. Sometimes some selfies in front of historical places and that's all.
I took this one for myself and later on decided to sell it because it looked sellable. Didn't know that somebody will use this picture for an ad. Hopefully that ad is not a scam.

Thanks again for help.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #6 on:** September 21, 2020, 09:35 »

"Can I complain to Shutterstock so they can forbid that company to use my picture for that ad?"

Lol, welcome to stock photography.

Teraphim · « **Reply #7 on:** September 21, 2020, 14:53 »

How this can happen (my theory):
They buy many different pics like this. Then they open model release and add these pics to ads, which will see people in area from model release. For example you are 25 y.o. man from texas and they show their ad with your photo to all texas people in that age range (20-30s).
But it's too tricky 🙂
Most likely they just show it to many people like someone mentioned before.

ShadySue · « **Reply #8 on:** September 21, 2020, 16:41 »

Quote from: Teraphim on September 21, 2020, 14:53

How this can happen (my theory):
They buy many different pics like this. Then they open model release and add these pics to ads, which will see people in area from model release. For example you are 25 y.o. man from texas and they show their ad with your photo to all texas people in that age range (20-30s).
But it's too tricky 🙂
Most likely they just show it to many people like someone mentioned before.

I didn't think the buyer got the MR (?) Otherwise there could be serious privacy concerns.

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #9 on:** September 21, 2020, 17:11 »

Quote from: Teraphim on September 21, 2020, 14:53

How this can happen (my theory):
They buy many different pics like this. Then they open model release and add these pics to ads, which will see people in area from model release. For example you are 25 y.o. man from texas and they show their ad with your photo to all texas people in that age range (20-30s).
But it's too tricky 🙂
Most likely they just show it to many people like someone mentioned before.

None of the agencies make model releases available to buyers. They will confirm that there is one on file, but anything more would be totally unprofessional.

Mrblues101 · « **Reply #10 on:** September 21, 2020, 17:34 »

Probably he paid for general facebook ads and your friends just saw it.

If he hacked into the system to send this advertisement to your friends, he is really wasting his hacking skills.

Facebook allows you to send ads to specific list of people but you need the list of mails (not the list of facebook profiles links or account number) in order to send to that people.

Edit just to add an extra thought: Murphy's law for MS: If you upload a photo of yourself in a certain context, that photo will be used in the worst possible representation of that context.

I still remember that gay couple who agreed to be a model for MS photos with their adopted son and that photo was used in a campaign against gay marriage.

And by the way; congratulations on making so much Uzbekistani money investing in amazon stocks.

NixyJungle · « **Reply #11 on:** September 21, 2020, 21:43 »

Thanks for answers. I will try to reply to all.

I have friends from many countries in the world (I travel a lot) and so many people told me that they saw this ad. More-less we are similar age, so target could be done by age.

In the past I sold few times myself counting Chinese money (just the money, not my face) and thought I could sell this one as well.

I was just surprised how much money I got when I exchanged 100$ in Uzbekistan and did this photo first for Facebook and Instagram and later I uploaded it on Shutterstock. Originally it wasn't meant to be sold as stock photography, but I was like, why not.

Quote from: Mrblues101 on September 21, 2020, 17:34

Edit just to add an extra thought: Murphy's law for MS: If you upload a photo of yourself in a certain context, that photo will be used in the worst possible representation of that context.

I still remember that gay couple who agreed to be a model for MS photos with their adopted son and that photo was used in a campaign against gay marriage.

I have another photo I probably shouldn't sell, but I have few sales already. Can't even imagine in what context it will be used. Probably about "stop animal abuse"

I was just playing with goose, not really holding her neck, just pretending to.

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/man-pretending-choke-goose-nature-bali-570984529 [nofollow]

Btw. my grandmother became a meme TWICE. People just used her picture for funny memes instead what it was meant to be used for. I never told her about that. Don't even know how I would explain her

Teraphim · « **Reply #12 on:** September 22, 2020, 07:40 »

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on September 21, 2020, 17:11

Quote from: Teraphim on September 21, 2020, 14:53
How this can happen (my theory):
They buy many different pics like this. Then they open model release and add these pics to ads, which will see people in area from model release. For example you are 25 y.o. man from texas and they show their ad with your photo to all texas people in that age range (20-30s).
But it's too tricky 🙂
Most likely they just show it to many people like someone mentioned before.

None of the agencies make model releases available to buyers. They will confirm that there is one on file, but anything more would be totally unprofessional.

I see. That's good. Always thought they receive MR with materials they buy.

Mrblues101 · « **Reply #13 on:** September 22, 2020, 15:22 »

Quote from: NixyJungle on September 21, 2020, 21:43

Thanks for answers. I will try to reply to all.

I have friends from many countries in the world (I travel a lot) and so many people told me that they saw this ad. More-less we are similar age, so target could be done by age.

In the past I sold few times myself counting Chinese money (just the money, not my face) and thought I could sell this one as well.

I was just surprised how much money I got when I exchanged 100$ in Uzbekistan and did this photo first for Facebook and Instagram and later I uploaded it on Shutterstock. Originally it wasn't meant to be sold as stock photography, but I was like, why not.

Quote from: Mrblues101 on September 21, 2020, 17:34
Edit just to add an extra thought: Murphy's law for MS: If you upload a photo of yourself in a certain context, that photo will be used in the worst possible representation of that context.

I still remember that gay couple who agreed to be a model for MS photos with their adopted son and that photo was used in a campaign against gay marriage.

I have another photo I probably shouldn't sell, but I have few sales already. Can't even imagine in what context it will be used. Probably about "stop animal abuse" I was just playing with goose, not really holding her neck, just pretending to.

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/man-pretending-choke-goose-nature-bali-570984529

Btw. my grandmother became a meme TWICE. People just used her picture for funny memes instead what it was meant to be used for. I never told her about that. Don't even know how I would explain her

I must say that in South American countries to "hang the goose" is a colloquial way of referring to masturbation. LOL

So if you want to avoid photos of youself in strange contexts maybe you should delete that one too LOL

NixyJungle · « **Reply #14 on:** September 23, 2020, 21:38 »

Quote from: Mrblues101 on September 22, 2020, 15:22

I must say that in South American countries to "hang the goose" is a colloquial way of referring to masturbation. LOL

So if you want to avoid photos of youself in strange contexts maybe you should delete that one too LOL

You are right. I deleted that photo

qunamax · « **Reply #15 on:** September 24, 2020, 05:46 »

Everybody gangsta with AI cameras until this happens.

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Author Topic: Somebody who bought my picture uses it to promote investments to my fb friends (Read 4983 times)

NixyJungle

cathyslife

NixyJungle

Jo Ann Snover

ShadySue

NixyJungle

Sean Locke Photography

Teraphim

ShadySue

Jo Ann Snover

Mrblues101

NixyJungle

Teraphim

Mrblues101

NixyJungle

qunamax

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