Author Topic: New Site Offering Free Stolen Images (Read 10290 times)

rimglow · « **on:** June 23, 2010, 08:43 »

I had a customer contact me asking why he had to buy my photos, when they are offered for free at a website called free-extras.com. Sure enough, there they were. I tried contacting the website, but the contact email is not a valid email address. Any ideas what my options are? These photos are for sale on the Big 7 microstocks.

These are the photos:
http://www.free-extras.com/images/mango_food-5519.htm
http://free-extras.com/images/watermelon-854.htm
http://free-extras.com/images/cherry-5468.htm
http://free-extras.com/images/kiwi_fruit-5503.htm
http://free-extras.com/images/raspberry-5545.htm
http://free-extras.com/images/cut_pineapple-5538.htm
http://free-extras.com/images/pineapple_fruit-5536.htm

louoates · « **Reply #1 on:** June 23, 2010, 10:36 »

I wonder how they got those with no watermarks.
I couldn't find any of mine there. I feel slighted.

fotorob · « **Reply #2 on:** June 23, 2010, 10:56 »

This looks like a stock image to me as well:
http://free-extras.com/images/code/people-112.htm

I won't tell names but I know of other sites as well that offer high quality stock images to download for free without watermarks. Mostly the images come from Shutterstock, probably because it's so cheap and nobody notices if an employed designer uses some of the otherwise unused download credits and stacks them.

fotorob · « **Reply #3 on:** June 23, 2010, 11:00 »

Oh, and here is a small one with the istock-watermark still intact:
http://free-extras.com/images/code/business-3.htm

cathyslife · « **Reply #4 on:** June 23, 2010, 11:07 »

Quote from: rimglow on June 23, 2010, 08:43

I had a customer contact me asking why he had to buy my photos, when they are offered for free at a website called free-extras.com. Sure enough, there they were. I tried contacting the website, but the contact email is not a valid email address. Any ideas what my options are? These photos are for sale on the Big 7 microstocks.

These are the photos:
http://www.free-extras.com/images/mango_food-5519.htm
http://free-extras.com/images/watermelon-854.htm
http://free-extras.com/images/cherry-5468.htm
http://free-extras.com/images/kiwi_fruit-5503.htm
http://free-extras.com/images/raspberry-5545.htm
http://free-extras.com/images/cut_pineapple-5538.htm
http://free-extras.com/images/pineapple_fruit-5536.htm

If you find your images on this site and you want to do something about it, do these things:

Search this forum for topics about copyright infringement...lots of good information.
Read the DMCA information at the bottom of the site. You might be able to contact them through email. Send them a DMCA notice or cease and desist letter.
Contact the ISP hosting the site.
If you are exclusive and KNOW which site the images came from, contact the agency. They may also send a DMCA notice on your behalf.
Be prepared for nothing to happen because most of these free sites are outside of the US and no one can or will do anything about them.

rimglow · « **Reply #5 on:** June 23, 2010, 11:18 »

As I said in my original post, there is no way to contact them. The supplied email is bogus.

Fotonaut · « **Reply #6 on:** June 23, 2010, 11:27 »

Domain name registrant info: https://www.domeneshop.no/whois.cgi?domainname=free-extras.com
There is a U.S. postal address for a Mark Arruda maybe worth contacting.

rimglow · « **Reply #7 on:** June 23, 2010, 11:41 »

Thanks! Very helpful.

RacePhoto · « **Reply #8 on:** June 23, 2010, 12:37 »

Quote from: rimglow on June 23, 2010, 11:41

Thanks! Very helpful.

Here's another link with the same registrant. Good Luck. It does have an email address which may be helpful?

http://whois.domaintools.com/juniorslayouts.com

"mark arruda" owns about 40 other domains, which may mean he's the developer not the person who actually runs the site. Or he's one of those people who runs many sites that are trying to attract viewers with various schemes like this.

madelaide · « **Reply #9 on:** June 23, 2010, 16:32 »

I searched some subjects and didn't find any of mine, so a SS buyer may be a suspect in this case.

Norebbo · « **Reply #10 on:** June 23, 2010, 22:00 »

Not only is he giving away other people's work for free, he's violating Google's Adsense policy in a big way:

AdSense publishers may not display Google ads on webpages with content protected by copyright law unless they have the necessary legal rights to display that content. Please see our DMCA policy for more information.

FD · « **Reply #11 on:** June 24, 2010, 00:31 »

Mark Arruda
17 Courtney St
Fall River, MA 02720
US
hostmaster [at] lunarpages.com

On LinkedIn, there are a few Mark Arrudas, one in the Boston Area, owner of Zanagraphics, Online Media Industry.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mark-arruda/4/574/632

Zanagraphics: http://www.manta.com/c/mt1kr27/zanagraphics-inc
His address matches. The company employs one person.

stormchaser · « **Reply #12 on:** June 24, 2010, 04:53 »

Quote from: Norebbo on June 23, 2010, 22:00

Not only is he giving away other people's work for free, he's violating Google's Adsense policy in a big way:

AdSense publishers may not display Google ads on webpages with content protected by copyright law unless they have the necessary legal rights to display that content. Please see our DMCA policy for more information.

I have mentioned this in the forums before. Contact the advertisers. When the money train stops, the site folds or at least becomes unprofitable for while. Shutting the money off is really the only way. Google Ads is pretty picky about verifying ID of Adwords account holders, so if anyone has the info, they do. When the pirate site jumps to another advertiser, you just have to do it again and contact the new one.