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Microstock Photography Forum - General => Image Sleuth => Topic started by: Hannafate on June 25, 2021, 14:10

Title: "hand painted" canvases...anyone know these people?
Post by: Hannafate on June 25, 2021, 14:10
They're selling copies of my paintings.

https://www.fizdi.com/brands/Community-Artists-Group.html (https://www.fizdi.com/brands/Community-Artists-Group.html)

Title: Re: "hand painted" canvases...anyone know these people?
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on June 25, 2021, 17:00
I've never heard of them, but with a few quick searches, it looks like they have people make cheap copies of other artists' work or photos.

Here's an example that's a copy of a Sisely painting:

https://www.fizdi.com/snow-field-handpainted-art-painting-24in-x-36in/ (https://www.fizdi.com/snow-field-handpainted-art-painting-24in-x-36in/)

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-la-neige-louveciennes-snow-in-louveciennes-1878-alfred-sisley-1839-89680608.html (https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-la-neige-louveciennes-snow-in-louveciennes-1878-alfred-sisley-1839-89680608.html)

https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/painting.html?no_cache=1&zoom=1&tx_damzoom_pi1%5BshowUid%5D=1533 (https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/painting.html?no_cache=1&zoom=1&tx_damzoom_pi1%5BshowUid%5D=1533)

And this stock photo:

https://www.fizdi.com/on-top-of-the-world-handpainted-art-painting-36in-x-24in/ (https://www.fizdi.com/on-top-of-the-world-handpainted-art-painting-36in-x-24in/)

https://stock.adobe.com/images/red-bench-in-the-fog-in-winter/9310465?prev_url=detail (https://stock.adobe.com/images/red-bench-in-the-fog-in-winter/9310465?prev_url=detail)

Their artist FAQ says work must be your own and that stock images are not allowed unless they have extended licenses.

https://www.fizdi.com/sell-paintings/ (https://www.fizdi.com/sell-paintings/)

Looks like they're based in India. Not sure if a DMCA takedown notice would work
Title: Re: "hand painted" canvases...anyone know these people?
Post by: ShadySue on June 25, 2021, 20:04
Their Terms of Use says, inter alia, "Except as permitted in the paragraph above, you may not reproduce, distribute, display, sell, lease, transmit, create derivative works from, translate, modify, reverse-engineer, disassemble, decompile or otherwise exploit this Site or any portion of it unless expressly permitted by us in writing"
so presumably they have some knowledge of copyright, so although a DMCAmerica probably has no validity, you might try writing to them directly with your evidence. Worth a try, anyway.
Title: Re: "hand painted" canvases...anyone know these people?
Post by: changingsky on June 26, 2021, 01:29
Looks like India participated in the agreements.
https://copyright.gov.in (https://copyright.gov.in)
Title: Re: "hand painted" canvases...anyone know these people?
Post by: Hannafate on June 26, 2021, 07:56
They took down the image of mine I complained about. 

It's a little tricky finding copyright violations because the titles and keywords seem random.
Title: Re: "hand painted" canvases...anyone know these people?
Post by: Hannafate on June 26, 2021, 08:04
I'm not bothered that they sell public domain images.  That's no different from selling t-shirts or mugs.  But, they do seem rather casual about checking copyrights.