MicrostockGroup
Microstock Photography Forum - General => Image Sleuth => Topic started by: Julie Vader on June 24, 2020, 14:35
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Early last month I learned that one of my older stock photographs was on PreparedFoodPhotos.com, which I had never heard of before. A company that used the photo said they got a letter from AdLife, the parent company, demanding $4,525 for copyright infringement.
PreparedFoodPhotos is a curious site — it purports to sell thousands of stock photos of food for a monthly subscription of “only” $999. The photographs are displayed without watermarks and with no photographer credit. My photo, which mysteriously appeared on the site, was available on iStock until I deactivated my portfolio in 2013. AdLife apparently claims to have registered the copyright for my work, claiming it was first “published” in 1998, which is impossible.
My first queries to PreparedFoodPhotos.com were sent on their in-site contact form and were not answered. Only when I issued a DMCA did I get a response — and it took more than a week and yet another DMCA to get them to remove my work. But in the response Executive Vice President Douglas Fleurant said “I firmly agree that Intellectual Property Rights should be respected and protected.” He also called the pirating of my work an “anomaly.”
So let’s help them out by ferreting out any other “mistakes?”
I’d also appreciate any advice for how to proceed. Many thanks.
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Early last month I learned that one of my older stock photographs was on PreparedFoodPhotos.com, which I had never heard of before. A company that used the photo said they got a letter from AdLife, the parent company, demanding $4,525 for copyright infringement.
PreparedFoodPhotos is a curious site — it purports to sell thousands of stock photos of food for a monthly subscription of “only” $999. The photographs are displayed without watermarks and with no photographer credit. My photo, which mysteriously appeared on the site, was available on iStock until I deactivated my portfolio in 2013. AdLife apparently claims to have registered the copyright for my work, claiming it was first “published” in 1998, which is impossible.
My first queries to PreparedFoodPhotos.com were sent on their in-site contact form and were not answered. Only when I issued a DMCA did I get a response — and it took more than a week and yet another DMCA to get them to remove my work. But in the response Executive Vice President Douglas Fleurant said “I firmly agree that Intellectual Property Rights should be respected and protected.” He also called the pirating of my work an “anomaly.”
So let’s help them out by ferreting out any other “mistakes?”
I’d also appreciate any advice for how to proceed. Many thanks.
That was entertaining and a joke. No not you, their site. Bottom of the page: "*Subscribers may only use licensed images as long as the Subscriber maintains an active subscription to the Service. " which is $999 a month? So if you use an image, you have to pay them $999 a month to continue to use it, or see bottom.
I wonder if they actually believe anyone will subscribe?
If you type in something like "grilled pizza", the search delivers a blank page. I mean, all white, nothing, no 0 results, no text... nothing.
Well done, well written, using very basic: https://www.sitepoint.com/twitter-bootstrap-3-javascript-components/ (https://www.sitepoint.com/twitter-bootstrap-3-javascript-components/)
"·Fees and Payments
e)Exclusive, Unlicensed, and Prohibited Use. Exclusive use of Adlife photography is available at a rate starting at $8,000 per image, per medium/channel of use. Any unlicensed or prohibited use of any Adlife photography by Subscriber, its employees, affiliates and End-users will carry with it a minimum penalty of at least $8,000 per image, per medium/channel of use.
"
I didn't find it myself, but I sent the link to a friend and he found another stolen image he recognized. What's with this place?
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Thanks for the response, Uncle Pete. With all that's going on it's hard to draw attention to this weird problem -- but it seems likely that this AdLife site is set up just as "copyright troll" bait? Most of the pictures are pretty banal, and who knows where they came from. But I can't be the only one whose work was/is being used this way...someone "innocently" uses a photo and bam! they then get an letter demanding payment from someone claiming they own the copyright and pointing to their website as "proof."
Yet another way people make money off photographers' work when we make zero. The owner of the site has been discussed for years on sites such as extortionletterinfo.com and copyright-trolls.com. And, apparently, his own employees are suing for wage theft. (I sense a pattern.) Who knows how much money he makes shaking down people for pictures he himself has stolen?
I wonder if there's anything I can do or if anyone has any suggestions. If more people found their work here, perhaps? But if not what recourse do I have? Does the claim he makes that he "copyrighted" my work (with supposed supporting documents) give me any leverage? Falsifying government documents?
Suggestions appreciated. I hate to just shrug and let this apparent scam continue on scamming...