MicrostockGroup
Microstock Photography Forum - General => Image Sleuth => Topic started by: Pilens on January 24, 2013, 00:05
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I just stumbled over http://wallpaperswiki.com/ (http://wallpaperswiki.com/). :o Please check it out. Among tons of beautiful hi-res images (yours?) I found a few of my images there, too. No info at all about who is running this site and where all those images come from.
Can this be legit?
And if not what can I/we do about it?
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It's not legit. You can't buy a license that lets you redistribute (leaving Google out of it for the minute).
A takedown notice is the best bet - I don't see any contact info on the site (surprise surprise), so it's a matter of tracking down the site owner from the domain registration, or the ISP if they'll take down infringing content. I looked to see if I spotted any iStock exclusive's work (which would mean there was a small chance IS's compliance enforcement would actually take action) but all the ones I recognized were indies.
Only the copyright holder can send a DMCA takedown notice, so you can do yours but other people will have to do their own.
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It's not legit. You can't buy a license that lets you redistribute (leaving Google out of it for the minute).
A takedown notice is the best bet - I don't see any contact info on the site (surprise surprise), so it's a matter of tracking down the site owner from the domain registration, or the ISP if they'll take down infringing content. I looked to see if I spotted any iStock exclusive's work (which would mean there was a small chance IS's compliance enforcement would actually take action) but all the ones I recognized were indies.
Only the copyright holder can send a DMCA takedown notice, so you can do yours but other people will have to do their own.
Thank you for confirming what I suspected. I'd like to move forward with a DMCA notice. However, WHOIS points to guangzhou guangdong china :-[ - I wonder what my chances are having my images taken down. - Oh well, I'll try nevertheless and keep you posted here.
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Both the owner and the company that is hosting the website is in China, I doubt they will even look at any letter
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Sorry Lillysy the webutation is worthless: "It appeared to be a great source of free (that was very important for me) editorial images for my blog. I also loved the customer service, so i'll continue using depositphotos.com. Speaking of the previous review, well...you never can tell. My experience was really cool"
Hey look folks, there is no previous review? Removed because it was negative? 5 stars 100%
wallpaperswiki has a 100% rating too.
The Social Buzz is nothing but spam and links for people who think it will help their SEO.
Checking WHoIs, is interesting but many sites have listed by proxy and hidden information. If anyone wants some, I'll go fetch. Deposit Photos, for example is listed as being in Florida. And the servers, well, they own them. Who would you write to as the host?
Billing Name: DepositPhotos Inc. DepositPhotos Inc.
Billing Organization: DepositPhotos Inc.
Billing Street: 110 E. Broward Blvd. Suite 1700
Billing City: Fort Lauderdale
Billing State/Province: FL
Billing Postal Code: 33301
Billing Country: US
By the way, anyone who hasn't discovered it, just use http://www.WhoIs.com (http://www.WhoIs.com) That's simple?
So all those links are fun and interesting and do nearly nothing. Sorry. DMCA does nothing. Take downs do nothing. We need some laws that sting these people a little so they wake up and stop stealing our work, for their financial gains.