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Author Topic: Image theft  (Read 28597 times)

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« Reply #25 on: September 29, 2006, 05:00 »
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yeah it would be nice to have a response from galastock on this one.

the finger does seem to be pointing in their direction.  I have no images stolen, and no images on galastock.  Does anyone have images stolen and have them NOT on galastock??


« Reply #26 on: September 29, 2006, 05:03 »
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There seems to be some movement at GS. The thief guy had an account at GS until recently (a few minutes ago), and this account apparently has just been deleted.

Maybe we will finally read from GS staff here ?

[Edit] In fact, some of his images are still accessible there, but one cannot browse his portfolio anymore by clicking his name. (http://www.galastock.com/?x=fTgTeF4UAzt4FD4eE0V7flFPLPYGFQXE1IW&login=1)
« Last Edit: September 29, 2006, 05:11 by ErickN »

« Reply #27 on: September 29, 2006, 05:10 »
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In every case that I checked, an image that was stolen and submitted to Fotolia was also on Galastock.  Here is a small sample:

Stolen ImageGalastock
http://www.fotolia.com/id/1327304http://www.galastock.com/?x=fTgTeF4UAzt4FD4eE0V7flFPLPYGFESEVAX
http://www.fotolia.com/id/1327293http://www.galastock.com/?x=fTgTeF4UAzt4FD4eE0V7flFPLPYGFESF1ca
http://www.fotolia.com/id/1327295http://www.galastock.com/watering_can/flower_21271.html
http://www.fotolia.com/id/1327291http://www.galastock.com/orange_green/cat_21220.html
http://www.fotolia.com/id/1327651http://www.galastock.com/?x=fTgTeF4UAzt4FD4eE0V7flFPLPYGFASF1EW
http://www.fotolia.com/id/1327654http://www.galastock.com/?x=fTgTeF4UAzt4FD4eE0V7flFPLPYGFASF1EU
http://www.fotolia.com/id/1327672http://www.galastock.com/?x=fTgTeF4UAzt4FD4eE0V7flFPLPYGFASF1AW
http://www.fotolia.com/id/1327778http://www.galastock.com/?x=fTgTeF4UAzt4FD4eE0V7flFPLPYGFASFlEU

Coincidence???

At this point, it seems that Galastock is done.  Whether it was the actual owner of Galastock that stole the images, someone that had access to the photos there, or someone that hacked into Galastock's database, the trust between submitters and Galastock is gone.

You might want to start to think about removing your photos from there ASAP (although I'm not sure how much that will help if they have a copy somewhere).

« Reply #28 on: September 29, 2006, 05:41 »
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Has anyone contacted Galastock?

THis maybe an issue with one of their reviewers.  From my understanding, most sites download full versions to reviewers computers for them to check.  There is then an element of trust with all sites that their reviewers do not keep them on their system.

« Reply #29 on: September 29, 2006, 05:48 »
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i just sent a message to galastock.. hopefully they can give a response.

« Reply #30 on: September 29, 2006, 05:52 »
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Has anyone contacted Galastock?

THis maybe an issue with one of their reviewers. From my understanding, most sites download full versions to reviewers computers for them to check. There is then an element of trust with all sites that their reviewers do not keep them on their system.

CJ--GalaStock doesn't respond to email contacts. I've tried to contact them regarding their lengthy review times and small per-day upload limits--that was a week ago and no response. I have just deleted my small 57 image portfolio--22 of which were online, and 35 pending review for 3 weeks. I'm done with them. But, they may not be done with me as they may still have my images somewhere in their files. :-[

Pat

« Reply #31 on: September 29, 2006, 06:33 »
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Dear all!!!

It is really awful incident!!! Deniss Kolesnikovs WAS our employee till today's morning... :'( He had account on galastock as photographer... But after this incident he was fired! It's was of course my fault, as his chief ...

« Reply #32 on: September 29, 2006, 06:54 »
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Dear all!!!

It is really awful incident!!! Deniss Kolesnikovs WAS our employee till today's morning... :'( He had account on galastock as photographer... But after this incident he was fired! It's was of course my fault, as his chief ...

Well, at least he responded and admits his culpability. More than I can say about his interest in responding to his contributers. Methinks something more than firing is due Deniss Kolesnikovs, though. After all, he did violate copyright and is a thief.

« Reply #33 on: September 29, 2006, 06:56 »
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Ohh... what a theatrical mea-culpa :'(

And so what ?
What about our stolen images ?
What about the rest of our submitted images ? Were they stolen too ?
What law suit are you going to take as a stock house owner after such a copyright infringement case ?

Do you really think you'll be done with just a 3 lines answer ?

Come on !

« Reply #34 on: September 29, 2006, 07:13 »
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Ohh... what a theatrical mea-culpa  :'(

And so what ?
What about our stolen images ?
What about the rest of our submitted images ? Were they stolen too ?
What law suit are you going to take as a stock house owner after such a copyright infringement case ?

Do you really think you'll be done with just a 3 lines answer ?

Come on !

RIGHT! Absolutly agree! It's only beginning of the deal. This case must be delivered to the curthouse. A bit pitty that I didn't find my images on this loser "gallery", otherwise I would like to deal with him in the court. What an impertinence!!

dbvirago

« Reply #35 on: September 29, 2006, 07:43 »
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Well, I checked the images he stole from me. The only place I have had these images downloaded from is ShutterStock. I have them other places, but they are new and have not received any downloads. Can others who have had their images stolen look to see where they have been downloaded from? I understand that this may be hard for some of the nicer images he stole. The 2 images he stole from me are not my best, so I understand that they don't get many downloads. This also leads me to believe that this is just some loser with no brain. I have much better images he could have stolen, at least I think so. I do not think this has something to do with GalaStock, but that is my 2 cents.

Except all of the images stolen, including yours, which have never been downloaded, are on Galastock. This is not coincidence. They may not be involved, but they are the source of the problem

« Reply #36 on: September 29, 2006, 07:45 »
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In the least, there should be some action taken to ensure he has deleted all images.

« Reply #37 on: September 29, 2006, 07:54 »
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Well, I checked the images he stole from me. The only place I have had these images downloaded from is ShutterStock. I have them other places, but they are new and have not received any downloads. Can others who have had their images stolen look to see where they have been downloaded from? I understand that this may be hard for some of the nicer images he stole. The 2 images he stole from me are not my best, so I understand that they don't get many downloads. This also leads me to believe that this is just some loser with no brain. I have much better images he could have stolen, at least I think so. I do not think this has something to do with GalaStock, but that is my 2 cents.


Hello, downloads doesn't matter. Galastock has access to all your images regardless if they were downloaded or not. You uploaded your images to them. The site is a scam, I could tell that in less than an hour's research and I warned about them before this even came up. I have over 2000 images on ShutterStock and not a single one turned up in this guys portfolio, ShutterStock is legit


Hello nruboc, please do not twist my words. I understand ShutterStock is legit, and I have never believed otherwise. Maybe you just misunderstood what I wrote. I simply stated that is the only place I have had the images downloaded from. This is not something new to stock photography, especially micro stock. Most of the time you find people download the images and then "go crazy" and decide to upload them as their own. In this case, it looks like an inside job.

Now you stated that you found GalaStock to be a scam. I did not find the same information, but then, I did not spend an hour researching this. Can you provide more information? I believed GalaStock was a valid stock house, but now I am not so sure. A 3 line response for such a major offense in this industry does not cut it. If you have more info, please share.

As for GalaStock, I would expect much, much more in response. As a photographer's agent, there are responsibilities. I would expect much more communication from GalaStock to the photographers that were a victim here. I would also expect to see legal actions taken by GalaStock. A quick response from GalaStock is in order. We will see what type of company GalaStock is based on this issue.

dbvirago

« Reply #38 on: September 29, 2006, 08:03 »
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I did research it quite bit last night. All the images I found on his portfolio, including the one I PMd you about were on Galastock. Some of the images have never been downloaded or sold anywhere. And I agree, we need more from Galastock. Meanwhile, I have deleted all my images there.

Well, I checked the images he stole from me. The only place I have had these images downloaded from is ShutterStock. I have them other places, but they are new and have not received any downloads. Can others who have had their images stolen look to see where they have been downloaded from? I understand that this may be hard for some of the nicer images he stole. The 2 images he stole from me are not my best, so I understand that they don't get many downloads. This also leads me to believe that this is just some loser with no brain. I have much better images he could have stolen, at least I think so. I do not think this has something to do with GalaStock, but that is my 2 cents.


Hello, downloads doesn't matter. Galastock has access to all your images regardless if they were downloaded or not. You uploaded your images to them. The site is a scam, I could tell that in less than an hour's research and I warned about them before this even came up. I have over 2000 images on ShutterStock and not a single one turned up in this guys portfolio, ShutterStock is legit


Hello nruboc, please do not twist my words. I understand ShutterStock is legit, and I have never believed otherwise. Maybe you just misunderstood what I wrote. I simply stated that is the only place I have had the images downloaded from. This is not something new to stock photography, especially micro stock. Most of the time you find people download the images and then "go crazy" and decide to upload them as their own. In this case, it looks like an inside job.

Now you stated that you found GalaStock to be a scam. I did not find the same information, but then, I did not spend an hour researching this. Can you provide more information? I believed GalaStock was a valid stock house, but now I am not so sure. A 3 line response for such a major offense in this industry does not cut it. If you have more info, please share.

As for GalaStock, I would expect much, much more in response. As a photographer's agent, there are responsibilities. I would expect much more communication from GalaStock to the photographers that were a victim here. I would also expect to see legal actions taken by GalaStock. A quick response from GalaStock is in order. We will see what type of company GalaStock is based on this issue.

dbvirago

« Reply #39 on: September 29, 2006, 08:04 »
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This is in a forum on the Fotolia site from an admin. I think they need to hear from all of us.

When a thief is reported we can't just shut them down. Even if 2-3 people are claiming copyright. While overwhelming evidence sometimes points towards somebody being a thief, we need to consider it carefully and try to contact the photographer. Otherwise it would be possible for a genuine photographer to have their potential income shut off by somebody with a grudge against them.

So we have to go through some processes first. We can freeze the account and stop any payments, but sometimes the portfolio is up while we contact the photographer accused.

For this reason it may appear that nothing has been done.

« Reply #40 on: September 29, 2006, 08:20 »
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Quote
As for GalaStock, I would expect much, much more in response. As a photographer's agent, there are responsibilities. I would expect much more communication from GalaStock to the photographers that were a victim here. I would also expect to see legal actions taken by GalaStock. A quick response from GalaStock is in order. We will see what type of company GalaStock is based on this issue.
Quote

I've been somewhat dubious about GalaStock from the beginning, starting with the spam email soliciting my images. But because some photogs reported early sales I took the plunge and uploaded some trial images. All was going well with the first 22 of my 57 image upload being approved in a couple of days. But then the long wait began for the rest of the images to be reviewed. Also, there were some holdout skeptics who wondered if early sales could possibly be scam sales just to promote more uploads. In noodling around the site one day I noticed that I had a 5 image upload limit per day. What? Five uploads per day was ludicrous. After waiting 2 weeks for my remaining 35 images to be reviewed, I emailed GalaStock regarding the lengthy queue time and the teeny upload limit. Never heard back from them.

Now, we get a 3 line, lame apology from the owner for this egregious violation of our trust. I think, but can't prove, that there is more to this than he has admitted to. I do think the site is a scam--if not outright by intention, then surely by lack of oversight and the dissing of the contributers demonstrated by my own experience with them.

Pat

dbvirago

« Reply #41 on: September 29, 2006, 09:08 »
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Well said, Pat. And I started out exactly the same, including skepticisim, but without the sales. I only uploaded 12 shots to see what would happen.

« Reply #42 on: September 29, 2006, 09:36 »
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Well, I have not heard anything from GalaStock.  Looks like Fotolia may take some action.  I am removing the 200 or so images i have on GalaStock.  Not that this will matter if the site is not for real.

« Reply #43 on: September 29, 2006, 09:46 »
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I wonder if this guy submitted to other sites besides Fotolia?
I tried Googling him but only found him on Fotolia.

« Reply #44 on: September 29, 2006, 09:48 »
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Every image stock site has the people which have an access to the photos originals. This people staff of the photobank , trusted staff. We made mistake with Deniss Kolesnikovs he betrays our trust.
This his action posting stolen images on Fotolia of course is theft! But as result of this awful situation we revise our staff, we have fired this stupid whipper-snapper who do not understand what is internet, what is serious business there!
We apologise to all victims of it! And I would like to assure you that such awful situation is not possible for us in future!

« Reply #45 on: September 29, 2006, 09:56 »
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Is any action being taken against Deniss Kolesnikovs?

« Reply #46 on: September 29, 2006, 10:06 »
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And I would like to assure you that such awful situation is not possible for us in future!

Sooo reassuring...
As far as I'm concerned, my future with GS is already history
440 mouse clicks = 220 images deleted

So long, GS

Greg Boiarsky

« Reply #47 on: September 29, 2006, 10:13 »
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I honestly don't think we should trust your definition of "theft."  The reason I never joined your site is that parts of your user agreement were lifted verbatim from CanStock.  Whenever you plagiarize another person's work, as your site did with that user agreement, it is theft.

You have no credibility with me.

This his action posting stolen images on Fotolia of course is theft! But as result of this awful situation we revise our staff, we have fired this stupid whipper-snapper who do not understand what is internet, what is serious business there!
We apologise  to all victims of it! And I would like to assure you that such awful situation is not possible for us in future!

« Reply #48 on: September 29, 2006, 10:18 »
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We apologise  to all victims of it! And I would like to assure you that such awful situation is not possible for us in future!
Well, it won't happen for you in the future if your site goes under.

I'm one who had an image 'lifted' that had absolutely no sales.  (that tells you something about the thief's poor judgment.  If he had only taken images with sales on other sites, it might have been a little more illusive.)

But anyway.  I haven't yet removed my approved images from your site, just the pending images.  I would like a better response to this than I have had so far.  I will soon be removing all images and will join others in spreading the word if I'm not satisfied soon.

« Reply #49 on: September 29, 2006, 10:22 »
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Every image stock site has the people which have an access to the photos originals. This people staff of the photobank , trusted staff. We made mistake with Deniss Kolesnikovs he betrays our trust.
This his action posting stolen images on Fotolia of course is theft! But as result of this awful situation we revise our staff, we have fired this stupid whipper-snapper who do not understand what is internet, what is serious business there!
We apologise  to all victims of it! And I would like to assure you that such awful situation is not possible for us in future!


Do you ever respond to your emails? I've tried contacting you, but got no respond. This surely is not a good thing. I'm removing all my images as well.


 

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