MicrostockGroup

1

Print on Demand Forum / My Fine Art America account is closed

« on: October 11, 2018, 13:08 »

The last communication I have from FAA in my mailbox is about some sale
Couple of weeks since then I wanted to submit a new work and got the following message

This account is closed. If you would like to re-enable it, please contact our technical support department by filling out the form
The support is not answering for about a week.
If there other people having the same problem?
Was FAA or me personally hacked?

2

Adobe Stock / I didnt know adobe need more photographers

« on: August 03, 2018, 18:33 »

They are looking for photographers (text in Russian: "Sell your photos to millions of buyers")
I guess they are advertising in some other countries as well

3

General Stock Discussion / Alamy way of handling copyright claims

« on: November 17, 2017, 11:55 »

Story:
There is a person who copied my vector, changed color and put it on sale.
When I found it occasionally on SS I contacted SS team and they got it removed quickly.
Later when looking in google image search for examples of my picture in use I found the re-colored picture again now on alamy site.
And their way of handling the issue is making me very upset

Here is an e-mail trail:

Quote from: 'Me (in October)'

…
I would like you to take an action regarding picture xxxx which is hosted on your site and violating my copyright.
In order to support my claim I am sending you:
1)my picture on shutterstock site (uploaded in 2014)
2)picture of one of your contributors
3)picture representing pictures 1) and 2) overlapping

as you can see it is not just copied idea but very exact copy(recolored).

Quote from: 'Alamy (2 days later)'

Thanks for letting us know. We’ve contacted the contributor of the vector about this situation to ask for clarification.

Quote from: 'Me (month later)'

…
could you please update about the progress.

Quote from: 'Alamy'

...
we have reached out to the contributor regarding this and they have since confirmed that the image is their own design and are happy that they are able to sell the image on Alamy
…

Me: sending official DMCA take down request

Quote from: 'Alamy'

To quickly explain how we work, we don’t own any images, or hold any copyright. Photographers and agencies upload images to license through our platform, and by doing so they confirm they have the necessary permissions to license these images through us. We have a non-exclusive relationship with our contributors, and the images may be available elsewhere. We don’t commission work, or employ members of staff as photographers.
We understand you have previously been in touch with our contributor relations team regarding this issue who have confirmed to you that the contributor is the original creator of the image you are questioning and therefore would have the correct permissions to sell the image. The contributor can provide original source code for the image and once we have this we can pass this information on to you.
If you are happy for us to do so we can pass you information on to the contributor and ask that they get in touch with you to discuss the issue further.

We are unable to see what rights have been infringed and assume no liability case.

My conclusions:

anybody can get any vector,recolor it and put in on alamy site for sale
anybody can offer to “provide original source code” for any vector and be good in alamy eyes
standard DMCA takedown process doesn't work with alamy

My question: should I look for a lawyer in UK or in US (since alamy have US office as far as I know)?

PS I will not put any pictures or names here, assuming the info above is enough to discuss the issue in general

PPS I see that I am not alone facing the issue :
http://www.microstockgroup.com/alamy-com/alamy-and-copyright-infringement/

4

General Stock Discussion / Uber vs microstock

« on: August 29, 2016, 08:21 »

Can you see something common or microstock is copletely different story?

Quote

It's not just Uber. A growing number of delivery companies are going the so-called "independent contractor" route. Uber, Lyft, Flex, etc. are taking advantage of the fact that people simply don't know what they're getting into. People equate the $X per hour amount with a regular wage and think they're making bank, when in fact it's less than minimum wage (with no benefits). There is no regulatory floor here, and in fact some people working for these companies are probably winding up net negative.

Uber is cheap because people can't do math and don't understand what being an "independent contractor" entails. By the time they figure it out the hard way, Uber has already made their profit and has whole bunch of other ignorant suckers lined up to replace them.

Or put simply, if these jobs were really so easy and lucrative to make a profit, why . would they outsource them to the general public? The answer of course is that by outsourcing to the general public they are no longer are required to pay minimum wages, benefits, or expenses related to transportation. It's the old capitalist ideal: privatize the gains, socialize the losses.

from http://uberpeople.net/threads/max-chafkin-is-an-idiot.99372/#post-1403030

5

General Stock Discussion / delete this

« on: July 28, 2016, 14:26 »

dup

6

Shutterstock.com / SS -- Google deal

« on: July 12, 2016, 12:32 »

http://www.streetinsider.com/Corporate+News/Shutterstock+(SSTK)+Enters+Image+Licensing+Deal+with+Google/11822331.html

7

General Stock Discussion / Google Unveils Ability to Determine the Location of Almost Any Image

« on: February 25, 2016, 16:29 »

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600889/google-unveils-neural-network-with-superhuman-ability-to-determine-the-location-of-almost/

I guess soon we won't not need keywording and description, smart AI will do it all for us

8

Veer / Veer is sold to VCG / Getty Images

« on: January 22, 2016, 13:27 »

http://www.corbisimages.com/content/corbisfaq/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Veer_Wilson_Contributor_English&utm_content=2016_Jan

9

Alamy.com / this is my first zero sales year on alamy since 2007

« on: December 10, 2015, 10:17 »

I am calm, there's still time

10

Image Sleuth / dealing with copyright infringement in China (Taiwan)

« on: April 10, 2015, 13:32 »

Look at this "Image library" (you can click randomly or do it through Google translate)
http://images.lib.cycu.edu.tw/index.php?controller=client&action=entryList
it is full of stock pictures. I found it occasionally searching for my popular illustration use . What can be done about it?
Probably some contributors from there are participating in this forum and can give some advice?

Similar story is famous alibaba site. They formally have English interface and have some procedure to complain about copyright but way it is implemented make it practical impossible. I tried to contact vendors which are selling items with my pictures directly, but they just sending me smiles and asking to send them more pictures. It makes me angry a bit.

Any positive experience?

11

General Stock Discussion / "Free" images

« on: May 27, 2014, 21:33 »

the following link is good illustration of general public understanding of "free" images coming from stock http://blog.bufferapp.com/free-image-sources-list
Who will really read license terms of those FREE images

12

Alamy.com / switch alamy's Novel Use off

« on: April 29, 2014, 14:33 »

Just a reminder that you can switch off alamy's Novel Use only in April of each calendar year.
You still have time if you want to do it this year.

13

iStockPhoto.com / yuri arcurs is IS exclusive

« on: May 17, 2013, 15:08 »

really?
http://www.istockphoto.com/Yuri_Arcurs
http://i052.radikal.ru/1305/89/a4beba572ace.jpg