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Image Sleuth / Re: Food photographers -- is your work on this site?
« on: July 13, 2020, 20:23 »
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...
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...