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Poll

Were SS right to shut down the weekly Thieves Thread Update Project?

Yes
5 (4.7%)
No
91 (85.8%)
Don't know
10 (9.4%)

Total Members Voted: 97

Author Topic: Shutterstock suspicious accounts "wackamoles" update  (Read 64169 times)

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Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #175 on: June 19, 2019, 09:24 »
+1
Monkey pic is still 'up' and visible from here, with name blanked.

Name is blanked, but clickable, but when you click on it, it shows "Sorry, we can't find what you're looking for. While you're here, take a look at our hand-picked Collections."

Right, the image database is still adjusting and updating but the "Ristic+Milos" account and all their stolen images are gone. You can't download the image.


« Reply #176 on: July 23, 2019, 13:25 »
+4
This is a good one:-

https://www.shutterstock.com/g/owenr+osemarie?page=2&sort=popular&search_source=base_gallery&language=en&section=1

Just uploading current news photos to SS and getting them accepted and sold.

A lot of the military ones appear to be stolen from an Alamy account "PJF Military Collection"

Either that or hes a really clever guy, hes in Boston, the Persian Gulf and Marshall islands on the same day. 



This one appears to have been stolen off Reuters as far as i can tell.



This one was nicked from MarineTraffic.

SS may get away with reselling individual peoples stolen images but reselling illegal images from Reuters, Alamy, the US Navy and other big guns is not going to go down well.  Especially as SS approved these images for sale.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2019, 13:35 by gnirtS »

Brasilnut

  • Author Brutally Honest Guide to Microstock & Blog

« Reply #177 on: July 23, 2019, 13:37 »
+2
Thanks for sharing - I've emailed [email protected] and would encourage others to do as well to pile the pressure on.

Good work

« Reply #178 on: July 24, 2019, 07:21 »
+2
Photos taken on the space station.  Not at all suspicious. 

Not that an astronaut wouldn't have a side hobby of selling stock photos, but how could they be doing the underwater photography while they're in space?

« Reply #179 on: July 24, 2019, 09:46 »
+1
Photos taken on the space station.  Not at all suspicious. 

Not that an astronaut wouldn't have a side hobby of selling stock photos, but how could they be doing the underwater photography while they're in space?

Whilst single handedly documenting the iran crisis.

The port is still up.

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #180 on: July 24, 2019, 14:37 »
+1
Original

2018?

Theirs

07/12/2019 photo from Persian Gulf

Member since 7/12/2019 shouldn't get away with any stolen money if they got downloads.

« Reply #181 on: July 24, 2019, 14:52 »
+2
This person's portfolio is full of stuff credited to other people - here's one that's an Associated Press photo that appeared in the Washington Post on July 19th:



And this is an AP photo of Tokyo's olympic stadium (identical clouds in an identical position; he/she just cropped off the right side)

https://qz.com/1188832/south-koreas-100-million-winter-olympics-stadium-will-be-used-exactly-four-times/

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tokyojapan-06252019-tokyo-2020-olympic-site-1458093230?src=w9v9aahSTSN3w54x81A4ng-1-7&studio=1

After you find more than a few that are stolen, I think the ethical thing to do is take the whole portfolio down.

One mistake could happen - a whole bunch of obvious stolen content means SS should not sully its reputation by hosting anything from that person.
« Last Edit: July 24, 2019, 14:57 by Jo Ann Snover »

Brasilnut

  • Author Brutally Honest Guide to Microstock & Blog

« Reply #182 on: July 24, 2019, 15:05 »
+2
I'll bet $10 with anybody that this account will still be up in a week - 31 July at midnight deadline.

Bets settled via paypal.

Any takers?

« Reply #183 on: July 24, 2019, 15:13 »
+4
There is no way this portfolio is a "mistake".

Every single image has been stolen from elsewhere, cropped or altered and reuploaded.  Its a deliberate, entirely stolen portfolio.
Its also nowhere near the only one.

SS needs to get more proactive, instead of refusing to act until an original copyright holder complains they should actively follow up 3rd party complaints and address the whole portfolio not just a per image basis.

But at the end of the day, they needs reviewers to actual review images.  I suspect most now are just AI flagged.  No sensible human reviewer could have looked at these images coming through and not been suspicious.

Plus "similar images" - it SHOWS the image was stolen on the actual site but seemingly is not checked at upload time.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything

« Reply #185 on: July 25, 2019, 15:21 »
+9
Ironically:
https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/protect-your-content?fbclid=IwAR0tiYqNHX5ZEGGFY5FcCEf0RvAqdcHybIj8HC4MkCdzNM2O603HS6l42JQ

"We pride ourselves on the integrity of the content submitted by our contributors...."

Right. But that was said in 2014 - clearly a different time . . . to be judged by the standards of the day . . .

Goes along with "Your call is very important to us.."

Tossers!

« Reply #186 on: July 25, 2019, 15:47 »
+1
Ironically:
https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/protect-your-content?fbclid=IwAR0tiYqNHX5ZEGGFY5FcCEf0RvAqdcHybIj8HC4MkCdzNM2O603HS6l42JQ

"We pride ourselves on the integrity of the content submitted by our contributors...."

Right. But that was said in 2014 - clearly a different time . . . to be judged by the standards of the day . . .

Goes along with "Your call is very important to us.."

Tossers!


Ha! I was just going to post that first line too. What a joke they are.

« Reply #187 on: July 26, 2019, 17:41 »
+2
He's adding to his portfolio.  This week he's taking photos in Dubai that have been online since 2010 for example.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #188 on: July 26, 2019, 18:14 »
+2
Hmm, (another learning opportunity, I had to look up the Marshall Islands):
this pic he says is in the Marshall Islands:
https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-photo/marshall-islandsoceania-07192019-photo-islands-1456912202?src=bekS6z3edwlSyJinNfKApA-2-3
is said here (and on various other sites) to be in the Caymans:
http://www.scubaverse.com/celebrating-two-iconic-shipwrecks-in-the-cayman-islands

This one purporting to be from the Marshall Islands last week:
https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-photo/marshall-islandsoceania-07192019-photo-islands-1456912208?src=bekS6z3edwlSyJinNfKApA-2-5
is said here and on several other sites to be on Vanautu:
http://southpacificspecialist.org/vanuatu-special-features


This one purporting to be from Kalasin Dinosaur Park in Thailand on 6th July (or 7th June) 2019
https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-photo/ni-khomthailand-07062019-photo-dinosaur-kalasin-1454860229?src=bekS6z3edwlSyJinNfKApA-2-75
is said here to be from the Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas on October 1st 2016:
https://thedyrt.com/camping/texas/texas-dinosaur-valley-state-park/review/9325

Makes me wonder what uprezzing software he's using.

« Reply #189 on: July 26, 2019, 18:19 »
+4
is said here (and on various other sites) to be in the Caymans:
http://www.scubaverse.com/celebrating-two-iconic-shipwrecks-in-the-cayman-islands


That one i can confirm first hand.   Its a terrible photo of people sat on the stern of the ex USS Kittiwake.  And also a minimum of 4 years old because since then the wreck has been moved and tilted over twice in storms and isnt vertical.
(Ive taken 100s of shots of that wreck through work!).

Edit:- Just read all that article, it was actually me with the guy and the last photo (diver by the stern of the wreck) is my image (not sold on or used on stock sites)
« Last Edit: July 26, 2019, 18:26 by gnirtS »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #190 on: August 05, 2019, 12:18 »
+2
Looks like owenr osemarie is down.
Almost two weeks since his port was pointed out here.
Better late than never?
Wonder what measures they'll take to make sure it doesn't happen again?

OM

« Reply #191 on: August 05, 2019, 13:48 »
+1
Math 313 (3200 images) is gone very quickly. Presumably the copyright holder sent the 4 DMCA notices today!


« Reply #192 on: August 05, 2019, 13:51 »
+2
And it looks like SS removed the thread(s) pointing out the thieves, again.

dpimborough

« Reply #193 on: August 05, 2019, 13:53 »
+3
I see SS deleted the latest "stolen images" threads and if I read correctly before the thread was deleted it seems Alex (Brasilnut) has been banned from the forum (waits to be corrected)

If so these people are un-believable they do nothing about theft until contributors point out the problem then delete the threads and block those identifying the issue?

What is this some kind of weird big brother mentality in that outfit?


ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #194 on: August 05, 2019, 15:04 »
+7
I see SS deleted the latest "stolen images" threads and if I read correctly before the thread was deleted it seems Alex (Brasilnut) has been banned from the forum (waits to be corrected)

If so these people are un-believable they do nothing about theft until contributors point out the problem then delete the threads and block those identifying the issue?

What is this some kind of weird big brother mentality in that outfit?

They've decided to up the ante in the race to become the most hated agency.

« Reply #195 on: August 05, 2019, 15:46 »
+7
Shutterstock sell trust in their product, it would be severely damaging to them if it becomes widely known that their product could be severely damaging to their buyers.  Seems if they can't get a grip on thieves it is only a matter of time before a buyer kicks up a fuss that gets everyone's attention.  They can't keep a lid on it for ever.  Why they don't act when thieves are identified is a mystery and suicidal.

Brasilnut

  • Author Brutally Honest Guide to Microstock & Blog

« Reply #196 on: August 05, 2019, 18:34 »
+2
I see SS deleted the latest "stolen images" threads and if I read correctly before the thread was deleted it seems Alex (Brasilnut) has been banned from the forum (waits to be corrected)
What is this some kind of weird big brother mentality in that outfit?

I can confirm that my account has been suspended for 3 days followed by 28 days of moderation for posting this suggestion to the SS forum. 

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #197 on: August 05, 2019, 18:39 »
+3
Again, just like the old iStock.
Being banned from the iStock forum was like a badge of honour, and it seems to be the same nowadays on SS.
Wear it with pride!

If they don't want to solve their problems, hell and the courts can mend 'em.

« Reply #198 on: August 05, 2019, 18:44 »
+6
Suspending forum privs for a little while won't hurt you, but closing your contributor account probably would. I'm not in any way criticizing you or defending Shutterstock's pathetic lack of useful measures to prevent upload of stolen content.

I just want to remind everyone, particularly those who haven't been around the agencies for very long, that the terms under which most agencies operate allow them to close your account at any time, for any or no reason, and you have no appeal process.

Getty was the most prominent of the "crush the uppity contributors" examples when they closed several high profile accounts during the 2013 protests over the Getty-Google partnership. Fotolia (prior to the Adobe acquisition) took a similar approach.

For those who want to pursue the agencies (who clearly could use some reminders that without contributors they have nothing to sell), just be aware of what the consequences might be for your income.


OM

« Reply #199 on: August 05, 2019, 19:51 »
0
I see SS deleted the latest "stolen images" threads and if I read correctly before the thread was deleted it seems Alex (Brasilnut) has been banned from the forum (waits to be corrected)
What is this some kind of weird big brother mentality in that outfit?

I can confirm that my account has been suspended for 3 days followed by 28 days of moderation for posting this suggestion to the SS forum.

Their actions look pathetic and puerile. But today looks like a small success if the 3200 image account of math313 has been taken down and stays down. I hope that your sales account hasn't been suspended and only your forum account, otherwise that is shocking!
« Last Edit: August 05, 2019, 19:54 by OM »


 

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