Photo stealing

[kosta_cherry]

Yaw,

 

finally it happend to us. There was a bride coming by to the meeting yesterday,

and while we were showing to her our work, she noted that "Oh, I saw this on

your website! And also I saw it on another website. Who actually made it?". I

was jaw dropping. Any damn photo on our website is taken by us. We are not that

wacky crooks that steal other photogs pics to display like their own. I have no

problem if someone steal our photo unless they claim that THEY took it. Of

course, if needed we can prove anything as we retain RAW files, but how I

explain that to the bride?! Besides, the very fact of explanation itself makes

you look bad. The bride was unable to recall where exactly she saw it,

otherwise I would report that jerk to everyone here.

 

On one hand, I'm kind of proud that our photos are worth stealing, but on the

other hand, I'm willing to kill the @#$%@#. Arggh. Sorry, I'm just venting. Did

such thing happen to anyone here?

 

SY-

Kosta.

[awhitt99]

We have a photographer that left and used images she took while working for the studio I work at to represent her business. We have not gotten any brides yet who have been to both companies or seen the same pictures used for both, but its a matter of time because she's operating her studio within only a couple miles away. I say that if you can back up your information with the raw files or the contract to that specific wedding she saw at both places, the ownership lies with you. I would make damn sure I checked out the website of EVERY photog around your area to see if you could find out who it is, and make sure you hit them hard. What they're doing is not just stealing an image like some advertising agencies do to save a buck or two, but its blatant plagarism, which is a severe federal offense.

[kosta_cherry]

Wanted to clarify. It's not studio vs photog stuff. There are only two of us (husband and wife) in our "studio", we never hire anyone nor work for anyone. It was just plain stealing, not a copyright ownership issue. And if this is really a federal offense, I'll take my time and try to find out the thief. Bride did sign the conract, but we still feel very bad.

 

SY-

Kosta.

[awhitt99]

All the more worse of the offense if it was not a previous employee. I really do strongly suggest you find out who it was, perhaps ask the bride to try to remember harder about who all the photographers were that she looked at. Plagarism is a big deal, and not only does it hurt you, but the customers as well. It is very deceptive and highly illegal.

[edsel_adams]

I was web surfing a few years ago, and a local wedding studio had one of my shots on their www site !

I mean if your going to steal a shot from a site, go to another country, not 40 miles away in the next rural upstate NY county!

 

 

I called and said I was a potential client, and asked where and how the shot was taken. The woman gave me a sweet and lengthy explanation too.

 

 

It was then that I mentioned that "I" ,and not her husband, had taken the lovely shot in question. I then told her I was calling lawyer. The shot vanished from the site within 20 minutes!

[stephen dohring]

Hopefully is was just a very similar shot and maybe not stolen. If anyone knows how to make photos non {right clickable) that would be helpfull.

[sam_thompson2]

Plagiarism in of itself is not really federal offense. Your best bet is to use copyright law or state fraud laws to get the guy to stop misrepresenting him/her self. Maybe the bride was mistaken and she just saw a similar picture on some other person's website.

[kosta_cherry]

The photo in question is highly unlikely to be just similar to some another. We are, well, different. But I admit that everything is possible in this world. And again, if it would not hurt our business, I wouldn't care.

 

SY-

Kosta.

[mercsadies]

Hmmm ... non-right clickable you say ... I thought I had read somewhere that you could do that ... Fact or Fiction?

 

I do know that you can slice your posted images so that the person ends up taking only pieces of your image ... and if they sort through all the slices to put back together your image ... all I can say is - congratulations - someone is in love with your work!

[matt_k1]

Unfortunately, it's impossible to prevent people from stealing images off the web no matter what you do (watermarks, flash galleries, etc.). <p>

The best thing to do is to find out who did it and confront them with the threat of legal action. Document all correspondence. If possible, get screenshots of the offending website with your photos. If they don't take your images down, then go directly to a lawyer. <p>

In some cases, you may be able to collect damages but you should talk to a lawyer who in knowledgable about this type of stuff.

<p>

If you belong to a professional photography organization, they often have lists of recommended lawyers who are informed about copyright laws and such.

<p>

Good Luck finding the bastard!

[ellis_vener_photography]

"Watermark" all of the images you publish on line with your name and contact information

and 989% of your problems with this go away. Register your iamges with the Library of

Congress' Copyright office (if you are i nthe USA) and you have some very real legal clout to

go after the other 1%.

 

You can have no idea of the number of jobs you never were asked for a quote on.

[matt_k1]

Making something non-right-clickable is pretty much a waste of time. You can easily take screen shots on both Mac and Windows. Watermarks can easily be photoshopped out unless you plaster them across the middle of the image and make them terrible to look at.<p>

The internet has made stealing images (and other media) too easy. <p>

For important/valuable images, it's always good to register your copyright. In any case, you should confront the offender and take legal action if necessary.

<p>

There's a service available... I forget the company and their website... that have some software that is able to do some sort of "fingerprint" of your images by scanning them and doing some analysis. They keep this information in a database and then crawl the web looking for similar "fingerprints". When they find a match, they notify you. Of course it's not free. I wish I could remember the name. If I remember I'll post about it.

[david_schilling___chicago_]

I had one of my images "stolen" and placed on a husband-wife's photography website. Turns out that they were members of the photo.net community and when they posted info about their website on the forum, a fellow P-netter recognized the image as mine and emailed me. After I confronted them they quickly took the image off and apologized.

 

Although the bride says that she saw the image on two websites, I think that it's possible that she might be mistaken. She could have seen another shot that was posed very similar or her memory could have merged a few other images and she thinks it was the same image.

[William Michael]

It is interesting to note what cost benefit studies or marketing to converted sales are figures are analysed, (or not) before a business decides to deliver many of their images to the web.

 

There is a different answer for each business, but I make the point: how many have considered this issue, done something about it based upon data and analysis rather than just being caught, unquestioningly, in a sweeping tide of technology?

 

Regards

 

WW

[laurenm]

Possibly a "similar" photo was seen if it was a venue and not a person - I'd go crazy to find out though.

A few other points - aside from stealing, plagarism, etc...

 

if the shot was of a person(s)-this other "photographer's" site does not have permission, release to post that person on THEIR site.

 

Also, using stolen images and displaying them as your own work in order to engage business is FRAUD - so now the suspect is up on several charges.

[stephen dohring]

I know that Lightroom makes it easy to add metadata info and Copyright info, not sure how effective it will be but that it can be a help if the Right click thing is not so effective.

[craig_gillette]

Before one hopes for the FBI to swoop in from black helicopters, there's little likelihood you'll get "official" assistance in this. Perhaps you could find the offender, then deal with their isp (using the DMCA for some weight) if they refuse to remove the offending images, but the potential criminal or civil liabilites they face are rather limited. All the "prosecutorial" work would be yours, a civil infringement action.

[kelly_flanigan1]

100 years ago photographers studios had adverts on the back of studio portraits, with an address of how to get there. <BR><BR>In a less lawsuit era ones images were used as marketing for more work or reprints.<BR><BR> Todays release of unstamped prints, unwatermarked high resolution images into the wild is abit comical; like releasing ants by a wet sugar bowl and expecting them to behave thru rules. <BR><BR>Folks are going to copy and download stuff whether one uses markings or not.<BR><BR> Weigh the risks of releasing stuff into the wild versus the gains on makes thru whatever business model you use. <BR><BR>Thus released stuff is a major headache for printers; there is little or no contact info or way to trace ownership; unlike the prints done 100 years ago.<BR><BR> There is a trend to shooting weddings and the photographer NOT doing any printing. Shops get web links; FTP images; DVD's, CD's, thumb drives all shot by "Uncle Bob" the retired Icelandic Naval Photographer who must be real busy with all his free work. <BR><BR>One doesnt leave 20 dollar bills on park benches at night; but folks give away CD's with images and expect them to not print them. <BR><BR>If your images were lumber would you except the plywood and 2x4's you give away to not be used by folks?<BR><BR>

[o._wagner]

I just had a similar thing happen to me. I had posted my wedding services on craigslist, also providing a link to my website. I had a bride contact me saying, "I have seen those pictures before, unfortunately, you weren't the photographer."

 

I was completely shocked. I wrote back to her asking if she was accusing me of stealing images. I informed her that I was indeed the photographer, have all of the original files along with the clients names and phone numbers if she'd like to contact them herself. Then I asked her for the name or website of the photographer whose *images I stole.* Needless to say, she never wrote back to me. I thought about it and tried not to let it bother me. I chalked it up to realizing that I had co-shot one of the weddings with another photographer and I'm sure we had several similar images. That MUST have been the explanation... at least that's what I tell myself so I can sleep at night. ;)

[marcie m]

I'm coming in a little late on this thread but wanted to offer another possibility. If the bride saw it on another website, could it be that she saw it on one of those wedding planning websites which keeps their banner and advertising on the page but will open your web site inside a frame?

 

Personally, I would be surfing all day and night until I found what the bride was talking about. It would drive me crazy if there was the possibility that someone ripped my photo for their own wedding business.