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Photography Question 

Hayley J. Hamlin
 

Anyone know how to handle stolen photos?


This is probably not where to put this, so forgive me, but can anyone help me with this? Today I started doing some commenting on galleries and got to one fellow BPers only to see it had been taken down due to pics being stolen. She had a link there, so I thought I'd go check it out. After being there a very shortly, I quickly noticed TONS of fellow BPers work, including my own. I emailed one of the gals of which her pics were stolen and as we got talking she emailed me back saying she was sorry that basically my whole gallery had been stolen and was on this site. I thought she had to be joking. I hadn't gone too far into the site to realize this, but now after doing so, sadly she is right. There are TONS of my images on this site. What can you do about this?
Here is the link to the site.
http://www.fropki.com/
Pics stolen are under Wallpapers/Babies Wallpapers
Thank you for any advice or help on this!!
Hayley


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September 19, 2008

 
- Elida Gutierrez

BetterPhoto Member
Contact Elida Gutierrez
Elida Gutierrez's Gallery
  I’m so sad to say this to you, but I don’t know how to handle a situation like this. What I noticed is that you removed all the pictures from your gallery, but you can see them when you enter you name in the search tab.

And about that place even the administrator has posted some pictures that clearly shows been copied from somebody else, you can see the original watermark in the picture corner, and they dare to add they own watermark

http://www.fropki.com/the-eyes-are-watching-vt28484.html

One thing that I can suggest is that from now on just upload small pictures, so the copied versions doesn’t looks like the original.

I really feel you pain and angry, no one wants to see his/her hard work be stolen that easy.

Good look, and if you can solve it, please tell us how you did it.

Elida Gutierrez.


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September 19, 2008

 

Hayley J. Hamlin
  Thank you Elida. Well I guess taking my gallery down didn't help much then did it, I had no idea you could do that, so thank you for pointing that out. I hate to delete all my pics, but will probably have to just do that.

I do currently upload very small files to BP.

I did contact BP to see if they could help me, hopefully they will have some advice.
Thanks again,
Hayley


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September 19, 2008

 

Wendy P
  Looks like whoever is swiping the pictures is showing no shame. They are even claiming a bunch of Anne Gedes pictures.

http://www.fropki.com/how-cute-vt24505.html


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September 19, 2008

 

Hayley J. Hamlin
  Yes I noticed that too.


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September 19, 2008

 

Donna La Mattino Pagakis
  I checked into it and it's not just Baby images, they are in Scenic Beauty and Abstract Art. I'm sure there are many more.

I contacted a couple of people of the images I recognized.

I'm sorry Hayley, I did see a lot of yours. I hope this issue can be resolved!


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September 19, 2008

 

Jennifer L. Alder
  Hi ladies.
Hayley, it was brought to my attention by 5 different BP members today that my work was also stolen and placed on this link. I guess everyone recognized Melanie by now ;)
Anyhow- I tried to post a comment to the member who posted the image there but could not do so. It said I had to join the site first. SO- I signed up for the site by giving my email and creating a password- then I got a notification that an email with a username would be sent to me. Half the day has passed and I have yet to obtain an email with a username and STILL cannot post a comment there. Further, I did not see a place to inform administrators of the situation.
On a side note: I am sorry your images were stolen, too, Hayley. Screen shots can be taken anywhere online. Soooo sad, but very true. Taking your images down from one site may help reduce but will not eliminate altogether the issue. For example, people can take a screen shot at your personal website, etc...It upsets me that people do it, but it does happen.
Using the newer galleries BP offers does prevent right clicking. Bummer that you had to remove your work.
I am not sure what I will do in this situation yet. Hopefully it is an isolated event which can be resolved promptly.
If anyone here figures out a way to gain permissions to the site or particular member, please let me know.
Thank you to all who took the time to inform me of the situation... I do appreciate it.


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September 19, 2008

 

Susan M. Carter
  Contact the webmaster and advise them that they are in violation of U.S. copyright laws. The site is apparently targeted at an Indian and Middle Eastern audience but it is hosted on U.S. servers and therefore subject to U.S. law.

If you get no response from the website, contact the hosting service, Global Net Access Llc in Atlanta and tell them that you are seeking a DMCA takedown. Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a 1998 United States federal law that protects on-line providers from copyright infringement suits if the provider promptly take down content when someone alleges it infringes their copyrights. U.S. OSPs are going to take action.


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September 19, 2008

 

Hayley J. Hamlin
  Jennifer, that is interesting you haven't got access yet to the site, but somehow does not suprise me.
Yes I agree that if you post pics online (anywhere) that there is always a chance of them being taken. As unfortunate as it is you almost expect it. I thought going to the site, I might find 1 or 2 of my pics, but on 2 pages alone there were over 17 of my photos. And there were 11 pages of pics, so I am sure there are lots more than even that.
I wish I could say this is an isolated event but unfortunetely it is not,
this is the second site I've found my pics on in the last month and the pics all came from BP. You can see where they took the pics came from by right clicking on the picture on the site and clicking on properties.
Keep us posted if you get anywhere! Thanks!!


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September 19, 2008

 

Jennifer L. Alder
  I saw that Angie had named a specific user earlier in the thread. I would just like to say that the user I am having difficulties with at this point is "Asha" You may want to check her out as well.

Susan- thank you for the valuable info. Will do. :)


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September 19, 2008

 

Jennifer L. Alder
  Hayley- it IS a bummer for sure and I do sympathize with you. Why people are inclined to steal artists work is incomprehensible to me. I will let you know if I get anywhere with the situation and encourage you, too, to follow Susan's advice- especially since such a large quantity of your work base has been compromised. You are a fabulous artist- I hope this twisted individual does not interfere with your desire to produce work and do what you do best.


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September 19, 2008

 

Hayley J. Hamlin
  Thank you Susan for the info.

Jennifer, I had not checked out Asha yet, so far everything of mine I've found is under a user name Piyusha, but someone gave me the heads up for that, so she is the only user I've checked.


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September 19, 2008

 

David Van Camp
  First of all: imediately register your images with the US Copyright svc... create a dvd or CD with as many as can fit and fill out the proper paperwork and send it in.

Second, identify your images and send a cease and desist notice that clearly states that the images are registered and you will take further legal action otherwise.

Third, if they do not comply very quickly, contact a copyright attorney. Since they are violating many copywrites, it's possible a class-action suite may be possible.

I'm going to check if my images are up there too....

But, let me re-emphasise... REGISTER YOUR WORKS!! It's cheap and... if it does come to legal action, the infractor will bear ALL court and legal fees!! Otherwise, you are screwed!! You (I) have 3 months from publishing infraction to do so. Don't delay!!!!!!

dvc


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September 19, 2008

 

David Van Camp
  Oh, and you do not have to wait for any confirmation from the Copywrite office to take action... however, I've read it is a good idea, if sending via mail, to send it reciept requested and save that reciept!


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September 19, 2008

 

Susana Ms Heide
  I am so sorry Hayley, Jennifer and anyone else who's had their work taken! Someone just alerted me that my images were stolen too!! Same site! I took a quick scan and found about a dozen but there may be more. I was able to register on their site, received the email confirmation and started posting "cease and "desist" type of comments. I also reported the user (Piyusha) to the site moderator/manager. I have no idea if they will take action but I hope so!! This is so frustrating! I had the same issue on Flickr a few months ago and at that time they removed the stolen photo. Thank you Susan and David for the practical and helpful advice! I will keep that in mind!

I feel for all of you who have to deal with this. I recognized many BP photographer's images.... So aggravating!!!!


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September 19, 2008

 

Hayley J. Hamlin
  Thank you Susana, and I am SO sorry for you as well. I noticed MANY of your photos as well, but noticed that you had managed to create an account, otherwise I would have contacted you personally as well. Please keep us informed as to if you get anywhere with your comments on the site. Good luck!!


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September 19, 2008

 

Susana Ms Heide
  Thanks Hayley!

http://www.fropki.com/member18.html


I just noticed that "Asha" has the status of moderator on that site. So that might render all our reports to the site operators completely useless!!


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September 19, 2008

 

Hayley J. Hamlin
  I finally got in to the site as well. I am responding to my photos, right now I am at 22. Good grief, some of them have pages of pics within a thread which I did not notice at first.
Yeah, it looks like to me moderators at this site are going to be no help.
Thanks!!


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September 19, 2008

 

Susana Ms Heide
  http://whois.domaintools.com/foolzparadize.org


My husband is doing some digging and got this info about the site's owner (Rahul)


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September 19, 2008

 

Susana Ms Heide
  Okay, I can't believe my husband managed to find the site owner's personal phone number and contact him AND give him heck !!! He's awesome!! Here is the guy's No:

Admin Phone:+91.1214006300

Please call the guy and scare the heck out of him!!!!

My husband just dialed this number and proceeded to tell him about the situation and asked whether we should take legal action or if he preferrred to remove all the stolen photos immediately (Username Asha and Piyusha). He said they would be removed. Now I will wait a while and see what happens.


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September 19, 2008

 

Susana Ms Heide
  The guy has begun to remove stolen photos. But I just found literally hundreds of photos taken from BP on that site... Just so frustrating!!!


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September 19, 2008

 

Susana Ms Heide
  Okay, I'll stop posting after this... can you tell I got a bit worked up about this?? My husband wrote this site owner a few more messages after which the complete Baby Wallpaper section of the site got removed!!!!


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September 19, 2008

 

Jennifer L. Alder
  What a relief to see that what Susana types is indeed TRUE. The images and entire section have been removed from the site.
Hugs to you and your husband for making that happen, Susana. Fabulous! :)


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September 19, 2008

 

A P
  Just reading the thread and my heart goes out to you that had your work stolen. I also want to CONGRATULATE Susana and her husband for actually finding this person and taking action to get the photos removed. BRAVO!! Well done!!


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September 19, 2008

 

Hayley J. Hamlin
  Susana, BIG thanks to you and your hubby for this!! I am so relieved to see all the photos are gone now!! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!!

We'll all have to keep our eyes on this site!!


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September 20, 2008

 
- Angie Sidles

BetterPhoto Member
Contact Angie Sidles
Angie Sidles's Gallery
  Hmm, not sure how I missed this thread guys. I tried to start one yesterday snd couldn't figure out why nobody was responding...probably cause everyone was here.. lol!! :) I spent all day yetserday contacting the members whose images I recognized. What a shame! Jen, I didn't realize they got yours to.

Well, I followed the lead of Susana, Hayley and Jorga, signed up and began raising heck about my images and a few others I recognized..demanding that they be removed and that the user be removed.

I am guessing that Susana's husband probably made the biggest differece! What a great guy! :)

Anyway, so happy to see those images removed, but beware guys, because I found images in other areas of that site too..for sure in the misc section and I would bet money on the scenic landscape section. Great work everyone! :)


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September 20, 2008

 
- Angie Sidles

BetterPhoto Member
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Angie Sidles's Gallery
  Hmm, not sure how I missed this thread guys. I tried to start one yesterday snd couldn't figure out why nobody was responding...probably cause everyone was here.. lol!! :) I spent all day yetserday contacting the members whose images I recognized. What a shame! Jen, I didn't realize they got yours to.

Well, I followed the lead of Susana, Hayley and Jorga, signed up and began raising heck about my images and a few others I recognized..demanding that they be removed and that the user be removed.

I am guessing that Susana's husband probably made the biggest differece! What a great guy! :)

Anyway, so happy to see those images removed, but beware guys, because I found images in other areas of that site too..for sure in the misc section and I would bet money on the scenic landscape section. Great work everyone! :)


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September 20, 2008

 
- Elida Gutierrez

BetterPhoto Member
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Elida Gutierrez's Gallery
  Susan, Congrats for having such a wonderful husband, so happy to hear that your pictures where removed.

Last night I got so worried about this, and tried to think how can I help you.
I haven't seen any of my pictures (they aren't good enough to be stolen).

I got the idea of getting all people and organizations from who where clearly see stolen pictures, because I have seen pictures from Getty Images and Anna Geddes, and maybe someone of you can contact them and notify them about this site, I'm sure they’ll take legal action against this site, because the even write over some Getty pictures.


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September 20, 2008

 

Hayley J. Hamlin
  I just wanted to thank you all again!! This was certainly a sickening feeling for many of us but the teamwork from all the BPers paid off and I thank you all for helping in this!!


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September 20, 2008

 

Susana Ms Heide
  My husband is very internet/computer savvy and was able to track the site owner's pesonal info. So he called him up in India and had a little chat with him :o) I would have never known how to find him. My hubby thanks you for all the hugs and says he was very surprised to actually see results. We were willing to take legal action and are so glad that wasn't necessary... I think as soon as this "Rahul" received that phone call followed by the many upset people posting "STOLEN/REMOVE" on so many images he got the message that we were serious, as he should have. A BIG THANK YOU to the many people here at BP who look out for one another! Hayley is right, we need to check in on this site regularly to make sure this doesn't happen again (and we told Rahul that we would) and also try to check other similar sites. Yes Elida, I think Getty and Anne Geddes would not be too happy about this...

Thanks again, guys!


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September 20, 2008

 

Mark Feldstein
  Seems to me, Susana, you'd be doing everyone a great service by posting the guy's full name, phone number and country code here. That way, if he does this in the future, people could contact him faster and directly to resolve any problems and miscommunications about their work. Why don't you have your husband do that for us?
Take it light ;>)
Mark


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September 20, 2008

 
- Elida Gutierrez

BetterPhoto Member
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Elida Gutierrez's Gallery
  The whole category where Getty and Anne Geddes pictures where was removed, but I found some others from BP here are the links maybe some can recognize the owners I just found one I know and a few that had the names.

Jenife Alder


http://www.fropki.com/great-photography-vt31367.html


Donna Pagakis


Roie Galitz


http://www.fropki.com/surfing-wow-vt29412.html


Donna Pagakis


http://www.fropki.com/surfing-wow-vt29412-10.html


Mac E. Adamus


http://www.fropki.com/scenes-wish-see-for-real-vt28780.html


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September 20, 2008

 

Susana Ms Heide
  Mark I posted the info yesterday in one of my above threads. But here it is again:

http://whois.domaintools.com/foolzparadize.org

I guess I must have sounded like I can't do anything for myself and am very reliant and dependent on my husband... lol Just didn't want to take any credit for his work. You also need to remember that I was just a little distraught... LOL...

Taking it light

Susana


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September 20, 2008

 

Wendy P
  Elida, it looks like most of those were taken down now. I did come across this link though and a lot of the pictures look really familiar although I have no idea who they belong to. I've seen the ladybug on here somewhere and it's been recolored. In fact, they all look like someone has recolored them.
http://www.fropki.com/colorful-nature-vt29950.html


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September 20, 2008

 

cheryl m. phillips
  Susana,
I had images stolen too! I was so upset this morning when I found out...
Please thank your hubby for us all!
You guys are all just so great! So supportive!
I hate that there is someone that has to ruin it for the rest!!
So sorry to all of you talented people that had work stolen.
Kudos to your man Susana for taking the steps to speak to this person directly!
Thank you!! Glad to see that some of the images have been taken off that stupid site!
~cheryl


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September 20, 2008

 
- Elida Gutierrez

BetterPhoto Member
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Elida Gutierrez's Gallery
  I'm so happy to see that some of my links don't work anymore.
I still have many more, if anyone wants to contact them and notify them about this, there's even paintings from famous People.


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September 20, 2008

 
- Elida Gutierrez

BetterPhoto Member
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Elida Gutierrez's Gallery
  Forgot to say that you can contact me and I can send you the links.


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September 20, 2008

 

Donna La Mattino Pagakis
  Thank your husband for me too Susana. I searched the site and I was notifying people about their images. I didn't see any of mine. I tried the link, thanks for that Elida, and it didn't work.

I'm hoping they are all removed. If not, please notify me. I will do the same for all of you.

Thanks again!!

Donna


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September 20, 2008

 
- Angie Sidles

BetterPhoto Member
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  I just emailed National Geographic with a link to several of their images. I won't be happy until this site is shut down! Uuggh!


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September 20, 2008

 
- Elida Gutierrez

BetterPhoto Member
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  Wendy, I have follow the link you posted and yes they look familiar, but it looks like the have htem from another place "Worth1000.com", I'll be checking that place too. THANKS!!!


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September 21, 2008

 
- Elida Gutierrez

BetterPhoto Member
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  I didn’t found any picture that I can recognize, but I found something more disturbing, "Worth1000.com" is a place where they take the pictures and modified to a new image.


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September 21, 2008

 

Wendy P
  Elida, I remember now where I have seen those pictures. It hit me last night. The ladybug and the leaf are pictures that are used as screensavers or wallpapers with MacIntosh systems. Macs are the only computers used throughout our school district and every computer I have worked on has had these particular shots as screensaver options. Don't know why it didn't dawn on me immediatly since I see them everyday. But...they have been retouched or recolored in some form or another.


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September 21, 2008

 

Hayley J. Hamlin
  I have another question pertaining to this. Someone brought up that taking down my gallery was kinda pointless since you can just search my name and tons of photos come up in the search. Anyone know why that is? Many of these photos that come up in the seach are DELETED photos from my gallery. Not just ones that are hidden in my gallery, but rather deleted from it entirely. I thought once we deleted a photo, it was gone everywhere. Anyone know anything about this? Thanks!!


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September 22, 2008

 

cheryl m. phillips
  YES! I have the same question as Hayley! What is up with that??
Why is that the case? Does anyone have an explaination? Can this be changed??
Thank you,
~cheryl


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September 22, 2008

 

Tressie Davis
  I'd like to know the answer to that too - if I delete a photo it's because I want it GONE. And one thing to add about the stolen images - in addition to copyright, these images were of CHILDREN. Is there any recourse for that? Seems like it's more than a copyright issue at that point.


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September 22, 2008

 

Hayley J. Hamlin
  Thanks Cheryl and Tressie!!
I eamiled BP, I'll let ya know if I get a response.


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September 22, 2008

 

cheryl m. phillips
  Thank you, Hayley!
It was something that I realized just recently and had the same question! It even states in BOLD colored print before you delete an image that it will be removed from EVERYWHERE! So, yeah taking down my gallery, pointless. Images that I thought were no longer viewable, totally searchable!


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September 22, 2008

 

Sharon Day
  Maybe you all should be flattered. I couldn't find any of mine :o). Just kidding of course. I feel for anyone getting their photos stolen, and I hope I don't find any of mine, but if I do I kinda look at it as there's not much they can do with them. Anyone know how big of an enlargement they can print from a BP sized photo? I've done my own at 4x6 but not sure how much larger they'd go. Still, it does make a person wary of entering the contest without a BIG copyright notice on their photos.


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September 22, 2008

 

Jennifer L. Alder
  I have received a handful of messages pertaining to this thread via email so am just going to reply here.
As far as deleting images- I have done it here at BP MANY times and they ALL are indeed removed from the site everywhere. The only time I could see an image NOT being removed would be if it received a winner or finalist award (in which case it would still be here, but as a thumb only). I would hope that if you sent BP support an email after attempting to delete an image which would did not delete, they would honor your request.
As with most photo sites on the web, BP's new gallery is right click protected. An issue develops where images can still be obtained by right clicking due to the search box option on the homepage. At other sites, if you type in a word such as "rose" or "Jennifer Alder" you will be directed to my personal gallery. This is not the case on BP. Visitors are directed to a base of current/past entries in a place that is NOT right click protected. To reduce the number of people stealing work by use of right clicking- BP should consider making a change to this area of their site. For a host of other reasons, I also feel that if a member choses NOT to display his or her work (by unchecking the box in their gallery) that it should not be made available in public searches unless it has obtained a winning badge.
I have emailed BP support with the suggestion about redirecting visitors directly to our galleries and will let you know if I hear anything.
It ESPECIALLY angers me that images which were taken were of CHILDREN. There were images taken in other categories as well... And YES! I feel that action should be taken against those who steal work. As individuals we all have the option of pursuing legal action. I support anyone who goes through with it. Personally, I am satisified enough with Susana's results and the fact that the most recent place to steal pictures was removed in full within hours of the situation. With other ways to steal work (screen shots, etc...) it is a risk we all take when posting pictures online. All we can really do is hope the sites we post on do ALL they can and when we notice our work being taken, take actions one step at a time.
Sharon- it is not about "how big" a person can print a stolen image. It is about the fact that we did not want to SELL these pictures (of kids) to the people who obtained them. It is illegal- and not flattering. Copyright and watermarks can be our friends.
Hope I covered everything.


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September 22, 2008

 

Nobu Nagase
  Hi Jennifer,
Right click is not protected in the new basic gallery. Try this using Firefox. You do get a message that says "No right click, please." but you still get the menu allowing you to "copy image". This is one of the reasons I am still in the classic style gallery.


Regardless, assuming right click is disabled, it's no fool proof to keep from your photos being stolen. There are other better ways to copy images than screen shots. I noticed many stolen photo on this fropki.com had been copied by using these other methods.

I thank Donna P. for letting me know that one of my photos was also posted there. And I also appreciated some of you who had the part in to have out stolen photos removed from Fropic site.


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September 22, 2008

 

Hayley J. Hamlin
  Jennifer, I did send BP an email asking about it, however have not heard anything back yet. I am not sure why deleted photos wouldn't show up in a search for one member and not another, but hey if yours aren't showing up, then you are lucky :) It is puzzling to me. If you search my name about 175 photos come up, MANY of them are deleted photos. Not hidden photos, but deleted. In fact, I was so puzzled by it I searched an old member I used to be friends with who no longer even has a gallery here and 40 of her old photos came up in the search as well as a gallery that is not even published anymore. So not sure what the deal is? I completely agree with you that if you search a name here, it should just direct you to that persons gallery. Then if that person chooses to have work shown or not shown, that is thier option. Of course I understnad if it has a badge (finalist or winner) it is going to show up in a search) but any photos hidden or deleted, should not be searchable in my opinion.
As for the stolen photos, yes it would be nice if something could be done about that site legally, but in all honesty, I just wanted my photos removed and I am happy as can be that they are now gone from that site.
Thanks for your thoughts, and let us know if BP gets back with you...still waiting here.


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September 23, 2008

 

Hayley J. Hamlin
  Here is the the reply I just got from BP, which is rediculous I think!!

"The option to not display images makes them not visible in your gallery, but they are still viewable on our site, and therefore on the internet. We would have to delete your entire gallery and membership for your images to not be viewable on the internet."


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September 23, 2008

 

cheryl m. phillips
  ??????????????????????????????????????!


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September 23, 2008

 

Tressie Davis
  And makes absolutely no sense, if you DELETED your images. It makes sense if you chose not to make them viewable in your gallery - but the BP site states that if you delete your images they are deleted from EVERYWHERE - if that is true then how could they still be there? WTF?


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September 23, 2008

 

Hayley J. Hamlin
  I need to cool off right now, before I say too much. But I have to say this response from them makes me so mad. First off, that's all the email was, just that. I never even got a response to the stolen photos email. And this is rediculous. I am the copyright owner of these photos, if I want a photo deleted then it should be. Why have a delete option for crying out loud!!
It clearly states on their site if you delete a photo it will be deleted everywhere, so what is up with this?


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September 23, 2008

 
- Elida Gutierrez

BetterPhoto Member
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Elida Gutierrez's Gallery
  Nobi, Not so long ago we where having the same discussion about some pictures stolen from the Deluxe Galleries and someone said that it was better if you stay in classic. If they want your picture they'll find a way to take it I know an very easy way to copy pictures and you don't need Firefox, I did it in that moment for the tread. Now hi/she just post small pictures I think 600 in the long side, and recently had a finalist. So I personally recommend to upload small and with watermark, if you pictures are good they will go all the way to finalists even winners. And in the case that someone stole it, it will be low quality.


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September 23, 2008

 
- Angie Sidles

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  WOW, that makes no sense whatsoever. I was thinking the same thing as Tressie and Hayley. Why would they state that they are deleted everywhere on the site, when they are not. If I delete an image, I want it gone.

Hayley, I never recived a response to the stolen photos email either. This is very frustrating, to say the least.


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September 23, 2008

 

cheryl m. phillips
  I don't even know that it's the issue of stealing images at this point, Elida. Of course people are going to still do it... unfortunately that is just the way it is. They even steal the images that are stamped with a big watermark so... The issue is the response that Hayley received... WHY HAVE A DELETE THIS IMAGE OPTION IF IN FACT YOU CAN'T ACTUALLY DELETE THAT IMAGE??? Why does that search option even have to exist?? I totally agree with Hayley about if you do a search by name, it should direct you to that person's gallery and they have the choice of the images that are available. Those are my thoughts...


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September 23, 2008

 

Tressie Davis
  I even understand the search on image by keyword option. What annoys me is that we can't truly DELETE our own images? At least that's the impression I'm getting?


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September 23, 2008

 
- Elida Gutierrez

BetterPhoto Member
Contact Elida Gutierrez
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  Cheryl, my comment was for Nobi.
I'm with you about the deleting pictures, you are the owner, if you delete it, it should desapear FOREVER.


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September 23, 2008

 

cheryl m. phillips
  Thank you Elida,
We are all definately on the same page with this issue! Would be really nice to see some changes made now.

:0)

~cheryl


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September 23, 2008

 
- Elida Gutierrez

BetterPhoto Member
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  I just delete the 6th picture from my name search results, and the picture still there but when you click on it says "Photo removed or not approved", but that photo it was never in contest.


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September 23, 2008

 

Jennifer L. Alder
  Hi again ladies :)
Yes, it is true- when I deleted images in the past they were gone from the site. Now, I am not sure if you are saying that THUMBS exist after trying to delete an image- because they do. If you click to enlarge them, you get the message Elida is talking about. The actual picture is gone, but it's thumb is still there. If you check your member favorites, for example, you will find that some of the images you have marked as favorites are no longer there. You will only find this out by actually trying to enlarge the thumb. If I added an image of yours in my favs, then you deleted it, the thumb would still remain in my favs. JUST the thumb. Have you deleted images that still show up enlarged?
Some sites will not let you delete images once they "judge" them due to the work they put in on their part or whatever. I do personally feel that we should be able to remove the image, if desired (especially if it says it WILL be deleted everywhere).
I also do not use firefox- so on my pc, both galleries are right click protected.
I think deleting images and stolen images are two different topics- and wish you well with both of them, Hayley. I know you have been really frustrated as of late and hope you are able to get the results you desire here at BP.
Enjoy the day all.


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September 23, 2008

 

Jennifer L. Alder
  I have found BP's support to be wonderful in the past. For those who would like to know my response from BP:
Hi Jennifer-

Thanks for writing with your concerns. The search results page only displays very small versions of the images that could never be used or printed. On those much smaller versions we don't have right click protection. However, if any photo in the search results is clicked on, it is enlarged to a page with right click protection. I hope that makes sense.

I understand it can be very frustrating to have images stolen. Sadly, there is no way to fully prevent it. Any one can use their prtscn key, paste a screenshot into Photoshop and then crop the image regardless of any technology that might remove right click copy, etc. We added watermarking capabilities to our uploaders because we feel that is the best protection. Even when someone steals an images via screenshot the watermark will still be on the image. The thief would have to crop the image and distort it's dimensions or do a lot of Photoshop work to then remove it. Most image thieves are looking for an easy path an will ignore watermarked images.

Thanks,


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September 23, 2008

 

Jennifer L. Alder
  Removing/Deleting Photos- Last thing and I am out the door. lol.
While we are probably all used to the comfort of deleting images at ease on our own personal websites, I have looked up info at the contest sites and that is not the case with them.
When you enter an image, you agree (by checking a box) that the site has permission to obtain a copy of your copyright image and display it on it's site. You authorize your permission to the site when you decide to enter it into the contest.
From the handful of sites I have checked (with the acception of Deviant Art because they do not use judges) you may only remove your contest images by removing your membership in full. Gallery uploads that were not entered into contests can be removed at any time.
And some of the sites do NOT allow any copyright or watermarks on the images at all.
Not sure if this info helps or not....


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September 23, 2008

 

David Van Camp
  RE: right click protection

This only protects against unsophisticated users. Using any browser, right-click protection is so easily circumvented that anyone with even the most minimal of understanding of browser options can override it. To understand why, it's really simple.. in order for right click protection to work, every user must allow scripts to run on on thier machine. Since such script execution might possibly be malicious, all browser allow the possiblity to turn this feature off. I always turn this feature off by default, since I don't trust web sites as a general option, allowing such scripts to run only on those sites I so choose.

So I can download any "right-click disabled" image at any time I so choose.

There is nothing BP can do about this, excepting making the entire site unusable for those with high security settings on there browsers (e.g. remove all careful users as well as any potential "thieves")

Simple fact... if you upload a pic, someone might download it. This is a simple fact of life. You cannot stop it, except by not uploading pics. Welcome to the internet!

What you can do, as I noted previously, is protect your copyright. Register your images. If your copyright is violated, take actions to protect your copyright. Including legal action if needed. If your images are registered, you are guarenteed that, at least, legal fees will be paid by any infractor. That alone is sufficient deterant to websites that might consider stealing your works!

But, one thing to consider, while you (and I) should take active steps to protect your copyright, there is little possiblity of damage or loss by some people downloading screen savers of any images found online. And, zero chance of stopping that.

If you can't live with that reality, don't post images online. There is nothing that can or will change that fact. You might as well just consider it a compliment, since you have no other real option... except not posting in the first place.

dvc


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September 23, 2008

 

cheryl m. phillips
  I would still like an answer to these questions myself...

Why have a "DELETE THIS IMAGE OPTION" if in fact you can't actually fully delete that image?

If you do a search by name, why can't it direct you to that person's gallery instead and then they would have the choice of the images that are available. With the exception of maybe the Finalist and Contest Winners.
Couldn't BP consider something like that instead of the current format??


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September 23, 2008

 

Sharon Day
  "Sharon- it is not about "how big" a person can print a stolen image. It is about the fact that we did not want to SELL these pictures (of kids) to the people who obtained them. It is illegal- and not flattering. Copyright and watermarks can be our friends.
Hope I covered everything."

Jennifer, I did say I was "joking". As Mark would say, "Take it light."

As for deleteing your photos from the site completely...I've always felt BP should retain a copy of the winning photos for the archives and it should be a rule you agree to upon entering. What's the point of browsing the past winners for inspiration if you can't see anything but the photo's thumbnail? This site is supposed to be about learning as much as anything. Some winners have detailed explanations of how a photo was captured. If you can not see the full size photo the discussion is gone as well. As an example, below is a link to a winner in the May 2004 contest. Completely gone for a closer look. I think it's ridiculous to expect BP to delete the finalists, winners POTDs and featured photos in their newsletters.

Morning Dew


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September 24, 2008

 

Jennifer L. Alder
  I always take it light :)
No worries!


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September 24, 2008

 
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