I am very hurt and disappointed to find out that one of my Gather connections has copied and downloaded one of my photos and used it to make a calendar for sale on Zazzle.com. This person is making (or attempting to make) money off of my work!
The strangest thing of all is that this same person actually commented on one of my photos Sunday evening that the coloring was good in my photo and that a calendar would look amazing. That I "must join zazzle." Then they invited me to check out their calendar on zazzle.com, giving me their zazzle account name to look it up!!!!! So out of curiousity, and because someone else just recently mentioned that I should make a calendar with my photos and recommended zazzle, I thought I'd check it out. I am so glad I did!!!!!!!!!
After selecting one of this person's calendars to look at, guess what I found... one of MY own photos for the month of March!!! I recognized it from the small thumbnail before even using the tool to magnify it to see more detail. I immediately searched for the photo on my gather page and then pulled up the same photo saved on my computer. Yep... the exact one (minus my ©Sue's Creation 2007)!!!!! One of the reasons I could identify it so well, is that it contained a particular tree across the street from my house that I often capture in my sunset and cloud formation photos. Also, it still contained my signature framing that I photoshop on to most all my photos I publish to Gather!
As a result of this violation... I have stayed up all night removing nearly ALL of my eight months of photos on Gather. At the present time, I have left the photo that was stolen as proof that it is mine, and to allow Gather to see the evidence. I've also left the photo up that contains the comment from this connection that I mentioned earlier.
Now I'm not sure what to do??? How can I safely publish photos on Gather without the possibility of this happening again? And how many other people by this time may have done the same thing with my photos??? This is such a disappointing and upsetting thing for me as I have so enjoyed sharing my photos and love for my birds with my friends on Gather.
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Comments: 286 ( 1 removed by Sue M. )
I can't believe someone would be so stupid and bold as to invite you to look at what they stole. Duh!
I passed your email on to all of my contacts.
Yes, it was unbelieveable that this person actually invited me to see what they stole from me!!! That's the problem with being deceitful... you forget what and who you've violated...
Thanks for your support in getting the word out!!
Yes, it would be the honest thing to do to pay me the proceeds.
take screen shots of that colander so you have the proof make sure their name shows also
Sue, can't you sue them for their infringement on copywrited material.
Gather will have little recourse but to ban this person from the site if you can indisputably prove your allegations. Gather has the responsibility to protect its users and our content.
I will be happy to assist you in this matter further if you need a little help.
I'd like to see if they have stolen any of my pictures.
Are you saying the link in my email isn't clickable??
I'd really like to know what happens with the theft of your photo. The person should not only be kicked off Gather and zazzle, but prosecuted. Which, yeah, would be a hassle but maybe make you feel better if you caused them some grief! Good luck
BTW As Lydia posted, a watermark should be used on your photos, and you can make an "action" in Photoshop, so that it's all done with one click. Include saving the photo at a low size and resolution in the action.
Good Luck,
Alan
I contacted all of the offending web sites and they were all removed except one. Apparently, they won't even acknowledge an email or mail.
Here is what I would do, contact Zazzle according to their terms of service agreement:
Zazzle respects the intellectual property rights of others. We ask our users to do the same. Zazzle may terminate the accounts of users who appear to infringe the copyright or other intellectual property rights of others.
If you believe that your Content has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright and/or trademark infringement, please notify Zazzle's Copyright Agent, and provide the following information ("Notice"):
a) an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright/trademark interest;
b) a description of the copyrighted work and/or trademark claimed to have been infringed;
c) a description of where the claimed infringing Content is located on our Site;
d) your address, telephone number, and email address
e) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright/trademark owner, its agent, or the law;
f) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your Notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright/trademark interest involved.
Zazzle's Copyright Agent can be reached at: content_agent@zazzle.com or by telephone at: 800-980-9890.
This website has some information on what your rights are:
http://www.eaglestock.com/crights.htm
And be sure to check out the US Copyright page too.
I don't blame you for being angry, Sue. I hope you have alerted Gather and Zazzle to the theft. Follow up on it; this is not only unethical it is ILLEGAL and this person had NO right... furthermore, this person had to have known it was illegal to steal your work and sell it because Gather makes this clear in a number of places on its website.
Personally, I would rather see you watermark your photos and continue to share them than to pull them down. Sure; I'd rather see the "unmarked" photo but if I have to look through a watermark to see good work, then I do. I understand the reason for it and am willing to put up with the inconvenience in order to be able to see the work.
I hope you have contacted Support @ gather. They will guide you on what to do and probably remove the thief and ban him/her forever. Keep us posted.
ABSOLUTELY AGREED! Absolutely!
For theft off a personal website, it is possible to put a "no right click" code in place that prevents a righ-click "save as." I have that on my personal websites. I woke up one morning to a very nasty and irate message from a ninth-grader telling me she was going to get an F on a report and it was MY fault because I had right-click-protected my photos and she needed them for her report! Heh... I didn't bother to respond.
I've thought about watermarking, but it really does ruin the image IMO. I'd rather seek legal action than have to post my photos with watermarks. Gather can always make images non-right clickable. There IS a coding method for this. I've seen it used on other websites.
I do mind if my personal photos are being used as photos in a commercial venture or if someone else is taking credit for my photo being their own work.
You take such wonderful pictures, it is a shame this had to happen to you. I hope it can all be resolved in a good way, and that you can continue to share your work without worry. Take care, and good luck.
I wish you the best in working this out.
I hope each and every Gatherite that willfully takes things off the internet and posts them as their own sees this and I hope you sue, Sue.
Keep us posted.
I have many images saved from my people, but I would never use them to profit or prosper, I do it just in case someone looses there images, I can always be of that kind of help...
I hope this will be resolved by Gather and wherever they are trying to sell it...
I'm flattered,
but.....in your case you're talking about your original "stuff",....
some people...........
10 4 u
I hope Gather and Zazzle take fast action to stop this.
Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~
Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~
am surprised to read that so many are so shocked since there have been countless articles lately and in recent past posted about others stealing photos all over Gather....
Last week i deleted all of my photo work here and only recently began again with a watermarked photo.....wait until you come across one of your photos entered into a cash contest!.....
if you post online it is a given that those without integrity will steal your work...there is proof of that right here at Gather.....as you now know firsthand.....
cheers,gayle
If you want more information, just email me.
Hmmm... Maybe I should do a Google image search and see if any of mine are floating around in places I didn't put them.
Most of all, though, please don't let this discourage you from posting your shots here. I'd miss them way too much!
I hope you'll update us on this, about whether or not zazzle responds.
I just wonder how many times she's gotten away with this in the past? Are all of those photos actually her's? Sad, very sad. I'd like to know who this is.
You are lucky you found this. How in the world would we ever know someone has done this to us? Scary, too. I'm thinking about removing all our family pictures from here for sure. Thanks for putting this out there. Keep us posted on what happens. I would certainly like to know how Gather handles this as well as Zazzle and I'm sure others would, too.
Thank you.
So is this blatant criminal activity becoming or has been regular practice ?
Where are the Gather Administrators on this situation?
Incidences of any theft of original photography or writing or false claims of proprietorship corrupts the atmosphere and environment on Gather and will cause more people to join the exodus.
If anyone in Administration gives the least little damn they should intercede on your behalf and those individuals who have been or will be maligned in similar fashion.
Golly, this is just frightening.
I have often wondered about this, it is kind of a worst fear of posting on gather.
I hope you get resolution to your satisfaction quickly!!
much support by the outpour of comments.
You should seek professional council and sue this person for copyright infringement.
I'd given up putting a copyright by me on my pictures because someone
I respect said it doesn't mean anything if you haven't paid the government
for real copyright.
I'm going to keep checking and see what is happening with this issue for you.
Hello? HEELLOOOO!?!? Gather? Anyone home?
This is a serious misuse of your site, poses a threat to all of your original content users and has possibly expensive legal ramifications. One might think you guys would like to hit the ground running on this one.
Action is required and information sent out to all Gather members to ensure that steps have been taken, to inform what those steps are and to warn anyone else looking to plagiarize that they will be banned from the site.
Get on it and get on it now!