YAPT (Yet Another Photo Thief) - DPChallenge Forums

04/30/2009 11:51:34 AM · #1

First of all, I have to say how excited I am that someone finally stole one of my photos. It's my first time and I'm feeling that unsettling mixture of pride and anger. :-)

But seriously, there is a woman on the UK eBay site who is selling prints of a bunch of stolen images, so you might want to check to see if you recognize any of them. You can find them here:

//myworld.ebay.co.uk/mia_scarletts/

I asked her to remove my image and she did along with this note: "I have no intention of selling potential copyright pictures - I've removed the item you have told me about - If there are any others that you can prove to be yours, I'll happily remove them - Kind regards -" Of course, I reported her to eBay and told her that she needs to remove every picture that she didn't take, rather than waiting for the true owners to contact her.

PhotoDave

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II

04/30/2009 12:16:26 PM · #2

Wow 99% of the photos on there are serious copyright violations...

Teafran

Olympus E-520

Vivitar MF Zoom 19-35mm f/3.5-4.5 Series 1 for Olympus

04/30/2009 12:17:59 PM · #3

Originally posted by PhilipDyer:

First of all, I have to say how excited I am that someone finally stole one of my photos. It's my first time and I'm feeling that unsettling mixture of pride and anger. :-)

//myworld.ebay.co.uk/mia_scarletts/

Almost all the those images she is selling are copyrighted and several are stolen directly from some commercial sites - in particular F1.

If somebody finds out, she's in a heap of brown because the UK has some very strict copyright laws.

Later,

Tom

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

04/30/2009 12:24:34 PM · #4

I found another one of my pictures there today (again, I'm feeling that mixture of chuffed and irked) and reported her again to eBay, telling them that they really need to shut her down immediately. I also told her that all of the images that she's selling are copyrighted and that she is going to be in a great deal of trouble if she doesn't stop it. We'll see what happens.

vxpra

Pentax K100D

04/30/2009 12:27:13 PM · #5

Do you know where she got your image?

amathiasphoto

Nikon D300

Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO IF for Nikon

04/30/2009 12:33:07 PM · #6

I dont know what irks me more, stupid ignorant people who dont actually understand these laws, or the people who know the laws and still break them. Arrgh, now Im starting my day in an angry mood!

glad2badad

DJI Mavic Air 2

Sears 55mm f/1.4 M42

04/30/2009 12:52:01 PM · #7

Made url a link: //myworld.ebay.co.uk/mia_scarletts

I'm pretty sure you can sell prints of photos you've taken personally, but how does one go about selling things like the Beatles prints I saw available from this seller? Doesn't that require licensing rights? On more current people (example Brad Pitt) - if I happened to capture a photo of him walking downtown, could I legally sell prints of it?

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

04/30/2009 01:01:00 PM · #8

Originally posted by glad2badad:

On more current people (example Brad Pitt) - if I happened to capture a photo of him walking downtown, could I legally sell prints of it?

If you take the photo from a public place you can sell prints of celebrities, and you can sell the image for editorial (not commercial stock) use without a release.

vxpra

Pentax K100D

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

04/30/2009 01:04:10 PM · #9

As far as I know it would be okay to sell an image you captured. About five or six years ago I sold a 5x7 print of

through ebay. Two weeks later I got a rather mean and nasty email from the buyers complaining that they couldn't get a "clean scan" of the image and that I should refund their money since they wouldn't be able to create the poster prints that they planned on selling in their poster shop. I had a lawyer friend send them a letter explaining copyright and how buying a print did not entitle them to scan and sell poster prints of the image.

I think this woman needs the same letter.

PapaBob

04/30/2009 01:05:40 PM · #10

I love the way they add a water mark to make sure you can not steal the stolen art work...

glad2badad

DJI Mavic Air 2

Sears 55mm f/1.4 M42

04/30/2009 01:50:29 PM · #11

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by glad2badad:
On more current people (example Brad Pitt) - if I happened to capture a photo of him walking downtown, could I legally sell prints of it?

If you take the photo from a public place you can sell prints of celebrities, and you can sell the image for editorial (not commercial stock) use without a release.

Thanks. Thought it worked that way...although it seems questionable if I turnaround and sell mass quantities of that print, say in poster form, thru a commercial vehicle.

All just random speculation (I have too much time on my hands while waiting for the HDD duplicator to finish a current batch). :-D

04/30/2009 02:40:47 PM · #12

Thanks for making that link active - whoops!

I just got a reply from the woman saying that she bought a disk with all of those images on them and that she thought that it was okay to resell them. But then she said that she would remove my pictures from her store, but none of the others. I told her that she she's risking a huge fine and actual jail time and that she really should reconsider her current career path. Here's hoping that both she and eBay will do the right thing.

PhotoDave

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II

04/30/2009 03:01:19 PM · #13

Originally posted by PhilipDyer:

...woman saying that she bought a disk with all of those images on them and that she thought that it was okay to resell them...

OMG that has to be the lamest excuse Ive heard yet... I hope someone NAILS her for copyright violations

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

04/30/2009 03:31:33 PM · #14

Originally posted by PhilipDyer:

Thanks for making that link active - whoops!

I just got a reply from the woman saying that she bought a disk with all of those images on them and that she thought that it was okay to resell them.

So ... try to find out who's selling disks full of stolen images! Mention to her that the authorities may cut her some slack if she cooperates in nailing the real copyright violator here ...