Stolen pictures on other photo sites

[mst145]

I just filed a copyright violation with Yahoo, the owner of the Flickr website.

Here's the link if anyone else wants to file a complaint:
http://info.yahoo.com/copyright/details.html

M.T.

[Railfanvalpo]

I found one of mine on this one

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7778651@N06

At least 5 RP.NET photographers including me have had their picture stolen on this account.

[transit383]

Wow, someone has way too much time on their hands to go through all the photos on RP, save them, chop off the banner, and then re-upload them to another site. All the variations of that user (trains_01, trains_02, etc...) all have 200 photos, so just looking to see what was stolen is like looking for Waldo.

I noticed these from my collection on his site:

PhotoID: 200402 Photograph © Gerald Oliveto

PhotoID: 179151 Photograph © Gerald Oliveto

PhotoID: 179311 Photograph © Gerald Oliveto

PhotoID: 193633 Photograph © Gerald Oliveto

PhotoID: 188639 Photograph © Gerald Oliveto

Notice this photo still has half of an RP banner still on it:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34974381@N00/1073844241/

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by Jon Wisnieski

I cannot believe someone would do this. I also noticed that the post names were the same (trains_04,trains_06, etc.) Could it possibly be the same person posting them under different names?

Of COURSE it is. There shouldn't be ANY doubt about that. All the photos were uploaded on Aug 11, 07, and it appears he hit a 200 image limit, so kept creating new accounts.

The fact that he cropped off the RP copyright bar proves he did this with malice, and knows damn well what he did was wrong.

Also, as the photos are displayed now, they are "trains-XX's photos." Anyone who looks at his gallery and doesn't know better will automatically assume that those are HIS photos.

I saw one of mine on there and left a message to have it removed. I really don't understand the apologists in this thread who can't understand that he is displaying these images as HIS. That is just wrong.

[Railfanvalpo]

Jim, I think you have had an image stolen also. I'm trying to find the photo right now.

[socalrailfan]

I don't think any of these are considered stolen. It's not like it took them off your computer, the only place they existed. These were all available to anyone on the internet. The bottom line, if this ticks you off don't post anything on the internet you wouldn't want to be spread around or used by anyone. Like I said, if this is for profit then there's a problem, but right now he's just sharing, like a junior rp.net. Look up internet copyright protection.

[WKUrailfan]

I can't believe the vile bigotry of this person. HOW DARE THEY! This coward deserves to be brought to justice and punished with the iron fist of the law! Off with his head! The nerve of this person to do such a thing, he deserves nothing less than capital punishment for his crimes! To death with him!

[mikekmac]

Originally Posted by socalrailfan

The problem is that once something is posted on the internet it is fair game unless used for profit. Now if someone uses an image of yours to promote their website and it's used in a way that they make money from having your image on the site then it's illegal.

There's lots of gray areas here folks and I think some are jumping the gun a bit without having all the details or even trying to contact the Flckr owner.

This is not a correct interpretation of copyright law. Posting something to the Internet does not place it in the public domain, or establish a creative commons license, or in any other way make it "fair game" from a legal standpoint.

Nor is it true that only commercial infringement is against the law. If you created it, you own it, you have the exclusive right to control the use of it, and only very specific affirmative acts on your part can change that.

Mind you, anyone who's been on the Net for any amount of time knows that the dominant meme is that copyright is a Evil Conspiracy and anything you can gain access to and save to your hard drive is "fair game." What started out as a gift culture ("I wrote this cool program, here it is if you want to use it") has mutated into a theft culture. To a lot of people, "photo sharing" on a site like Flickr means sharing their collection, not their creations.

You're right that as a practical matter, once something has been posted to USENET or the Web or an FTP server it's impossible to exercise the control that the law grants each of us. Anything that can be displayed on your monitor can be captured.

But I don't think that means we throw up our hands and surrender. Yahoo takes NOI complaints seriously (though I understand the backlog is a couple of weeks or more), and Flickr will delete not just a photo but an entire account where there is systematic abuse. The Flickr terms of service make very clear that posting other people's photos is not allowed. I don't think it's an overreaction to make sure trains_09 gets forcefully reminded of that.

-Mike
http://www.flickr.com/photos/railhead799/

[Ween]

Dave,

You are wrong. Flat-out wrong. See here:
http://www.railpictures.net/usage/

I know JP.net has a photo useage contract they sent out recently (so did airliners.net), but basically you're authorizing RP to display your work. I am not authorizing this clown or Flickr (who is earning money via advertisements) to use my photos.

It would be like me going to your website, saving the images there, and then displaying them on my webpage without your consent. It's not right. It's stealing and it's wrong.

[mikekmac]

Originally Posted by socalrailfan

Just different account probably. Not sure how many photos or albums Flckr lets you have.

Free accounts are limited to 200 photos displayed (the 201st image uploaded hides but does not replace the 1st image uploaded). Free acounts are limited to two albums ("sets").

Pro (paid) accounts have no limits. I've seen photostreams with tens of thousands of images and hundreds of sets.

-Mike

[Warren]

Wow at least two of mine there too

[socalrailfan]

The problem is, there isn't much you can do about this except get his account closed down. Then he starts another one and so on. For every one person you find that has taken a photo from here there's probably 100's you don't know about. It's a battle you won't win and frankly not worth it

In the past when I ran a rock band website I was involved, via a band members wife, in an issue regarding some photos. She threatened me with legal action. These were photos I obtained off the net. I held my ground and nothing ever happened. Eventually I took them down out of respect, not from being threatened though. And that wasn't the only time I had to deal with copyright problems on my side or another persons. It seemed in all ocassions that respect not legal threat solved every situation.

I think someone should have contacted this person first. Ask him "Hey, why did you take the photos? What's your intentions? etc. Everyone likes to jump the gun. For me it's kind of honoring to have them displayed elsewhere, BUT, the problem I have is give credit where credit is due. See I expect if I post something on the net to be seen, viewed, available for anyone to use. Disclaimers, user agreements, etc don't mean squat to people on the net.

As the old saying goes, ok probably not, but some battles are worth fighting and some aren't. I'll leave it at that. But don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm supporting this guy more than my brothers here, I'll stand by the group as need be. I'm guy playing reality and devils advocate a bit.

[JBCagle7073]

It's a shame that you can't find his contact info on there or we could all send him emails. There is an option to send him a message on flickr.

[JRMDC]

No shots there. Confirmed, I am a total photography failure!

[Ween]

Hey Dave...people are never going to stop speeding on the roads. Should the cops stop pulling people over since they'll never be able to catch them all?

I see what you're saying, but it's flawed thinking...

[JBCagle7073]

Every person and attempt at violating copyright policy may not be caught, but every one that is might learn a lesson and spread the word that it's not worth it. If your pictures are on there and you don't complain then you are saying it's ok with you.

[Warren]

Found three of mine now. I love the way it says "Copyright all rights reserved" under my photos.

[mst145]

Here's my stolen photo:

PhotoID: 182513 Photograph © Mike Thomas

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3497438...16303/sizes/o/

M.T.

[sullivan1985]

There is more then just one page. There are 6 pages total. Each filled upto 200 photos.

Follow this link to my journal for links to all 6 pages.

http://sullivan1985.deviantart.com/journal/16965149/

I had 6 photos stolen.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34974381@N00/1074795160/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34974381@N00/1073817551/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34974381@N00/1073816801/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34974381@N00/1073887061/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8401316@N06/1081004834/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7871795@N03/1080078241/

[socalrailfan]

Originally Posted by Ween

I see what you're saying, but it's flawed thinking...

No, it's just there's more important things in life to worry about. I've been doing the internet thing for a long time now and if I want to keep it fun I have to not worry about things too much. People have asked me to do certain things and I've said no, because then it becomes work and I don't want a 2nd job. This is supposed to be fun, my stress release!

[Northern Limits]

Originally Posted by JRMDC

No shots there. Confirmed, I am a total photography failure!

Me either I can't understand why, I mean CN is so popular

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by socalrailfan

No, it's just there's more important things in life to worry about

Really? Name a few.

Why do we even bother with THIS site if there are more important things in life to worry about than sharing our photos?

[Ween]

This is supposed to be fun, my stress release!

As is any hobby, like say softball. If the other team is stealing something from my team, I'm not going to sit idly by with the thought, "Oh well, this is supposed to be fun. And I can't stop them anyway." B.S. Wrong is wrong, whether it's a hobby or not...

[SDavey]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned but I use Flickr to show my photos, railroad and other various shots to family and friends. The limit for a free account is 200 photos on one email account at which time they require you to a pay a fee per month, or its 24.95 for a year (or around there). I am setting my photos to private on there because of this and wont bother upgrading now either.

I only found one of mine on there so far.

[Ween]

I am setting my photos to private on there because of this and wont bother upgrading now either.

I'm not for or against Flickr, but you do realize it wasn't Flickr that stole these photos but rather it was an individual (I'm guessing from Europe based on most of the photos he's stolen) that did so?

If you have an account here or rrpicturearchives, would you stop contributing to those sites if some individual was posting illegal photos? Would you convict the site or the person who posted the illegal shots. I'm just having a hard time following your logic.

And you might want to check this whole thread as there's been a lot of names posted already (Jim Thias' three times now) just like other people posted about the 200 photo upload limit to Flickr. Just trying to kill the redundancy...