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Discussion
8 Years Ago
My images are being sold in China, the Ukraine, Russia, Spain, Portugal, Iran, Dubai, and Indonesia - and probably elsewhere. By doing Google image searches today I found my pics being used on religious sites, by school teachers, and on many commercial pages, all without payment or attribution. Oh yes, and being used by the Thai Embassy in the UK. lol
Isn't it nice to know our art is appreciated?
*sarcasm off*
Yes, yes, I know this is a common topic but I have never before found so many of my images stolen. I didn't count but I am sure there were more than 50 instances I found just today with a random spot-check.
Reply Order
8 Years Ago
That's sad John. I am not sure if it was Indonesia but if I remember correctly it was. I had an image that someone was using all over the place and the more I asked and insisted that it be removed, the more he added it to other places. Finally, after a year or so going round and round with this man, I looked up copyright laws in that country which were punishable by imprisonment. I quickly gave him an education in his countries laws and the next day, they were all removed.
I know that China is a waste of time but perhaps some of the other countries? Worth a try.
8 Years Ago
Ignorance may be bliss....But knowledge is netting me about 3K a month.
You have recourse for infringements in the USA and Europe.... Pixsy.com, imagerights.com, Lieboweitz Law Firm....
Bill Cannon started a great thread where you can learn about the different options. Most are super happy with Lieboweitz:
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=2664095
8 Years Ago
at least they like your work... now to charge them.
---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com
8 Years Ago
It honestly doesn't bother me anymore. Just another day at the office. I've learned that the emotion is in the creating and interacting with collectors. Everything else....is just business.
8 Years Ago
And David...Your work is plenty good to steal. This article will show you that even the worst ever can be infringed upon and the copyright holder can get paid!
http://www.contentfac.com/copyright-infringement-penalties-are-scary/
8 Years Ago
The it must be my marketing then, it's so ineffective even the thieves don't know I exist. lol I have done some reverse images searches and have yet to find any real infringements. The closest thing is some website that is a repository of hashtagged images, for some reason they like my tractors.
8 Years Ago
Two sites removed my images. I have 6 more DCMA filings out against tumblr and other sites, including Google. The lawyer move is a last resort for me and I honestly doubt I'll have to go there, but if I do, I'll go all the way.
I added Romania to the list of offending countries.
On the other hand, I won't lose sleep over it, either.
8 Years Ago
Definitely NOT worth losing sleep over! I sleep like a well fed baby every night. This is just part of business. I do DMCAs for some if I have the time.
Commercial bloggers CAN be sued. Personal bloggers...nope.
8 Years Ago
I should clarity...you can send DMCA to personal blog sites....I do that all of the time. It's still infringement, but you can't collect on them.
8 Years Ago
Please share the method you used to find these infringements.
There are a number of options for searching and I am curious which you used.
8 Years Ago
Nancy, I use google image search. Tin-eye is not very good at all. Marty, the easiest way is to open FAA in google. Then go to your page, do not click and enlarge your image, must be the small image. Right click on each picture and at the bottom you will see search google for this image. That is all you do and it will bring up anywhere your image is on the web.
8 Years Ago
i just found one of mine in an excruciatingly bad game app that has been online since july on google play. i'll be sending the makers an invoice for a rights managed licensing fee. not that i am expecting anything from that but should at least shake them up a bit. next step will to have google take the game down.
8 Years Ago
My experience is gamers don't respond. I just use DMCA. But let us know if your results are different.
8 Years Ago
Not yet, I just filed the infringement report last week. I'll let you know what happens!
8 Years Ago
My DCMA requests all resulted in images removed. A man selling one of my images on eBay offered to pay me his profit from sales (very small amount) and immediately removed the image. He thought (or said so) that it was a public domain image because he found it on tumblr. I told him payment wasn't necessary because he replied so fast and removed the image. Kindness needs rewards.
So, other than the foreign sites, all went amazingly well.
I guess the lesson is, if you want a stolen image removed, just ask. The problem, of course, is finding it in the first place. ... and the foreign sites, too.
8 Years Ago
John, have to tackled China and Russia yet?
@Sharon Cummings, do you send a letter, fax or email with an invoice? Sorry for asking such a naive question.
I've just added a new topic about a similar problem before I found this one. The thing is, I'm located in Germany so I can't use the DCMA service. My lawyer is tackling a company in Switzerland but has no hope of recovering any money from the Chinese and Russian companies.
8 Years Ago
Either abstract paintings aren't in much demand or my work is not worth stealing. Somehow I have mixed feelings about not finding any of my images being used.
8 Years Ago
Phyllis Beiser said: ". . . the easiest way [to find your images on the web] is to open FAA in google. Then go to your page, do not click and enlarge your image, must be the small image. Right click on each picture and at the bottom you will see search google for this image. That is all you do and it will bring up anywhere your image is on the web."
This did not work for me. I did not see "search google" or anything like it in my list of options after I right clicked. Can anyone help? (I use Firefox - maybe I should try Chrome??)
ETA Nope, nothing there, either. But I did see an option to "save to Google screensavers" What's that about?
8 Years Ago
You can use them as screen savers apparently. However the resolutions is not very good quality.
8 Years Ago
I highly recommend anyone that has photos on the internet to get the extension for Chrome or Firefox. . I don't think it is usually active when you install Chrome. You have to get the add on.
For Chrome
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/search-by-image-by-google/dajedkncpodkggklbegccjpmnglmnflm?hl=en
For Firefox
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/search-by-image-by-google/
I use it to see how my licensed images are being used. Outside of the usual sites that have a gazillion images, I don't find many infringements.
8 Years Ago
Phyllis, thanks for the tip about the Google search.
I spent a couple of hours today doing some searching the way you said, and as a result made myself a nice little bonus.
8 Years Ago
I'm like Edward, afraid to look. I've looked at a few with nothing turning up. However, I occasionally keep track of the other thread "Fighting The Image Thieves" and have often wondered if I should just contact one of those companies who monitor the images, and go after thieves for a percentage of what they collect. Sounds like that's where some here make money from.