Just when I think the world cannot get any more Jetson's -- it happens. Google searching now by images! Open Google for a search -- click on "image" at the top of the screen and then look for the camera icon in the search bar. Click it and you will get an option of uploading a photo or using a URL to search.
When I heard about this the other day -- I had to try it. Guess what, I found a couple of my images being used without permission or payment. Interesting...
It always amazes me when I find someone who holds himself out there as an artist stealing the work of an artist. How would he like it if I used his music without credit being given, permission, or payment? The photo I am talking about here was of particular concern to me since it was taken with the agreement that it would never be used in a commercial way. This musician lifted it from Flickr and plopped it on his website -- who knows how long it had been there.
I always put low resolution images on the internet -- and this was good for that photo because it was so small on that webpage -- it could not be any larger and I know he simply right clicked on the photo and then pasted it. It makes me wonder if he has this photo on his computer and uses it in any other way?
Of course I thought for a couple days of what to do. I consulted legal advice and then simply sent an email requesting that the photo be removed. You would think I would at least get an apology -- but nope -- nothing -- not a peep. I did check the website this morning and noticed that the photo is gone. My feeling of being violated remains.
An artist who does not respect the intellectual property of another is pretty low on my list. I run into it often with the trademark. I had not had much of a problem with images being lifted -- but now thanks to Google I found this site. This guy seems to live in an area of the country that I used to live in -- and I hope at some time someone would ask me if I have ever heard of him. And yes, I saved a screen shot of that webpage. Since he removed the image -- I am not going to out him by posting the website -- but I will keep an eye on him and occasionally Google search my images.
2 comments:
This is a very interesting post. I did exactly what you said and one of my pictures from the Shoulderbone Plantation is on 4 different sites, 3 commercials and one blog. There could be more but that was the first one I tried. What type of email did you send the person who had used your picture? I am not pleased that people use my photographs without asking my permission.
Hello! Glad it worked for you and sorry you now have to deal with a bit of a mess. My email to this person was short and to the point. I could not ask for payment since the photo he lifted was one that I had an agreement with the facility that I would never sell photos taken there. So I point blank said you are using my photograph without my permission and it must be removed immediately. Of course he did not respond -- but 24 hours later the photo was gone from his site.
Good Luck!
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