Image theft on cache pages

[+Cryptik Souls Crew]

I have recently stumbled across a cache listing where the author has stolen some of my images and included them in their cache page. One of them they have linked to directly on my site (so they may be in for a surprise next time they look at their page!) but one they have saved and uploaded so I have no control over it.

 

Anything I can do about this?

[+badger]

Yes, issue them an invoice for the usage rights of the images, quote off www.alamy.com for a guide to prices, then threaten with legal action if they refuse to pay...

 

Or you could ask them politely to remove the images and ask for permission first.

[Red Squadron]

You can have a look at this web page. Its probably has all the answers you need. Just click on the following link.

 

http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009...ticle.asp?ID=41

Edited September 9, 2006 by Red Squadron

[+Cryptik Souls Crew]

You can have a look at this web page. Its probably has all the answers you need. Just click on the following link.

 

http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009...ticle.asp?ID=41

 

Thanks for the link, but its no good for cache pages as all javascript gets stripped out.

 

On closer inspection I noticed the culprit has also airbrushed one of the images, not only do I not get credit, they also don't want my fingers in the picture! Spot the difference anyone?

 

 

[+rutson]

Not even made a good job of it!

[+SierraFive]

Of course the image theif didn't want your fingers in it because you could I.D. your picture from your finger prints silly

[+Munkeh]

Of course the image theif didn't want your fingers in it because you could I.D. your picture from your finger prints silly

 

they seem to have left his prints behind

[+Kabuthunk]

That is quite possibly the worst quality "photoshop", if you can call it that, that I've seen in years. They must have used mspaint to do that or something.

 

In either case... I'd send 'em an email first asking them not to use your photographs without permission. If they don't respond for say... a week, then you go with Badger's idea.

[+wizard1974uk]

What have you replaced the picture with?

[+Cryptik Souls Crew]

What have you replaced the picture with?

 

Pornography I'm kidding (I was advised against it by my more sensible other half)

 

See for yourself on their cache page

 

If you look at the log by the FTF you will see they dropped in and out a travel bug, I picked up this bug about 2 years back, its only because the bug is on my watchlist that I even visited the cache page in the first place - Travel bug detective work at its best :-)

[+Simply Paul]

I'd have gone with the pornography. But that's just me. I think your note on the page says it all. I hope you get an apology rather than abuse. Good luck with getting it sorted out.

[+lordelph]

Nice work, but you can't really appreciate the theft unless you scroll to the bottom. I'd have made use of the left hand 16 pixels of the background image to write something vertically that would scream for attention. "I blow goats" or something.

 

(As this is a family friendly forum I should point out goat blowing is a bit like cow tipping but it requires a lot more skill and a really, really deep breath. Few succeed. No really.)

[+currykev]

And....I have a friend living in Tasmania...(she's a muggle)but....It'd be a shame for the cache to go MIA

[+Cryptik Souls Crew]

Nice work, but you can't really appreciate the theft unless you scroll to the bottom. I'd have made use of the left hand 16 pixels of the background image to write something vertically that would scream for attention. "I blow goats" or something.

 

Sounds like a competition idea for me, so step right up all you budding artists! Best design gets featured on an Aussie cache page for an undetermined length of time...

[+Kabuthunk]

Blast me being at work! If it's still up by tonight when I get home, I'll take a swing at this one

Edited September 9, 2006 by Kabuthunk

[+Simply Paul]

 

My effort

[+kewfriend]

Forgive me being dumb, and I love you dearly Cryptik, but am I missing a trick or two - is this more a case of moles, their hills and the mountains they have to climb?

[+wizard1974uk]

Forgive me being dumb, and I love you dearly Cryptik, but am I missing a trick or two - is this more a case of moles, their hills and the mountains they have to climb?

 

Not really Cryptik originally took the picture so he holds the copyright so he is well within his rights to say something.

[+badger]

Forgive me being dumb, and I love you dearly Cryptik, but am I missing a trick or two - is this more a case of moles, their hills and the mountains they have to climb?

 

No mole hills here... Image theft is an extremely serious subject at all levels of the photography industry! And should not be dismissed at any level.

[+Cryptik Souls Crew]

Forgive me being dumb, and I love you dearly Cryptik, but am I missing a trick or two - is this more a case of moles, their hills and the mountains they have to climb?

 

I saw it pertaining more to manners, and their exorbitant cost

 

P.S. Love you too Kew xx

[+Hi-Tek]

Nice work, but you can't really appreciate the theft unless you scroll to the bottom. <snip>

Having scrolled to the bottom I must say an excellent response.

[+Hi-Tek]

Forgive me being dumb, and I love you dearly Cryptik, but am I missing a trick or two - is this more a case of moles, their hills and the mountains they have to climb?

Not when Cryptik's bandwidth is being used - they may have a monthly limit

[+Hi-Tek]

Nice work, but you can't really appreciate the theft unless you scroll to the bottom. I'd have made use of the left hand 16 pixels of the background image to write something vertically that would scream for attention. "I blow goats" or something.

 

Sounds like a competition idea for me, so step right up all you budding artists! Best design gets featured on an Aussie cache page for an undetermined length of time...

My offering:

Edited September 10, 2006 by Hi-Tek

[+The Bolas Heathens]

We get this issue quite a bit in my day job as I run quite a few websites for a living.

 

We find a polite but firm email usually does the trick. They will come back with all manner of excuses (usually something along the lines of "oh sorry, it was a friend of ours who did the page for us"). We've heard all the excuses under the sun and frankly do not believe any of them. We then point out of the error of their ways politely and the potential consequences if it is not removed immediately. 99% of people then fix the problem very quickly.

 

A small minority do not respond to a polite request - at this time it's a good thing to contact their site hosting company warning them of the copyright infringement and that you will hold the hosting company jointly liable for the deliberate theft. They will usually act pretty quickly and have been known to close people's accounts down.

 

In an even smaller minority of cases we have had to get the images and text removed by legal means - you'd be surprised how quick people respond to a solicitors letter

 

At the end of the day it's theft, plain and simple and no more acceptable than someone walking into your home and helping themselves to what they like. Just because it's on the net does not mean it's free to take and use as you wish.

 

p.s. can you tell this is one of my pet hates

[+PopUpPirate]

.htaccess is probably the easiest way

 

http://altlab.com/htaccess_tutorial.html

[+rutson]

Yep, that'd certainly stop anyone hotlinking from geocaching.com. Anyone, including yourself

[+qichina]

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

[+The Bolas Heathens]

So it's said but I don't think so in this case - something has been deliberately stolen from you - it's not imitation, it's theft.

 

I thought about this phrase the first time I had some of my online work stolen - the second time it was just plain annoying.

 

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

Edited September 10, 2006 by The Bolas Heathens

[+Jackplug]

Just A small snap in the big pitcure

[+qichina]

Yeah I know - if you've worked hard and it's a potential source of income, it's theft. But a snapshot of a box? Puleeease... Where's the street cred in that?

 

 

So it's said but I don't think so in this case - something has been deliberately stolen from you - it's not imitation, it's theft.

 

I thought about this phrase the first time I had some of my online work stolen - the second time it was just plain annoying.

 

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

Edited September 10, 2006 by qichina

[+The Bolas Heathens]

True, but I'd still be miffed that they did not have the manners to ask permission first.

 

Yeah I know - if you've worked hard and it's a potential source of income, it's theft. But a snapshot of a box? Puleeease... Where's the street cred in that?

[barryhunter]

We get this issue quite a bit in my day job as I run quite a few websites for a living.

....

We've heard all the excuses under the sun and frankly do not believe any of them.

 

Turning it on its head, have you ever got one of these?

[+rutson]

Barry? tell me that's a joke? Well! It cracked me up anyway!

[+The Bolas Heathens]

I'd LOVE to get one of those - what fun I could have :ph34r:

Turning it on its head, have you ever got one of these?

[+currykev]

Since the pic is of your cache and not their cache,whoever shall find the said cache may notice a slight difference from that used on their cache page!...Does that make sense?..It did to me.

[barryhunter]

I dont know, it made it as a digg.com story, but it was quickly taken down on the original site (the link above is a mirror), not sure if just from bandwidth problems (how ironic!) or if it wasn't real in the first place.

[+theUMP]

Why attribute to malice what could easily be explained by naivete?

 

In any case, I've withdrawn the cache while this is sorted out amicably.

 

Rgds,

Ian, theUMP.

[+dibbler69]

OH Dear!!! lol

 

An Error Has Occured

 

Sorry, you cannot view this cache listing until it has been published.

[+currykev]

Why attribute to malice what could easily be explained by naivete?

 

In any case, I've withdrawn the cache while this is sorted out amicably.

 

Rgds,

Ian, theUMP.

 

As you have witnessed 1st hand,it's best to steer clear from the "Caching Godfathers"..and Godmothers too sometimes. One learns from ones errors! So....Happy Caching Ian.

[+purple_pineapple]

So it's said but I don't think so in this case - something has been deliberately stolen from you - it's not imitation, it's theft.

 

I thought about this phrase the first time I had some of my online work stolen - the second time it was just plain annoying.

 

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

 

Imitating would imply taking the same photo yourself, rather than actually using CSC's photo. interstingly (well I think so) breach of copyright is the only offence relating to Intellectual Property that is a criminal offence, and carries with it a potential custodial sentence, as laid down in the Copyright, Patents and Designs Act 1988.

 

And before anyone mentions it, there is no requirement whatsoever to place the copyright symbol on your work - it automatically exists as soon as the work is created.

 

Lol - can you tell that this used to be my job?!

[+purple_pineapple]

Why attribute to malice what could easily be explained by naivete?

 

In any case, I've withdrawn the cache while this is sorted out amicably.

 

Rgds,

Ian, theUMP.

 

I'm not sure anyone particularly thought it was through malice - hope not anyway! more a case of manners than malice!

 

Hope things get sorted, and the cache is back online soon (although its a bit far for me to travel...!)

[+Cryptik Souls Crew]

Since the pic is of your cache and not their cache,whoever shall find the said cache may notice a slight difference from that used on their cache page!...Does that make sense?..It did to me.

 

It did to me too Its not a photo of my cache either, its of a genuine Project A.P.E. cache.

 

Anyways, communication is now taking place between the cache setter and myself, I have received an apology, all should soon be well.

[The Red Kite]

We get this issue quite a bit in my day job as I run quite a few websites for a living.

....

We've heard all the excuses under the sun and frankly do not believe any of them.

 

Turning it on its head, have you ever got one of these?

Turning it on its head, have you ever got one of these?

 

ROTLMAO Is this for real??

[+qichina]

Quote:

"We dispel the myth that geocachers are sad geeks, a quest which has put a few (sad geek's) noses out of joint along the way."

 

Shome mishytake surely?- Ed.

[+Alibags]

I too have found my images turning up on other peoples cache pages (more than one other cacher). This has happened to me several times. In my case I have decided to view it as flattery and not get mad, but the images were hosted on the GC server and not on my own web space (otherwise I would probably have changed the image as Cryptiks did!).

 

I do believe that it would be polite to ask first and it would be nice to get some credit for my effort. I am less worried about intellectual theft because the images are small, low resolution versions of my originals, because they were already posted on the same site for free anyhow and they are not attempting to make any profit from using them.

[+Cryptik Souls Crew]

Quote:

"We dispel the myth that geocachers are sad geeks, a quest which has put a few (sad geek's) noses out of joint along the way."

 

Shome mishytake surely?- Ed.

 

On the contrary - don't worry, your nose will stop hurting soon...