coast crab

What's the protocal regarding using (stealing?) pictures posted in our gallery here?

The other day I was cruising an ebay seller's store and found my picture of my Thai black being used to sell their plant. No one asked me, and the "Bananas.org" logo was not there so I assume they didn't ask anyone here either.

Is that Kosher? Should I say something to them, or be flattered and keep my mouth shut?

Russell

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Abnshrek

Its double edge sword isn't it. To funny.. glad its not my decision.. :^)

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momoese

Theft is theft. Report them to ebay.

MediaHound

I had one of my photos of Thai Black lifted from here and put on eBay just the same. You could even see my house in the background of the photo, lol. Taylor brought it to my attention.
They chopped off the watermark from the lower right corner, too. It's certainly an interesting feeling seeing someone do that, but welcome to the internet.
I sent the person who did it a message there on eBay that went ignored, too...
Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, right?
I would just feel proud about it if I were you and know that you are helping other people down the line learn about the plant. You can either make yourself feel aggravated or make yourself feel good about it, its all how you want to interpret your feelings. Or you can spend some time chasing them down and play the cat and mouse game with them.. it's all about how much resources you want to put there to resolve it.

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Scuba_Dave

I've reported them in the past & had the pics yanked

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LilRaverBoi

Yeah, this does happen. I've seen a BUNCH of people on this site get really upset about this and honestly, I see absolutely no harm in it. If everyone hasn't figured out that 'nothing is sacred on the internet' by now, then you should realize it now, IMO. There are ways to take ANY image off the internet...so there really is no way to prevent it. The best way to discourage it is to watermark your images.

Like Jarred said, "imitation is the most sincere form of flattery." I feel the same way....I'd be personally honored if someone liked my image enough to use it elsewhere (well, provided they're not claiming to have grown that actual plant, etc). I know when you search google images, you end up with a bunch of pictures that come from this site (and many other sites). People often just take images they can find on there (or other search engines) if they don't have a picture for something. I do it all the time, actually.

The question you really have to ask yourself is this....do you choose to get all upset and bent out of shape about it, or do you choose to take it as a compliment? I choose the latter, personally. There's no point in being uptight about it (not trying to imply anything about anyone, personally...merely speaking in general terms).

On a further note, again....you should realize that you pretty much relinquish any rights to material you post on the internet in public places. If you didn't want your social security number stole, you wouldn't post it in a public forum would you? Same thing goes with pictures. I know on YouTube, part of the rules/regulations is that you have to agree that you acknowledge the fact that you willingly give up any rights to content posted on YouTube. I believe this acknowledgment carries to the rest of the internet in a manner of unstated/implied consent.

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momoese

Theft is not imitation, and it's not something to feel honored about when someone steals from you. I'm sure you'd be real happy to have someone steal your ipod, your bicycle etc because they like your choice of colors or music. Imitation happens when someone "imitates" something you've created, not outright steals it.

Jarred, is there any copyright protection here like Flickr has?

the flying dutchman

Ofcourse it is theft, someone is earning money using your picture and besides of that where is the borderline. Is it Okay to copy all the pics
from this site and put it online on another Website in another Bananas
Database. I don't think so...but it is the same principle though, only it is
not 1 picture but multiple pictures.
This E-Bay seller should have sent a mail to the ORG asking for permission.

Ron

mbfirey

Contact the seller see if they'll give you a free plant or something (cash)- they'd be willing to give something to keep using it.
You'll get justice if you report to ebay- but I'd rather have something for free than a warm feeling of justice inside....

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LilRaverBoi

I guess I just look at it differently. I don't consider it theft because I still have my copy of the picture. It'd be like someone ripping all the music off my mp3 player without my knowledge. Sure, it's a bit shady, but honestly, what do I care? I still have my music and it hasn't been affected at all.

In all honestly, the resources of the internet are free to be used by others, provided they give credit to the resource. It's kinda like quoting a book for a paper...it's fine provided you credit your resource. I realize this was probably not done, so I guess you could raise some sort of issue toward the other person if you wanted to.

Honestly, though...I don't see this as anything to get worked up over, personally. I mean, your pictures were not deleted from this site so the other person could take/steal them. You weren't made to look bad, they probably didn't claim to have grown the plant, etc. I think people sometimes like to make huge deals out of small things. What's the harm in sharing? Why be so greedy with the resources you possess? It really doesn't prove anything to make an issue of it, IMO. Do you call the cops every time you see someone speeding?

The main thing here is this....what have you lost? And also, what do you have to gain by reporting them? I believe the answer to both questions is nothing....

I guess what I have posted here is merely my opinion on the matter, though. Deal with it as you see appropriate.

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BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

MediaHound

Mitchel, that's a loaded question.. To give advise on this topic requires a full and current understanding of the topic and I leave that to professionals.
We typically don't get involved in being a judge or jury. I would refer you to: Chilling Effects Clearinghouse and Chilling Effects Clearinghouse: Copyright and Fair Use for further reading on the topic.

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momoese

Perhaps you could look into partnering with Creative Commons?

Creative Commons

coast crab

Guys...

Please understand that I'm not sitting around blowing a gasket over this! And I do see both sides y'all present. What bothered me the most was that the picture was taken from "us" and had "our" logo removed. Why not use it the way it was and credit Bananas.org for the picture?

Yes, contacting me directly or this forum would have polite and correct thing to do. But in this day and age common courtesy is dead and anything on the internet is viewed as community property. I guess the upside to this is that I wasn't standing there with it NEKKID!

Russell

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momoese

Greedy, seriously??? Spend 10k on camera gear, buy a home with a garden space so one can grow a banana, buy the banana, nurture it, use their skills as a photographer that came by means of schooling which again they paid for to capture an image only to have some schmuck steal and use it for financial gain because the owner of the image wanted to share it with friends? I don't see the "greed" there.

It's personal property and using it for financial gain without acquiring permissions from the owner is stealing. It's that simple. Even if the photo is just used on a blog the blog owner is attracting viewers by using the stolen image and making add revenue.

Btw I certainly hope your not calling me greedy.

Jack Daw

Maybe Jarred should think about using a new type of watermark. There are some more difficult to chop than others.
Like this type, for example:

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momoese

Speaking of photo theft:

Permission before you publish | Other | The Lawyer

Abnshrek

The person who took it should've had the balls to ask permission to use it. #2 should've cropped it right or altered it to make it look more professional :^) & its definately theft just like any other property. :^)

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LilRaverBoi

Well, if you look it up, legally it IS copyright infringement. The question now is...is this significant enough to take action on. I mean, how many of you have posted pictures on this website from elsewhere on the internet without asking the poster for expressed written consent prior to posting? Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone.

Plenty of things are illegal, but are not enforced strictly because people do not care enough to press charges. If someone walks off the side-walk onto your property, technically it is trespassing....so do you call the cops?

I agree that the person SHOULD have gotten permission from coast crab before using the image....but eh...there are much larger issues to worry about in the world IMO.

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

momoese

According to police officer I spoke to recently this is not true. It would only be trespassing after you warned them to stay off your property or if you have posted no trespassing signs that are viewable to the person in the area of the said trespass. Do you call the cops for one step that's NOT for financial or personal gain, no. Are they setting up a yard sale on your property, (without permission) yes call the cops.

stumpy4700

This is exactly the law in Tennessee and most states in the USA. You have to be put on notice by either verbal warning or by signage to keep out.