This is not my website

Several friends asked me if I own this website since there are so many of my pictures there. http://www.bkinterplants.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=21 Seven of my pictures are on this page alone. I saw one picture that belongs to Luc on this page as well.

The answer is NO. This is not my website but many pictures are mine. Last night I clicked to see pictures under Plumeria red, white, yellow and so on... and found out that there are so many of my pictures being used WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. This is the worst case that I came across with.

The same person is also using my picture (Typhoon plumeria) on Ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/Cutting-Typhoon-RARE-plumeria-15-18_W0QQitemZ300075306846QQihZ020QQcategoryZ103447QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Have you reported this to them?

This is terrible, Kukiat! We should definitely report this misuse of a picture to eBay, and we will let everyone know not to buy from this seller. We should all send emails to the web site too, letting him know that his theft is not appreciated.

I just reported the violation to ebay security. I provided the link where they stole the picture from. It is obvious that they cropped Kukiat's copyright off of the photo. It was probably from PlantFiles: http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/135854/ This makes me very angry because I asked Kukiat to allow his photos to be uploaded into PlantFiles for the enjoyment of all, and now unscrupulous sellers are taking advantage of this and stealing his photos for profit. I will email the seller as well to let him know that this is not acceptable.

They are also using one of my true Blue pics under the plant's other name Queensland Blue (on the website--not Ebay) ! I emailed them through the website and asked them to remove it. That site is, by the way AWEFUL! It takes forever for the pages to load and I have cable internet!

Sawadee Doc,
I am sorry this has happen again..
Here's his photobucket page..
http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h60/thaihitshop/bkinterplants/?start=all

Are you sure they are from plant files clare?
I wouldn't blame yourself Doc's photo's were already uploaded to 2 other sites before that..
One of the other sites is more in the public view then plant files..
He could be cropping them in this way to cut out name of plumie along with doc's name..
Either way the blame is on the pretender..

Brad site is loading slow for a reason ;=)
Opps!

This message was edited Jan 30, 2007 6:28 PM

Brad,

Paula just mentioned this over at FPS:

"On the bkinterplants.com site, the VCR, Rim Fire, Britney, and Bill Moragne photos belong to me. I haven't looked through them all yet, but these stuck out right away. I think I saw some of Emerson's, too. It is a shame that this person has used our photos without permission. Have you sent him an notice yet?
Paula"

I'm glad you sent him a message through the web site. I sent a message through ebay. This is so wrong, and I hope people do not get taken in by this seller.

Clare

This message was edited Jan 30, 2007 3:32 PM

I spoke to photobucket on phone today..
I sent them detailed info in a email..
support@photobucket.com
I will await their reply and let you all know..

Hi Robert, thanks for that. I posted at the same time as you above and didn't see your post. It looks like the same picture to me, but you are right that it could have been stolen from one of the other sites like his gallery over at Spectre's Jungle.

Sawadee folks!
Yuu thii nay Doc?
Chuay duay Kukiat!!
I need all the links...

Ok photobucket is going to remove the pics however..
If luc and other seller pics are there i need.. i repeat i need the direct link to the photobucket pic in question plus i need the direct link to the sellers pic..

I spoke to the admin today and this is what he sent in the email..

Thanks again

=============

..and doc we got your back here so no worries my friend!
We are going to unleash Clare on him!!
:)

Oh here is your ticket number for photobucket!
[Ticket#20070013010011036] Copyright violation!
Online Help Center: http://photobucket.com/tips.php
Support Forums: http://forums.photobucket.com
Support Email: support@photobucket.com

This message was edited by Singha, Thailand's finest beer!

This message was edited Jan 31, 2007 4:45 AM

Doc you need to call thailand isp..
He is moving the pics off photobucket i think..
Here is the info on him..
=============================

202.142.223.227
[www.bkinterplants.com]

Internet Service Provider Co., Ltd.
252/85-86 Muang Thai Phatra Office
Tower 2 BB Floor, Unit A,
Ratchadaphisek Road, Huaykwang,
Huaykwang, Bangkok 10320
Thailand


Chatree Sangyuan
chatree@isp-thailand.com
Internet Service Provider Co., Ltd.
252/85-86 Muang Thai Phatra Office
Tower 2 BB Floor, Unit A,
Ratchadaphisek Road, Huaykwang,
Huaykwang, Bangkok 10320
phone: +66-2-305-9900
fax: +66-2-305-9999


Thaweesak Nuangyindee
admin_issp@isp-thailand.com
Internet Service Provider Co., Ltd.
252/85-86 Muang Thai Phatra Office

Tower 2 BB Floor, Unit A,
Ratchadaphisek Road, Huaykwang,
Huaykwang, Bangkok 10320
phone: +66-2-305-9900
fax: +66-2-305-9999

Thanks everybody for understanding and support.

Tropicanna.. yes I did. Thanks a lot.

Robert, I clicked the photobucket link provided above to view this person gallery but the photobucket site is under maintenance at this time. I will try again tonight. I will do the direct link to my original pictures in www.plumerias.com where most of the stolen pictures were taken from. In addition, the www.plumerias.com or server is down at this moment. Thanks for everything, Robert.






This message was edited Jan 31, 2007 8:13 PM

Robert, we wrote at the same time. Thanks for the information. You are great! I will make some phone calls to get more information out of this.

Unfortunately, my picture is not on his Photobucket site--he has it saved elsewhere. I did write him directly, though.

Robert, you have 2 D-mails. You will find the direct links for eight stolen pictures found in his photobucket being used in his website. In fact there are many more that are not in his photobucket site.

I guess the Typhoon plumeria has been removed from ebay. However I found he is using my Coral Cream picture on ebay now. http://cgi.ebay.com/15-18-New-plumeria-with-rooted-Coral-Cream-RARE-RARE_W0QQitemZ300075303106QQihZ020QQcategoryZ103447QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

He took it from here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/plumerias/136933285/in/set-72057594120115990/

Now I know what part (city) of Thailand he lives in.

I got your dmails doc..
I sent the info to the admin..
May pen ray khrap Doc!
Your welcome..
:)

I will email eBay security again about your Coral Cream picture. He is still using your Typhoon picture on his web site, Kukiat.

Robert, you don't need to unleash me -- ROFLOL about that -- because you are doing such a good job of taking care of business, my friend. You're awesome! What a team we make!

This is the response that I got to a similar complaint:
Dear Clare,

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to reporting a listing.

We developed our Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program to address the
unauthorized sale of intellectual property over eBay. As you know, eBay
does not buy or sell any items; we act only as a venue that enables
others to do so. As such, we neither see nor inspect any items that are
offered for sale on the site. However, recognizing that some posted
items may infringe certain intellectual property rights, we have set up
specific procedures which enable verified rights owners to identify and
request removal of allegedly infringing listings. These procedures are
intended to substantially comply with the requirements of the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. section 512.

You may review the Digital Millennium Copyright Act at:

http://www.qlinks.net/comdocs/uscopyright.htm

We encourage you to join our VeRO program so you can immediately take
advantage of its benefits, which include:

- Direct access to an identified customer support group dedicated to
servicing the requests of VeRO program participants;

- Ability to report listings in which your intellectual property or
other proprietary materials are offered, reproduced, or otherwise used
in a manner that violates or threatens to violate your rights, and to
have such listings terminated;

- Dedicated priority email queues for reporting alleged infringements;

- Ability to create an eBay "About Me" page containing information you
wish to convey to eBay users;

- Ability to request detailed contact information pertaining to sellers
who post any listing that may violate your rights.

We expect the list of benefits to grow in the future, and we will keep
you apprised of any enhancements to the Program.

For your convenience, you can download a copy of our Notice of Claimed
Infringement (NOCI) form by clicking this link:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/NOCI1.pdf

You will need Adobe® Acrobat Reader to view and print our NOCI form. If
you do not have Adobe® Acrobat Reader, you can download a free copy at
Adobe's web site:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

Please provide the necessary information, sign the form, then fax it to
us at: (408) 516-8811.

After we receive your first faxed NOCI, we will send you an electronic
version of our NOCI form so you can send future notices to us via email.

Remember, time is of the essence because items are listed for a limited
duration. Once we have received your Notice of Claimed Infringement in
proper form, we can remove each referenced listing. Be sure to identify
each specific listing by number as the seller's screen name or user I.D.
is not sufficient.

If you have questions, please write to us at:

vero@ebay.com

We look forward to receiving from you a completed VeRO Program Notice of
Claimed Infringement and to working with you in the future.

It is my pleasure to assist you. Thank you for choosing eBay.

Sincerely,

Jacen
eBay Customer Support

This is the response that I got about the Typhoon picture:

Response from www_bkinterplants_com
www_bkinterplants_com( 0)
Positive feedback: 0%
Member since: Dec-14-06
Location: chaiyapoom, Thailand
Registered on: www.ebay.com


Item: Cutting!! Typhoon RARE plumeria 15-18" (300075306846)
This message was sent while the listing was active.
www_bkinterplants_com is the seller.

"Hi,
Yes,this picture from Kudiat I use his picture by I use real picture and scan it.I know him private so that I will give his picture.Hope you understand.Thank you. "


I wrote back that she/he is a liar and that she is not Kukiat's friend and does not have permission to use his pictures. I told her/him to remove Kukiat's Coral Cream picture at once or face the consequences.

Here is ebay's response about the Typhoon auction:

Subject: Re: IM62827 Response to your email regarding image or text theft. (KMM243411756V2802L0KM) Received: Jan-31-07
From: eBay Customer Support Expires: Apr-01-07
Dear Clare,

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to Image and Text Theft.

I reviewed your information about the possibility of image and text
theft in listing #300075306846. At this time, I didn't find sufficient
evidence to show that the member has violated eBay's Image and
Description theft policy.

Please understand that in some situations members will obtain permission
to use material from other websites, such as the one you have referenced
in your report. Also, your friend may have given the other member
permission to use this image. If this is the case, eBay can't remove the
listings.

We will be able to take action only if the rights owner writes to us
directly. If you feel strongly about this issue, I recommend that you
contact your friend, informing them about your concerns and recommending
that they contact eBay. Once we hear from them, we will then take the
appropriate action.

To learn more about item description and picture theft, go to:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/vero-image-text-theft.html

It is my pleasure to assist you. Thank you for choosing eBay.

Sincerely,
Benson

eBay Customer Support


Original Message Follows:
-------------------------

Form Message %12201% 101099
D_ID013020071502D_ID/W_ID97658205W_ID/S_ID000S_ID
Subject: BN?10198 Copyright Basics [#US 30212T ?01 ]

User Feedback: 27
User State: ?01

Browser Info: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1)

Home > Help Topics > Rules and Policies > Rules about Intellectual
Property > Copyright Basics

Message: This auction is using my friend's picture without permission: http://cgi.ebay.com/Cutting-Typhoon-RARE-plumeria-15-18_W0QQitemZ300075306846QQihZ020QQcategoryZ103447QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Photo was copied from this link: http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/135854/

Can you please remove this auction?

Sincerely,
Clare Corre

What is strange to me is that they are listing ones that they couldn't possibly have. For example, they have listed one called "Wildfire," which is one which was locally named and grown here in Southern California. I believe it belongs to Larry in El Monte, and he came up with that name. He's distributed cuttings to friends in the area, but I sincerely doubt that this seller has cuttings of it to sell. There are other names which look borrowed as well, such as "Kitty," which is in the process of being renamed and registered by one of the Plumeria Pals members. This seller looks like she/he is borrowing the names and the pictures, but who knows what will be shipped to the poor unsuspecting buyers.

Sawadee Doc,
Your pics have been removed from photobucket!!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Dear robert,

Thank you for your request. Photobucket removed the
content located at the following link(s):
blah blah blah

which request was based on your stated belief that such content infringes
your copyrights. As you may be aware, Photobucket does not itself distribute,
store, or make available most of the content or files available through its
service. Rather, most all such files or content are put forth by individual
users, and Photobucket has limited control over the content its users may
choose to share. Nevertheless, Photobucket respects copyright laws and
expects its users to do the same.

Please be advised that Photobucket has removed the above-mentioned content
from its website.

Photobucket's response as set forth herein is a good-faith attempt to
courteously comply with your request at face value. It should not be taken as
an admission or acknowledgement, of any kind, and Photobucket expressly
reserves all rights at law or in equity.

Should you have any questions about this matter, please contact Photobucket's
Designated Copyright Agent:


Gregory J. Wimmer
Copyright Agent
Photobucket.com, Inc.
209 Hamilton Avenue
Suite 220
Palo Alto, CA 94301
biz@photobucket.com
Telephone: (650) 328-1442
Fax: (303) 532-1099

Sincerely,
Your Photobucket Support Team

Clare and Robert, I finally managed to get her phone number and talked to her directly. This person is a Thai female who lives in Northeastern Thailand. I asked her if she knows me. She said "No". However, she agrees to remove all the stolen pictures that belong to me as well as others from her website. I just checked her website and found out that the whole website has been removed. She asked me to convey her apology to all that were violated. I think the problem has been resolved.

Robert, I am sure she will be surprised when she views the pictures in her photobucket gallery. This is beyond my imagination as well.

I would like to express my deep appreciation to both of you, Clare and Robert, for the support in every step of the way. Again Kop Khun Mak Mak Khrap (Thank you very much).

This message was edited Feb 2, 2007 12:51 AM

Robert, you da man! Way to go to get things done. I'm duly impressed that you got those pictures removed. Well done, my friend.

That is so great, Kukiat. I'm glad the situation has been resolved to the satisfaction of all. You are most welcome:-) What are friends for if not to help each other:-)

Robert and Kukiat, I just caught Marlene using Kukiat's photo of Chompoo Paan on her web site: http://www.plumeriagallery.com/catalog_c244231.html and asked her to remove it immediately. This is the same seller that has been using Brad's pictures without his permission.

Edited to add: Marlene responded appropriately and removed Kukiat's picture and replaced it with a different picture. We may have to check that web site frequently for copyright violations as she appears to use people's pictures without their permission frequently.

This message was edited Feb 21, 2007 7:00 PM

Clare, Thank you very much for your help. I just checked that website and I found out that the picture has been removed. I am glad that the problem has been resolved.