This person
http://cgi.ebay.com/BRUGMANSIA-ANGEL-TRUMPET-WEISSE-POSAUNE-ROOTED-PLANT_W0QQitemZ320095112469QQcategoryZ43548QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Has stolen my weiz pousanne photo and is using it in his auction, I emailed him and he said he pulled it off a google search and said he would take the photo off. But hasn't done so. He has bought brugs from me inthe past this is one that he bought from me last year. Now he's selling it on ebay using myphoto. That's my hand in the photo.
Just so you know, he did mention he pulled more than that one off the internet, so he's not using his own photos.
I wouldn't normally post something like this, but this man will make me look bad if I post my weiz pousanne to sell using the same photo, someone will think I stole the picture, and I have never taken photos off the net to sell my brugs. And I have never used other photos without permission.
WAnt to passalong this info, as I am reporting him to ebay now.
kathy_ann
What to do when someone steals your photos for ebay use
I have had this proeblem with selling plumerias in recent months. I have had to write several people to tell them to cease and desist. It is very frustrating indeed, especially when, as you say, you can see your own hand in the picture. I have also experienced this!
Occasionally, I will either allow usage of my pics with permission and, rarer still, I will use someone else's pic with their full permission, and, full credit given them in the auction. However, you can report them to Ebay and from what I understand, Ebay will take care of them. Fortunately, for me, I have been able, thus far, to work it out between the seller and me.
One more thing to begin is that you mught consider marking each photo of yours with a watermark, or your name somewhere in the pic where it can't be cropped out.
Good luck!
Brrad
Contact ebay! They don't tolerate this kind of thing. They will either end the auction or give them a warning.
From where did he copy it, here at DG or eBay?
Judy
PS The picture is now a "RED X"
This message was edited Mar 24, 2007 9:35 AM
He copied it off a google search. Along with several others. I have contacted ebay about it, their working on the issue.
My photos aren't copyrighted or water marked. I simply asked him to remove it, and he hasn't done so.
I just checked and the whole auction has been removed along with several other auctions. So the problem is fixed .
kathy
Doesn't that just burn your cookies???
A seller stole many of my pictures a few years ago, but would not
respond to my emails. I finally reached the guy via the phone, and
my gawd, what a rude jerk. He made nasty comments about me,
said I was jealous of his 'success' and that I should get a life. Yeah,
I strive for a low customer rating just like you, buddy. Pfft.
This came from a (cough cough) reputable seller. A quick check on the
Garden Watchdog showed how 'reputable' he truly is. I wish more
people knew about the Garden Watchdog.
The guy blatantly cropped my copyright information and everything.
When I posted about him, he posted about me but lied. It was nasty
and not true. So after contacting Dave's, both messages were removed
even though my post was factual and his was retaliatory lies. I guess
it is better that way, or he would keep stewing about it.
What goes around comes around. They will get theirs one day.
>:-(
I would have hated this kind of remark from the fellow that took mine, but I can honestly say he was decent to me. and did finally take them off his auctions. I haven't a clue as to if he's on daves or not.
And I don't like rubbing his name in the mud, I only posted here because I asked and he would not, and I thought it was something daves folks should know about if he wasn't going to take my pic off.
I know folks use other folk's pics all the time. in my book it wouldhave been ok if he would have cropped it and took out my hand, made it look like 2 folks wouldn't be using this pic at the same time, or that obvious that it was mine.
It can't be stopped for the most part. My photos aren't copy righted. He was nice in the end and took them off. And I appreciate that.
kathy
That was decent of him for sure :) Congrats to the both of you !! God bless, Margo
Yes it was, thanks margo.
I have no hard feelings.
There is a disclaimer that the seller has to agree to saying that the photos are his or that he has permission to use them.
I thought so brugie. Thanks.
Honestly I don't mind loaning photos at all. but I wouldn't loan the same photo that I use in my auctions. Which is what he was using. At one time I offered him another photo of the weiz pousanne, but changed my mind after things got a tad unhappy in our conversations.
I was just over at Ebay looking at Morning Glories and saw one advertised as Scarlet O'hara but looks to me like perhaps crimson rambler. Just to be sure Scarlet had a solid red throat instead of the white on it the photo, I looked up Scarlet Ohara. There are no less than 4 sellers using the exact same non-copyrighted photo. Wonder if it belongs to any of them. LOL
Budgie,
I noticed a lot of sellers do that. I think they hit Google for images and pick
the best looking one on the first page of many.
Also you will note many seed packages are scanned and used as well.
Kathy, glad it was resolved to your satisfaction. :-)
KM
I just ran into this problem also! The flower bulb seller flowersforme123 is selling some calla lilies with my photos. When I contacted her she apologized and said she would look into it, she claimed "all her friends" send her photos to use and she has used that photo for years.
I told her I took that photo in 2004, and gave her the exact date! It is so obvious she stole it, you can even see the weeds in my garden behind the bloom, lol.
She then had the nerve to email me back and say, "excuse me, but what is the problem with me using any photo from anywhere!"
GEEZ!! I also sell on ebay and on my website, so I figure she is
1) taking some profits or buyers from me
2) dishonest with the photo, so what else is she dishonest about?
I'll tell you what else she is dishonest about- if you google lavender calla images, you will see two different photos I took of the same named plant, and the color is slightly different from flower to flower. She is using the flowers to sell two different plants!
This really corks me off. Thanks for your ebay link, and I followed it, but ebay will only act if they have stolen your photo from your ebay auction, not your website! Sometime in the past I found another link, but there you have to print out a form, fill it out, and fax it in. Do you think that will work? Doubt it!
Susan
Hi Susan, I think you should do whatever you can.. list some auctions with the same plant and then contact ebay.. If you ever sold that particular one, you can claim it came from your auction and that you were the first seller.
Otherwise, keep putting the word out that this seller is a thief. A thief is a thief.. regardless of how stupid she tries to act! LOL
I don't sell anything on ebay that I have not taken photos of from my own plants. I also copyright the photo in a place that is difficult to crop out. You can do it in a more transparent type so it does not take away from the photo. As you can see from the sample photo, you can discreetly put your copyright on a photo and save it separately from the original. This will help to keep it from being hyjacked. Of course there are also a few out there with the expertise to fix it but most won't bother.
I will try to view this from another angle. Theft of pictures is quite normal on the Internet. I know that it can be frustrating, and that when it happens it will make you angry - maybe for several hours per day, untill the matter is resolved.
There are two good ways to go about it.
1. You can have your picture copyrighted by paying a fee to a photographers rights mannagement association. They will deal with theft issues on your behalf, and determine, if the thief should be sanctioned to remove the photo from the website, or keep the photo and send you an annual fee in royalty.
2. If you sell anything on the Internet there is another way to go about it, and it can sometimes be very rewarding. I use this myself and it give me a lot of visitors. What you can do is to watermark all the pictures that you upload on the Internet with the URL that you are selling from. It is like fishing and the photos are the bait. When someone then steal your photos and use them on their own web site they will automatically make their visitors aware of your web site, and if your picture is beautiful enough, then the visitors will search for your web site, because they want to see more. It will of course be up to your commercial skills to convert these visitors to customers, but I think that you have got my point.
Both 1. and 2. is a way to turn the inavoidable into your advantage, but it is also good anger management, as it is not healthy to go around steaming for a longer period every day.
