Photos used without consent

FoxyVixen · 03-01-2013 5:29pm #1

Hey guys I'm a long time lurker, occassional poster.

It's been brought to my attention that at least two photographers I know have had their photos taken without consent on the below website. Watermarks removed. I believe I've seen one or two of the photos on here when I browse the talent on this forum dreaming my photos could be as amazing. Thought ye might appreciate a heads up.

Site is advertising Donegal, so as you can imagine it's landscape photos of the area on display.

Hope I've not broken any charter rules, I don't believe I have but feel free to remove/close thread if I have done.

http://essentialworld.travel/2012/09/28/donegal/

Kenny Logins · 03-01-2013 6:02pm

Wow. They really went right-click crazy.

Corkbah · 03-01-2013 8:45pm

FoxyVixen wrote: »

Hey guys I'm a long time lurker, occassional poster.

It's been brought to my attention that at least two photographers I know have had their photos taken without consent on the below website. Watermarks removed. I believe I've seen one or two of the photos on here when I browse the talent on this forum dreaming my photos could be as amazing. Thought ye might appreciate a heads up.

Site is advertising Donegal, so as you can imagine it's landscape photos of the area on display.

Hope I've not broken any charter rules, I don't believe I have but feel free to remove/close thread if I have done.

http://essentialworld.travel/2012/09/28/donegal/

contact them and ask to remove immediately - then each photographer should send them a bill for €1000 ...illegal usage of image, copyright breach, image theft etc etc - payment to be made within 15working days (3weeks) ..... failing this ...goto a solicitor and double the requested amount and include legal fees.

then ask if they would like to licence the images for perpetual usage online or in print, in Ireland only or european/world .... world licence would only be available for online usage..... regardless of if the images were taken by professionals or amateurs illegal usage of them is breaching the law....and ignorance is not an excuse.

ronanc15 · 03-01-2013 8:58pm

Corkbah wrote: »

contact them and ask to remove immediately - then each photographer should send them a bill for €1000 ...illegal usage of image, copyright breach, image theft etc etc - payment to be made within 15working days (3weeks) ..... failing this ...goto a solicitor and double the requested amount and include legal fees.

then ask if they would like to licence the images for perpetual usage online or in print, in Ireland only or european/world .... world licence would only be available for online usage..... regardless of if the images were taken by professionals or amateurs illegal usage of them is breaching the law....and ignorance is not an excuse.

OP hasn't personally had any of their photos taken, more of an FYI I believe.

As a side point I was talking to a graphic designer last week and this topic came up. One of his team designed a range of travel brochures and idiotically scanned a photo he saw and used it in the brochures. The original tog spotted it and came back to them via the travel agency. Because of the large audience the photo reached (due to the circulation of the brochures and online brochures) the settlement was huge!! Much more than I would have ever guessed. Needless to say that was that team member's last day.

Corkbah · 03-01-2013 9:05pm

ronanc15 wrote: »

OP hasn't personally had any of their photos taken, more of an FYI I believe.

As a side point I was talking to a graphic designer last week and this topic came up. One of his team designed a range of travel brochures and idiotically scanned a photo he saw and used it in the brochures. The original tog spotted it and came back to them via the travel agency. Because of the large audience the photo reached (due to the circulation of the brochures and online brochures) the settlement was huge!! Much more than I would have ever guessed. Needless to say that was that team member's last day.

thats the problem .... its left to the original photographer to find it ... and if they don't ...they dont get the money !!

Granted most Graphic Design houses in Ireland operate with standards - some are cheeky and try get away with it - simply because the chances of getting caught are minimal !!

FoxyVixen · 03-01-2013 9:15pm

Indeed it was none of my photos taken, I have very little uploaded online. There were some in the feed that looked very familiar and didn't belong to the photographers I had in mind. Thereby I made the deduction that it was possible I'd seen the photos on here somewhere.

Thought one or two pics were similiar in style to some photogs on here. Just a friendly "heads up" was my intention

Corkbah · 03-01-2013 9:17pm

I for one ...hope at least one of the photographers are on boards so we can get a blow by blow of whats has happened

Kenny Logins · 03-01-2013 9:19pm

Corkbah wrote: »

I for one ...hope at least one of the photographers are on boards so we can get a blow by blow of whats has happened

Drag a photo into a Google image search box and it will reveal the source. Most are from Flickr and 500px.

Corkbah · 03-01-2013 11:04pm

so ....someone may be in for a serious wake-up call from a number of photographers.....*grabs popcorn*

Judge · 04-01-2013 1:36pm

Kenny Logins · 04-01-2013 1:41pm

Jebus. That's a lot of invoicing.

dinneenp · 04-01-2013 5:01pm

Feck, the b*stards didn't use any of mine.

frozenfrozen · 04-01-2013 5:04pm

I think I may start leaving high resolution images around the place with easy to remove watermarks and just wait for them to be used illegally.. then BAM invoice invoice invoice invoice

PopeBuckfastXVI · 06-01-2013 12:00am

Judge wrote: »

http://essentialworld.travel/2012/09/28/galway/
http://essentialworld.travel/2012/10/05/connemara/

Just checked those and I can't believe they didn't rob even one of my photos for either one! I mean this one is even in the perfect aspect ratio for them.

I'm outraged!

Reati · 06-01-2013 2:32am

Corkbah wrote: »

simply because the chances of getting caught are minimal !!

I agree with you on this point but reminded me of a time when I went down the country visiting folks and I went to a local Chinese in the town.

Was looking through the stack of old local newspapers. Half way through it I spotted one of my pictures promoting a upcoming craft fair. As it was a free local paper I let it slide but it always gives me a chuckle to think I stumbled on it.

djd80 · 06-01-2013 12:16pm

Well I just popped on to the link below :

http://essentialworld.travel/2012/11/17/cork/

and lo and behold they are using two of my shots

Three Cork Landmarks by dd80photo, on Flickr

Cork City Hall Sunset by dd80photo, on Flickr

Does anyone have an invoice template I could send them on or wording of email/letter that people have used in instances like this?

I'll be offline for most of the day but if anyone replies or PM's I'll be back online later tonight.

fret_wimp2 · 06-01-2013 4:07pm

pardon my ignorance, but if someone simply copies the image from flickr, how do you ever find out if anyone is using your image, outside of you stumbling on it by chance?

partyatmygaff · 06-01-2013 4:26pm

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

pardon my ignorance, but if someone simply copies the image from flickr, how do you ever find out if anyone is using your image, outside of you stumbling on it by chance?

Drag and drop the image in to a Google Images search box to do a reverse search.

brokenarms · 06-01-2013 5:34pm

thats crazy. They nicked every picture of Derry from the derry flickr page.

FoxyVixen · 06-01-2013 5:44pm

Well I feel a little bit better for at least one photographer on here for finding their pics stolen. Hopefully you'll get something out of it.

brokenarms · 06-01-2013 5:48pm

I guess the web site will be taken down after the bills comes by post in the next few days!!!

djd80 · 06-01-2013 6:11pm

I was going to email them on a letter and invoice, but do people reckon it's better going by normal post?

dirtyghettokid · 06-01-2013 6:30pm

djd80 wrote: »

I was going to email them on a letter and invoice, but do people reckon it's better going by normal post?

registered post!

James74 · 06-01-2013 6:41pm

Recognized a few of the Derry shots from guys I know, I've let them know about this site. Thanks for the info OP.

Kenny Logins · 06-01-2013 6:44pm

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

pardon my ignorance, but if someone simply copies the image from flickr, how do you ever find out if anyone is using your image, outside of you stumbling on it by chance?

Google image search, and sometimes this works too - http://www.tineye.com/

smash · 07-01-2013 1:08pm

"Error 404 - Page not found!" for all pages linked above.

Kenny Logins · 07-01-2013 1:09pm

smash wrote: »

"Error 404 - Page not found!" for all pages linked above.

Let me guess; they've fixed the problem and sacked the intern. All good now.

kensutz · 07-01-2013 1:11pm

They've deleted all Irish images from the site.

smash · 07-01-2013 1:13pm

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Let me guess; they've fixed the problem and sacked the intern. All good now.

No links to anywhere in Ireland on this page http://essentialworld.travel/destinations/ lol

Kenny Logins · 07-01-2013 1:19pm

I'm finding a lot of the UK photos on Flickr and Deviant Art now too.

Ben D Bus · 07-01-2013 1:34pm

Kenny Logins wrote: »

I'm finding a lot of the UK photos on Flickr and Deviant Art now too.

You should offer this information to the rightful owners for a percentage of the fee

Corkbah · 07-01-2013 2:03pm

kensutz wrote: »

They've deleted all Irish images from the site.

I hope they realise that deleting them doesn't mean they cannot be sued by the original owners of the images...its still a copyright breach !!

for the boardsie who found his own pics used - no harm in sending them an invoice....hopefully you took a screenshot of the website.

FoxyVixen · 07-01-2013 3:12pm

Sounds to me that they still haven't learnt their lesson if they still have photos up without photographers knowledge.

Hope someone gets something out of them.

amdgilmore · 07-01-2013 7:10pm

Maybe it's time somebody posted this on one of the larger Flickr groups.

Kateg8 · 07-01-2013 10:02pm

Ref: Photos without consent

I am joining this thread not as a photographer but as an associate of EssentialWorld.Travel. I am one of the site maintenance team & I noticed this issue, some images in the Destinations section being unauthorised, when I came back from my New Year break in the "the comments section". These concerns were duly passed onto the MD of the company & have/are being dealt with on an individual basis.
Firstly & most importantly sincerest of apologies from everyone at Essential to all those whose images have been used without due consent! Anyone who has experienced this should contact me here & I will forward your details onto the relevant party.
Secondly, to answer another point. The Irish section of the Destinations Pages have been temporarily unpublished not as a tactic to avoid the issue but to allow us adequate time to find the relevant images & remove them without any further infringement.
All your help & assistance in this matter would be gratefully accepted as trying to identify the photographs in need of removal is proving tricky.
Finally once again on behalf of Essential our apologies all round & I hope that with your support & help we can resolve this issue swiftly & in everyone's best interests. Do also be aware, this site has yet to launch. This is an early stage business model, experiencing a glitch & looking to you for understanding, assistance & advice for future sourcing methods at affordable rates to avoid exactly this sort of scenario. The parties involved in image sourcing are mainly students who have either been dismissed or are under investigation.
Please give us the time to resolve this but in the meanwhile do contact me direct & I will deal with each & every incident personally.
Thank you for your time & Happy New Year to you all - By the way some fab images!!
Best
Kate.

Zaph · 07-01-2013 10:06pm

Kateg8, thank you for engaging and providing an explanation for what has happened. However, as you are posting on behalf of a company I have to ask you to refrain from posting any further until you have obtained a verified rep account from the guys in the office. They can be contacted at reps@boards.ie

Should anyone wish to contact Kateg8, please do so via PM.

Photos used without consent

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