Pinterest users lifting pictures from forum

lbrjet wrote:
I don't see what the big deal is. You posted a picture on a public forum and someone from the public used your photogragh. Remember that you provided the link to your picture to the world.

In the OP's situation, there may have been "no big deal". But, it's a good reminder that what you post online can be used by others. Instead of a photo of his RV, the photo that was swiped could have been that of his dog - and instead of simply being posted on Pinterest as "look at my dog", it could have been used to promote poisoning dogs.

It's good for folks to be reminded that what they post on the internet can be grabbed and used for purposes they don't agree with - regardless of the quality of whatever they posted. It's good for folks, like the OP, to get a bit freaked when they have it happen to them - it will make them a bit more aware in the future when they post stuff. Posting online has become very routine and few people really consider what/when/where/how they are posting.

I don't see what the big deal is. You posted a picture on a public forum and someone from the public used your photogragh. Remember that you provided the link to your picture to the world.

rockhillmanor wrote:
Fearful, paranoid? No. I am certainly not going to PROVIDE the information to the criminals.

It's called common sense, keeping my property and families safe. IMHO many people are just not thinking of all the ramifications of all what 'can' happen allowing so much of their personal information to be out there.

"Paranoid" is a great strong word to describe what's becoming more and more a necessary approach for keeping always hyper vigilant ... maybe the world needs more paranoids to keep ahead of the criminoids.

The DW and myself use only flip phones, a Garmin navigator, and email I custom tailor to as much as possible shut down back door entry into it. This RV Forum is just about our only exposure to Social Media -> and we use only good old computers to access it. ;)

As an amateur photographer, I generally do not post my photos on any internet forums, FB, Twitter, etc. I've known multiple artists who have had images stolen off the internet - the thieves were usually using those images to sell mugs, mouse pads, and such on cafepress, etc. The sad thing is, those thieves weren't even stealing the "good works" - they stole anything and everything.

pnichols wrote:

STBRetired wrote:
You cannot live your life in fear.

Well ..... I suspect that millions of people all over the world have to do just that.

Here in the U.S. if one is paranoid enough, they can reduce or eliminate their fears by protecting themselves from various "dangers" in all kinds of ways. Of course many here lazily rely on only luck or statistics to get by living their lives with very little fear of anything. ;)

Not paranoid or living in fear. :R

It's a fact that if one is not prudent about their information on the internet the devious of the world 'will' take advantage of it.

FACT:
Local Horse Community facebook and forum.

Everyone practically knows everyone else on the forum. Newcomers to the forum were welcomed. Everyone was proudly posting pictures of their horse farms, the inside of the barns and horses, show pictures, what each one was worth and/or for sale for, where the next show was that they were going to, dates and times, who they hired to feed the horses that stayed behind, when they would come out to take care of them, etc. etc.

The horse thieves used each and every bit of this information.

Why not, they were hand fed all the information they needed to pull off the perfect heist, they had pictures of the inside of the entire horse compounds, when the owners would be gone, which horses they should steal to make good money on, etc.

Horse theft quadrupled in our area after the popularity of facebook and forums. The thieves that did finally get caught were found to have joined these owners facebook and local forums.

The above scenario can happen to ANY one ANY facebook or forum. Personal, clubs etc.

Criminals now can VERY easily get all the info they need off the internet to make their jobs easier. Whether it be robbery or even something as serious as abduction etc.

Fearful, paranoid? No. I am certainly not going to PROVIDE the information to the criminals.

It's called common sense, keeping my property and families safe. IMHO many people are just not thinking of all the ramifications of all what 'can' happen allowing so much of their personal information to be out there.

Where is the government in all of this? We need more regulation!
Somebody should start a Federal agency to deal with this and stop the pirating of personal photos. There is no reason why the powers that be couldn't tax the internet to pay for the policing of proprietary photos and information of the public and stop the rampant theft and violation of my personal property.
BTW, please excuse the pic of the bear sitting at the picnic table. I'm not sure where that came from.

You can right click any image and click search Google for the image. It will search the internet and list websites that use the same image.

I have an image on my company website that we created and is often copied by competitors. I guess I'm a nice guy and always give them notice that it is not theirs to use rather than just suing them. I've yet to have anyone refuse to promptly remove the image. I guess when I do I will make an example of them.

STBRetired wrote:
You cannot live your life in fear.

Well ..... I suspect that millions of people all over the world have to do just that.

Here in the U.S. if one is paranoid enough, they can reduce or eliminate their fears by protecting themselves from various "dangers" in all kinds of ways. Of course many here lazily rely on only luck or statistics to get by living their lives with very little fear of anything. ;)

You can contact the webmaster on the offending site and they have a legal obligation to remove your image - and they know it.

Interested in more?

How using Google Images can cost you $8,000
Photographer's Survival Manual: A Legal Guide for Artists in the Digital Age
Registration Site Copyright.gov
Copyright Tutorial (American society of Media Photographers)

The digital image when created belongs to the creator and no one else. Plus, it is legally considered copyrighted although the legal awards are far less than when the images are actually registered with the copyright office. It only cost about $35 to register them and they can be bundled - many hundreds of images per bundle. Sized to approximately 540 pixels is fine.
Derivative works are also covered. . .meaning that if someone were to do a little photoshopping of your image it would not protect them. Copyright is quite interesting.

Some sites like Facebook strip out the EXIF data. . .

STBRetired wrote:
You cannot live your life in fear.

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