what a difference a watermark makes...

[jshepherd]

I'd say put it back on your website too, where it belongs. And then add a disclaimer that all your images are copyrighted and cannot be used without permission, and how all your images are originals and any other company using them has stolen them. Or write a blog about it... something to put those thieves to shame. Can you tell I am sick and tired of scammers? Now I am curious as to which company has stolen your image and which was the original. Care to share?

If you really want to know you can use Google image search to find it. The altered image is only on one website. The same website once had a photo taken from our blog on their homepage. I had someone send them an email about that one.

If you do the same search with the original image you'll find it's been lifted by dozens of websites without attribution. All our old photos have been.

There was even a gentleman who joined this forum a couple years back after launching a new pearl website and publicly argued with me about photos he had stolen from our site. I had to post the original, non-retouched photos before he would admit they were ours.

It's a pervasive problem. It isn't just a problem with photos, text gets stolen all the time. In the past I would use copyscape.com to track all the sites stealing our content. Anymore I just ignore it. There is something in Google's algorithm giving credit to the original source of content, which makes all other sources duplicate. In other words, it punishes the websites stealing content. Webmasters who understand this will attempt to alter the content enough to fool the search engine bots. You can see how much the image I posted was altered. It takes a keen eye to see that it's a stolen image.

 

[JerseyPearl]

Jeremy, thank you for that fantastic bit of insight.

 

[lilliefuzzysocks]

I "talked" someone yesterday into taking down a photo they were using to sell Pearl party pearls. They had Josh's Tahitian pearl shell filled with his pearls as their avitar for their business. No they were not selling Tahitian pearls. Their excuse? "I'm sorry I got this image straight from Google! I did not steal it from anywhere! No where did it have his name on it as a copyright! It is used in many different images on Google! Maybe you should contact Google and not me! I do not want to use any one else's picture so I will take it down, Bit I DID NOT COPYRIGHT anyone's picture".

 

[amti]

There was even a gentleman who joined this forum a couple years back after launching a new pearl website and publicly argued with me about photos he had stolen from our site. I had to post the original, non-retouched photos before he would admit they were ours.

I remember reading about that and oddly enough, his company came up again recently. I guess shady characters never really change.

I am going to google the image. Just did a search on how to google search images. lol

 

[amti]

This statement was at the bottom of the page on a website: DISCLAIMER: All wallpapers and backgrounds found here are believed to be in the "public domain". Most of the images displayed are of unknown origin. We do not intend to infringe any legitimate intellectual right, artistic rights or copyright. If you are the rightful owner of any of the pictures/wallpapers posted here, and you do not want it to be displayed or if you require a suitable credit, then please contact us and we will immediately do whatever is needed either for the image to be removed or provide credit where it is due. All the content of this site are do not gain any financial benefit from the downloads of any images/wallpaper.

http://pearl.dermasisfreetrial.com/how-are-colored-cultured-pearls-made/

I guess using other people's images is the norm for some. And to get your photo removed, there is a whole page: http://pearl.dermasisfreetrial.com/copyright-ip-policy/

Is this not bordering on theft? Back in the good old days, we used to ask permission first. Now it seems you use until legal action is taken.

 

[raggdoll]

I once worked for an antiques dealer who had a nice web shop with pictures off the things we currently had for sale in the shop. One day one of our competitors stole most of our pictures and put them on their website. When we contacted them they said those pictures were examples of things they might have in their store, not of actual products they were selling. When we pointed out that those pictures were taken from our website they first denied everything and said it must be a new employee who made a mistake (as far as I know the owner was the only one working there). After several phone calls they eventually removed those pictures.

 

[jshepherd]

I have actually had three instances of people more or less stealing our entire website. A company in China once copied our entire website to exact detail, even leaving all the pages about us and everything else. The only thing that changed was the name.

The other two companies that did this were both based in the USA. They didn't completely copy the design, but they both took every single photo from our site and every educational page on our site. In both of those instances I had a law firm send them letters and they immediately complied.

One of the companies is still in business. They were just discussed recently because they claim to be putting Tahitian pearls into akoya oysters for those pearl parties. That company was the worst. The owner had called me a couple months before building a website. He kept me on the phone for an hour acting like a customer. He was so curious about where we got our pearls, the people I knew in China ... I was stupidly naive to share a lot of information with him.

When his site popped up, not only did he steal every photo and content from our website, he had also posted a slightly different version of this message on his website that included something like shoving quarter pounders down your throat while fighting traffic on the 405 (LA's biggest freeway).

When you buy pearls, do you think of downtown Los Angeles and the crowded freeways as "The Place" to buy pearls? Neither do we. Our company is on the beautiful island of Hawaii.

The website you just posted, Amti, is simply a sort of black hat SEO site. They know the photos are stolen. Most of them still have the copyright owners' names in the ALT tags. That means they were taken directly from the websites that own them.

 

[pearlescence]

Some view anything on the web as open access. Back when I was teaching in a university the students had to do an assignment. One of the ones I was marking was excellent, It got a first...for the BBC news reporter who actually wrote the piece.

 

[ennui]

I "talked" someone yesterday into taking down a photo they were using to sell Pearl party pearls. They had Josh's Tahitian pearl shell filled with his pearls as their avitar for their business. No they were not selling Tahitian pearls. Their excuse? "I'm sorry I got this image straight from Google! I did not steal it from anywhere! No where did it have his name on it as a copyright! It is used in many different images on Google! Maybe you should contact Google and not me! I do not want to use any one else's picture so I will take it down, Bit I DID NOT COPYRIGHT anyone's picture".

I can attest to Google images. I've run a search for an image and mixed in the results were photos of items I had listed and sold on eBay. It's odd, but it happens.

On the other hand, it does come in handy. After a computer crash, I had lost one of PP's glamour shots of a necklace I purchased. Because it had been posted on the 'net by a friend, I was able to recover the image.

Once it's on the internet, it's open season.

 

[JerseyPearl]

I have actually had three instances of people more or less stealing our entire website. A company in China once copied our entire website to exact detail, even leaving all the pages about us and everything else. The only thing that changed was the name.

The other two companies that did this were both based in the USA. They didn't completely copy the design, but they both took every single photo from our site and every educational page on our site. In both of those instances I had a law firm send them letters and they immediately complied.

One of the companies is still in business. They were just discussed recently because they claim to be putting Tahitian pearls into akoya oysters for those pearl parties. That company was the worst. The owner had called me a couple months before building a website. He kept me on the phone for an hour acting like a customer. He was so curious about where we got our pearls, the people I knew in China ... I was stupidly naive to share a lot of information with him.

When his site popped up, not only did he steal every photo and content from our website, he had also posted a slightly different version of this message on his website that included something like shoving quarter pounders down your throat while fighting traffic on the 405 (LA's biggest freeway).



The website you just posted, Amti, is simply a sort of black hat SEO site. They know the photos are stolen. Most of them still have the copyright owners' names in the ALT tags. That means they were taken directly from the websites that own them.

This is HORRIBLE.

 

[SunSeeker]

If you really want to know you can use Google image search to find it. The altered image is only on one website. The same website once had a photo taken from our blog on their homepage. I had someone send them an email about that one.

If you do the same search with the original image you'll find it's been lifted by dozens of websites without attribution. All our old photos have been.

There was even a gentleman who joined this forum a couple years back after launching a new pearl website and publicly argued with me about photos he had stolen from our site. I had to post the original, non-retouched photos before he would admit they were ours.

It's a pervasive problem. It isn't just a problem with photos, text gets stolen all the time. In the past I would use copyscape.com to track all the sites stealing our content. Anymore I just ignore it. There is something in Google's algorithm giving credit to the original source of content, which makes all other sources duplicate. In other words, it punishes the websites stealing content. Webmasters who understand this will attempt to alter the content enough to fool the search engine bots. You can see how much the image I posted was altered. It takes a keen eye to see that it's a stolen image.

I actually did this after your initial post and it was very easy to find the thieving culprit. Not very neighborly, is it! By the way, you original image is awesome! I can't image cutting that pearl with a 90 degree cut - very clever!

 

[mrsadm]

Expensive, and not available if the photo pincher is not in the jurisdiction

Not necessarily expensive, nor does jurisdiction necessarily matter, because if the letters are effective, and the offender deletes your image, then you've got what you wanted. Just sayin' cause that's been my experience.

 

[JerseyPearl]

One would think that if they applied half as much effort to their own work as they do in stealing the works of others...ah but who am I kidding? It's far easier to be lazy than to build your own success.

Sarah you are very gracious.

 

[SpookyAL]

That's funny. The word that came to mind to me, began with an A and ended with hole

 

[pattye]

Very, very sad. I fear there's no end in sight.

 

[Pearly-Whites]

This is terrible. It is difficult enough to run a business without constant worry about internet issues.

Someone above suggested using a paper background with your logo imprinted on it and it seems to be a relatively simple solution and would at least make it a little more difficult to copy the photos.

 

[Katbran]

It's always astonishing how unscrupulous people can be - from ripping off your website to the Bernie Madoff's to the fake Cancer Cures.. so many people out there doing business with absolutely no conscience . Quite discouraging.

 

[kojimapearl]

Thanks JerseyPearl, that’s sweet of you.

MSC: I like the idea of adding metadata to images, I wish they would “stick"

Battah: I do have little logo metal stampings I had made ages ago, but I will work to get some that are even smaller, maybe 5mm, that might just do the trick whilst looking somewhat elegant, thanks.

I can’t find who to thank originally for the idea of original paper.. but the girls in the studio are always complaining that we have to edit out the scratches on the plastic board we shoot photos on, so maybe we can imprint a logo on that plastic and work around watermarking the photos every time. mmmmmm, tap plastics is going to have a field day with me on this one

Thanks for the brainstorming session here. I really appreciate everyone’s input.
With warmth, Sarah

 

[SunSeeker]

Unfortunately, there's no end to those driven to lie and steal. But karma will catch up with them. Meanwhile, wishing you all the best Sarah!