Stolen Images..Check for Yours!

[Little_Orca]

UPDATE: The page is gone! :D



Thanks to a fellow mermaid, I have found a website that has taken an image of me to use in her advertising to make mermaid tails. When I was on the site, I noticed other images of other mermaids that I know she did not own. Here is the website:

http://www.aanbod.be/kleding/bad-en-strandmode/handgemaakte-meermin-staarten-793803.html

It is in Dutch. The mermaid who alerted me to this problem stated:

"There is a Belgium girl that said she is a tailmaker, but uses pics of others tails and drawings. She uses your pics to to promote her work. I mailed her and asked if she got pics of her own work, but then she told me that she never got pics from her 'costumers' in 'her tails'. So I mail het back and asked if she got pics of her own tails, then she told me that those weren't good to post. I also told her that it's illegal to use pics from others without asking first, her answer to that: They never know that I use them. I don't believe she ever made a tail in her live.
Here is the link to the add: http://www.aanbod.be/kleding/bad-en-...en-793803.html (http://www.aanbod.be/kleding/bad-en-strandmode/handgemaakte-meermin-staarten-793803.html)

I hope I you can do something about it ;) I tryed but she refuse to remove those pics."

I have already sent the person an email about the removal of my image and stated I would alert the rest of the MerNetwork to her theft and fraud. Go on and show her that we KNOW she is using our pictures without our permission and we will not stand for it.

[AniaR]

this is the SECOND time this has happened, I have to wonder if it's not the same person? They stole my image last time. Best thing to do is report the website for fraud

[Mermaid Fenicia]

I already did that, but the report-button doesn't work. It returned my mail :( I don't think it's the same person as this is (I think) just a very young girl who wants to earn quick money here in Belgium. I've already mailed her about those pics and she refuse to remove them as she said that the owners never will know she is using them. :(

[ShyMer]

Assuming she doesn't pull the photos down, what can be done? I see other tails I recognize, specifically the dragon tail from the mermagica website. Maybe they would be willing to pursue this person for stealing their photo for advertising?

I don't know, it just seems to me if a person is being stubborn, it's going to be a pain to have to legally force someone to drop the photos.

How's her English? Does she seem to understand the problem people are bringing to her? I'd like her to understand if she has to be threatened with something as well.

[Lyna]

oh wow! yup, i def recognized a couple pics on there. not mine... but wow.

[Angel the Little Merman]

If she is young (and want to be part of this community) she should understand what she's doing is wrong not only because not only she's stealing but she's basically taken credit on other people's hard work and talent, but if this is coming from a very spiteful person, I guess what goes around comes around.

[Mermaid Fenicia]

I don't think she understand English as her Dutch isn't very good as well. Or she speaks French or other languages :( I mailed a few times with her telling she is doing illegal stuff, but still she refuse to take down those pics. :(

[MermaidIvy]

I recognized some of the tails, espescially the Dragon tail from Mermagica.
How can we get them to stop? :0

[Mermaid Celissa]

I emailed the person...waiting for a response

[Mermaid Celissa]

I keep getting the same email:

Hieronder volgt een kopie van jouw reactie die werd verstuurd naar de adverteerder:



Abby (mermaidgirlio@yahoo.com) heeft via aanbod.be (http://www.aanbod.be/) een reactie op je zoekertje gegeven:

Tip: Vind aanbod.be leuk op Facebook! (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gratis-Zoekertjes-AANBODbe/163199913714726/)

Who do you think you are? Translate this if you must, I don't really care! These images are NOT yours. It is illegal to steal pictures from other people. The last one is from an actual company!

U vindt het oorspronkelijke zoekertje hier: Handgemaakte meermin staarten (http://www.aanbod.be/handgemaakte-meermin-staarten--793803.html)

Beantwoord deze mail om Abby (mermaidgirlio@yahoo.com) van een reactie te voorzien.

aanbod.be is de snelst groeiende verkoopsite van Vlaanderen!
Klik hier om nog een GRATIS zoekertje te plaatsen! (http://www.aanbod.be/zoekertje_plaatsen2)
Vind aanbod.be leuk op Facebook! (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gratis-Zoekertjes-AANBODbe/163199913714726/)


Which translates to:

Below is a copy of your response that was sent to the advertiser: Abby has aanbod.be via a response to your advertisement are given: Tip: Find aanbod.be fun on Facebook! Who do you think you are? Translate this if you must, I do not really care! These images are NOT yours. It is illegal to steal pictures from other people. The last one is from an actual company! You can find the original ad here: Handmade mermaid tails Answer this mail to Abby (mermaidgirlio@yahoo.com) to provide a response. aanbod.be is the fastest growing sales site of Flanders! Click here to see a free ad! Find aanbod.be fun on Facebook!

[Raayvhen]

I sent her a message as well as reporting her (hopefully? The box didn't close on its own....)

[Mermaid Celissa]

What else could we do? Other than report through the internet?

[SilverSiren]

If someone is pissed off enough, any legal action permissible under US and International copyright law can be brought on her, which includes prison depending on how far she went with it, ie, if she makes a lot of money making tails as a result or uses the photos for fraud and steals money from people. It's in her best interest that we caught it now before someone decides to take legal action and do what we can to stop her, like sending her emails telling her YES, we DO know your using these photos. She needs to know that this isn't right, no matter what her age.

[Lyna]

while we're on the topic....i've been having issues with people stealing and spreading my personal photos from facebook. i have a copyright notice listed in my info along with the repercussions of using my photos without permission, and when it happens i message the person asking them to remove it with a friendly warning about doing it again. and then if they dont remove it i start warning that i will report them. once down, i normally have to block them, becausew they arent too cool about me being mad they want my pics. it's so weird to me. it happened with a mermaid photo last night... i sort of get that. but other times it's been pictures of my WEDDING- soooo weird, and i'm just waiting for some freak to take pics of my kids.
is there any action besides thru fb i can do for the ones who just refuse to take it down?

[Thalassa]

I'd warn them once and report it. Comment repeatedly on the photo that it's yours and stolen...

EDIT: Oops, my mind edited out the "besides" in "besides thru fb" for some reason. Outside of fb, I'm not sure. :-S

[AniaR]

I sent the site to mermagika too

[Mermaid Star]

Reported as well

[Little_Orca]

I emailed her in both English and Google translator Dutch.


Greetings Aspiring Tail Maker,

It has been brought to my attention that you are using photographs that do not belong to you in order to advertise tails that you are not creating. One, that is theft, and two that is fraud. I can see that the image in question is taken from a screenshot from one of my films, and in the details of that film it clearly states that it may not be reposted anywhere else without permission. That includes screen shots. I ask that you remove the image of me from your website, as you did not ask to use my image, or I will seek the consultation of my lawyer.

The image is located at this address. http://images.aanbod.be/gallery/670x503-0/b0e3c3/handgemaakte-meermin-staarten.jpg I have the website bookmarked and will be checking again to see if my image has been removed. I will also be informing the other members of the MerNetwork about their stolen images. I am also keeping a record of this email as evidence of my request to have my photograph removed from your site.

Sincerely,

Melissa Thomas, Little Orca / Merlissa


I also happen to know some computer savvy people who could potentially remove the ad, but I would rather not go that route if I don't have to.

I attempted to report the page itself, but the report button is not working.

[Mermaid Celissa]

That was really professional and responsible of you Orca!

[Thalassa]

To those who are having issues with the report button, this may help: I tried the report button through google translate, and it didn't work (gave me a 404 error). When I went back to the untranslated site and clicked it, it worked.

Hope this helps a few!

[Little_Orca]

When I used it untranslated Thalassa, it looked like it worked then I got an email saying that it was not sent. Check your inbox. :)

[Thalassa]

I did when people said emails were bouncing back...nothing yet...

(Yes, I checked my spam folder, too)

[Little_Orca]

Hopefully that is good news. :)

[Thalassa]

Sorry, because I'm not tech savvy at all, but trying to help...I noticed there's a "contact" link at the bottom of the page. Maybe we can report it manually? Say the report button isn't working, link to the ad?

[meremily]

she took pictures of my tail the blue one !!! what do i do!

[meremily]

how do i report the page?
also i wrote to this person and the email i sent came back to me:mad:

[meremily]

http://www.schofields.ltd.uk/blog/1951/how-to-stop-and-remove-photo-content-theft/

i found these step by step
has any of you got an anwer for this person?

[Little_Orca]

I have not gotten an answer yet.

[meremily]

ok. ive sent an email with the link of the page to google saying the problems we have with this site. will see what happens!

[Little_Orca]

Has anyone heard anything? The site is still up and the pictures still there.

[Mermaid Celissa]

I hope something can be done soon before more pictures get stolen. I guess for now, take down any photos of you in your tail or your tail itself, or put it on private.

[Little_Orca]

I watermark my pictures, but the one she stole was from my videos. They are old and it was before those ones got watermarked.

[Capt Nemo]

First off, GET YOUR PICS REGISTERED at the copyright office. It may cost about $35. THEN you can sue/get lawyers on it. If you want to throw the book at her, it'll be $250,000 out of her pocket.

But you get nothing if the pics aren't registered!

[SilverSiren]

First off, GET YOUR PICS REGISTERED at the copyright office. It may cost about $35. THEN you can sue/get lawyers on it. If you want to throw the book at her, it'll be $250,000 out of her pocket.

But you get nothing if the pics aren't registered!

Correct me if I'm wrong but US copyright law states that all forms of artistic expression such as paintings, photos, music etc are automatically protected under the copyright laws?

[Mermaid Arianna]

I just emailed her pretending to be a potential costumer to see what she says, I said
"Hello! I saw your site and was interested in that pink tail at the end of the slideshow, about how much would it cost for that tail in US dollars? What kind of fabric is it made out of and what monofin is used? Please reply soon!"

I mean, duh thats a mermagica tail but as long as she thinks i dont know it wont her.

[AniaR]

so i googled this person's email, great way to see other things they post onlie and back check someone.
their email contact on website: transmermaid@hotmail.com
they TOTALLY speak english. http://transmermaid.webs.com/apps/forums/topics/show/2256937 they have their own forum, speak it very well. http://transmermaid.webs.com/

gooogle their email, not only does it come up as the contact info for their website they post ALL OVER the web. Not cool- it's all mermaid related too

[Mermaid Sirena]

Correct me if I'm wrong but US copyright law states that all forms of artistic expression such as paintings, photos, music etc are automatically protected under the copyright laws?

Although that is true to have paper work & a strong legal pull it is best to copyright them. You can bundle your work to only pay the copyright fee once. Pretty much the courts look at it is if you don't care enough to pay $35 to copyright it why on earth are you making a fuss. It aslo provides a paper trail & the more paper trails you make the stronger your case.

[Mermaid Momo]

I also noticed that she has a vampire site too. I hope she isn't stealing photos of ppl in the vamp. community too (although they would be hard to come by with vamps being sorta anti-media)

[Mermaid Momo]

http://transmermaid.webs.com/apps/videos/
little_orca, they have your video posted here as well as mermaid Aubery's and another mermaid who's name i don't know.

[Little_Orca]

That video is marked private, thankfully, so no one can see it. I still have yet to get an email back from the, but I did leave a nice little comment on that video.

[Kitty-Madison Snel]

Maybe I can help all of you. I speak Dutch, so for me it is a piece of a cake to write / call her. What do you want to say to her (exept to remove the pictures)?

[AniaR]

she speaks english. very well. she's bsing people

[Little_Orca]

We reported her other page given that more images were there with their copywrite cut off from them. The site is hosted in the US, so there may be more that can be done.

[Sea Pearl]

Sorry to hear about tl pictures getting stolen. Hope something can be cleared up soon before more get taken.

[Little_Orca]

Well, I got a lovely little "Please join my site!" email after I left a comment about a video of mine she had linked to her own mermaid forum:


Hello little_orca@hotmail.com,

Thanks for leaving a comment on http://transmermaid.webs.com/ (http://transmermaid.webs.com/apps/auth/redirect?inviteID=152421744&hash=44a60570ed62166d70c2bf6b7c3c2bd8&action=respond&next=)!

Would you like to contribute, share thoughts with other site members and receive occasional email updates on site activity? If so, then click here to join: http://transmermaid.webs.com/apps/auth/confirm?inviteID=152421744&hash=44a60570ed62166d70c2bf6b7c3c2bd8&action=accept

Looking forward to seeing you back on the site.

- Joke Sillis

Almost insulting at this point, lol.

[Mermaid Fenicia]

That means she don't read what people put there and just copy-and-paste that text :(

[Capt Nemo]

Correct me if I'm wrong but US copyright law states that all forms of artistic expression such as paintings, photos, music etc are automatically protected under the copyright laws?

Technically they are, but aren't enforceable in court until registered with the copyright office. Once you have that, then you can bust chops.

[SilverSiren]

Technically they are, but aren't enforceable in court until registered with the copyright office. Once you have that, then you can bust chops.

Ah, I see. lol, bust chops, I like that saying. Well, either way, it's pretty carppy that this person is doing this and blatantly ignoring all the messages. It's sad that people can't just be respectful. Having to put watermarks over beautiful images is sad, but seems like the only way to put off would be image thieves so you don't have to deal with this sort of thing in the first place. :(

[NerineArcticMermaid]

alot of those videoes are from marinas work woth the virtual aquarioum in asia somewhere...
Mike van daals on there too...
And One of Hannahs work.. I bet if you contact Hannah she'll get it taken down asap!

[Mermaid Star]

I went on to the forums on that page and honestly, we are dealing with a crazy person. I was a bit shocked and appalled when I found a message from a child on there having trouble with her friend after showing her this site. The friend stopped talking to her as much because she mentioned that the site was a fake (doing spells to become a mermaid). There I found a response from "Transmermaid" telling her that she should lie about her friend to get back at her and that she isn't accepting of her true self (her trying to turn her self into a mermaid via spell casting) .... This screams cult! This site is scarey and I am appalled that they are taking advantage of children like this.

[Spindrift]

alot of those videoes are from marinas work woth the virtual aquarioum in asia somewhere...
Mike van daals on there too...
And One of Hannahs work.. I bet if you contact Hannah she'll get it taken down asap!

The virtual aquarium, if I'm not wrong, is in a casino in Macau. I only recognize it because I was there earlier this summer to check out the awesome House of Dancing Water show.

[Mermaid Sirena]

Why not report the site to their hosting service (http://www.webs.com/report.htm) for the copyrighted material to have it taken down?

[Sea Pearl]

alot of those videoes are from marinas work woth the virtual aquarioum in asia somewhere...
Mike van daals on there too...
And One of Hannahs work.. I bet if you contact Hannah she'll get it taken down asap!

Maybe someone should contact hannah?

[SilverSiren]

RIGHT! ok Mers! I contacted both Hanna and the web host, none of my pictures or vids are on her site, so I did this on behalf of all of you. If you have done this already yourselves, then please ignore this, if you haven't and would like me to continue the complaint on your behalf then please read the following email sent to me by the web host. I NEED this information by the end of the day if you wish for me to send this back. If you want to do a complaint yourselves, then please do so, this is what they will ask of you so you can be prepared!

Clark, Aug 16 13:57 (EDT): Thank you for contacting Webs Inc. ("Webs"). Webs respects the intellectual property rights of others and we would be pleased to take action pursuant to the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") and/or Webs established polices and procedures to assist you in the protection of the intellectual property rights held by you or your client.
However, your recent correspondence was insufficient to constitute an effective Notification of Infringement ("NOI") within the meaning of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") and/or as required by Webs policy. The elements required for an effective NOI, and the contact information for submitting a NOI to Webs, are set forth below.
Please be aware that you may submit a NOI in response to this e-mail. To be effective within the meaning of the DMCA, a NOI must contain substantially the following:
1. A description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed;
2. A description of the location where the material that you claim is infringing is located;
3. A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the reported use is not authorized by the copyright or intellectual property owner, its agent, or the law;
4. Your address, telephone number, and, if available, e-mail address;
5. A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information is accurate and that you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner's behalf; and
6. An electronic or physical signature by the person making the submission (i.e., you or such other person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright holder). If the submission is made electronically, to satisfy the signature requirement please designate the electronic signature by typing a forward slash before and after the name of the authorized person making the submission (e.g., /Jane Doe/) and follow this electronic signature with the typed name of the person. For example:
/Jane Doe/
Jane Doe
This format is intended to represent a signature and typed name as is customarily found within the signature block of business correspondence transmitted in hard copy.
Once Webs has received a NOI containing each of the required elements detailed above, Webs will expeditiously proceed to process your request.
We wish to thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or we can further assist you in this matter.
You can also contact us through our mailing address or fax number below.
Copyright Agent
c/o Webs Abuse Department
Webs Inc.
1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 801
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301-960-9021 (tel:301-960-9021)
Best Regards,
Webs Abuse Department
Kindest Regards,
Clark

[Madison]

(I haven't read the whole topic, so if this has been mentioned before please ignore.) If anyone is going to pursue this person, please make sure you make a few print screens of that website! That way you always have proof :) Good luck! (And if needed, I am Dutch so I could translate anything for you if you want :) )

[Little_Orca]

The page has been taken down!

[Angel the Little Merman]

Good!

[Mermaid Fenicia]

Only her add is taken down, her 'website' is still there :(