tumblr thieves

[LongLensPhotography]

I am really not sure what to do - if anything.

Many of my images have been reposted from flickr, modified or not. It is out of control. They have no permissions to do that.
a random example http://f-elicis.tumblr.com/post/15564670836
I had never intended my image too look like this, nor be displayed on that site devoid of any copyright notes.

I am not sure what is the best way forward. It would be nice to generate some sales from that, but... I have too little control there. Sadly even flickr is getting funny about adding links to your site.

 

[neil_g]

looks like the only way forward is to mail support@tumblr.com

but i think theyre a US site so not sure how this works:

Copyright. Using copyrighted material does not constitute infringement in all cases. In general, however, users should be careful when using copyrighted content without the permission of those who created it. It is our policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA").

http://www.tumblr.com/policy/en/content

 

[neil_g]

also see copyright infringement section:

http://www.tumblr.com/policy/en/terms_of_service

 

[brianwar]

Putting aside the fact that they have converted it to b&w - because I would take umbrage at that - I don't see what the big deal is.

They aren't passing it off as their work, they aren't making money from it, they are blogging it presumably because they think it's a good image and want other people to look at it, which is why you put it on Flickr in the first place no? Clicking the image links straight to your Flickr where any interested parties could contact you to inquire about purchasing/licensing the image. They are promoting you. For free.

 

[Jayst84]

Tumblr encourages stuff like this, it's how the site works.

Editing the shot is annoying though.

A mate of mine works for Grazia as their in house photographer, he's started getting heaps of images appearing around Tumblr, mostly it's all good as Brian says. But, recently a couple of users started downloading his shots, editing the colours and reposting them (in some cases adding their own watermark as well). A polite email later they apologised for not realising it was an issue, took them down and everyone was happy.

 

[phil8139]

Watermark, simple effective watermark, yes they look horrid, yes they spoil the picture. But if someone want to buy your image, they will know that they are not buying the watermark. Not wanting to teach my granny to suck eggs, if it's on the web - it will be stolen.

Phil.

 

[bluesockphotos]

I'm concerned about the same thing, and I've resorted to watermarking too.

Yes, I agree they do spoil the image, but I think it's the only realistic way of preventing your image from going walkabouts. I've seen some fairly inventive solutions that try to prevent people from downloading images, by disabling mouse clicks, etc, but there's always a way around it, and it's probably not worth the effort!

If anyone has another idea though, I'm all ears!

 

[brianwar]

If anyone has another idea though, I'm all ears!

Don't put your images online?

Seriously though, I have seen pictures on peoples facebooks etc which have been so low res and so obtrusively watermarked that they are virtually unrecognisable.

My point being that in a lot of cases, these things don't bother the person that uses the image, they were never going to and never will pay for the pleasure of using an image so watermarking etc doesn't generate you any extra income, it just makes your pics look crap.

I suppose that were I an event photographer trying to make an income from image sales then I might feel differently but a lot of the photography I do related to cycling get's blogged and reblogged and posted here there and everywhere by people I have never heard of and i just take it as a compliment.

 

[DropDead]

This is why I use tumblr as my 'website' I post a picture.. then go on an hour later and see 40 people have re-blogged it, that means its going on to 1000000's of peoples screens.. Just a simple watermark in the corner of my website brings mass followers.