Photo Theft Alert!

[Tom-DE]

For those who wonder why I have no longer had photos attached to my threads, I've deleted them all because some people have been stealing photos from here and you will have no protection or suport from OB what so ever.

Marty, no one is trying to rock your boat here. Good bye and god bless you!

For the mods, be fair!

[FairyInTheFlowers]

That must have sucked!

[RJSquirrel]

I feel bad for you Tom that this has happened. We have enjoyed your pictures and will miss your posts. Maybe things will come back into "FOCUS" and you will return when these issues get resolved.

I just don't see how OB can be responsible for actions taken by others regardless of their status here or elsewhere regarding their using your pictures.





I wish someone would steal mine just for the EXPOSURE ...

[Anisa]

Sorry, Tom-DE, this happened to you. I would be also very upset. It is apparent that some people think that everything on the internet is free to use and as more we talk about this issue as more people hopefully understand that is is not OK.
Using someones else creation for a personal gain without permission is stealing. Vendors wouldnt able to sell their orchids without your pictures (which are exceptionally good and show unusual plants) Shame on them!

[Tom-DE]

Originally Posted by RJSquirrel

I just don't see how OB can be responsible for actions taken by others regardless of their status here or elsewhere regarding their using your pictures.

No, OB is not responsible for or obligated to solve the photo theft problem. That is not what I would expect... but I think Tindomul had no good reason to close my thread IMO and he refused to reopen my thread. We all will disagree on something at some point but No one was losing an arm or a leg, and crying for mom there.

[sweetjblue]

Tom,
After reading your post about the photo theft the other day I spent some time on the internet. People of the OB would be surprised and maybe shocked at the amount of their pictures being used by not just vendors on eBay but other companies as well. There are alot.
In one such case it was of a really great shot of a Dtps that had been posted with copyright info in the right hand corner of the page. Guess what? On the vendors pic it had been cropped so it no longer appeared!
So even if you put your copyright on yours, its not safe.
Really now, how hard would it be for some of these people to shoot off an email to ask? It's not like the contact information isn't there if its from the OB, Flicker, Webshots etc.
So Tom, please know that we will be sorry to see your pics not being posted, but I for one can fully understand how you feel.

Judi

[zxyqu]

I agree, losing your images for the OB would be a loss to all of us.

[RJSquirrel]

you can layer a watermark image of your signature over the whole photo in photoshop and tis actually layered into the whole photo..crop that

[Gin]

This reminds me of school days a few rotten apples cause the rest to stay after school
I have found some of mine on the web one I emailed and he removed it . I have 4 in a book they are probably floating around in cyber space somewhere . I think what RJ and others suggested is the way to go watermark across the picture . ..Would hate to lose your beautiful photos. on the OB ..

[PaphMadMan]

Closing Tom-DE's thread was censorship, plain and simple. Maybe not big time CENSORSHIP, but censorship certainly. His concern about theft of his property is legitimate. That theft was an easily documented fact and may have involved this forum directly. The discussion of copyright issues was informative. Since it pertained to orchid photos and orchid vendors it was certainly on point for this forum.

Other forums have been damaged by the impulse to censor and even ban members for making waves. It might start out small, but that kind of thing can grow quickly.