Illegal Use of Photos

[gnathaniel]

Gloria, are we not allowed to post ebay and other vendor links? I know I've done so (and seen it done by others) in other threads, though like I said earlier I haven't reread TOS in a while. Is this newly prohibited, or is it specific to this thread? Thanks for clarification!

I didn't look through all the listings this ebay seller put up, but from what I saw she always used attributable links for bloom images. This is far better than many sellers who simply include others' images in listings without notification or permission. Personally I feel like we should encourage this seller's overall behavior, though I also feel she would be wise and polite to check with site-owners before linking to their images.

As for ebay's quality, it really depends on the seller. There are some very reputable and high-quality nurseries doing business there, and I have a lot of great plants purchased through ebay from sellers I trust highly. It is unfortunate that ebay tends not to intervene regarding blatant copyright infringement, but there's nothing of that sort obvious in this particular case anyway. YMMV, of course.

--Nat

[Lagoon]

Hi Nat,

No, my comment was not directed to the other vendors
This thread is a sensitive topic.I believe it's appropriate to keep ebay vendors links off this thread.
Besides why allow the original ebayer in question to make money over someone else's grief with links to their products.

Yes it is specific to this thread only

[lambelkip]

I'd like to point out that this vendor still has several listings with copied photos in the listing itself(not just a link to the photo) some of these photos even have a watermark with a copyright notice in it.

looking through the vendors listings, I can see photos from at least 3 commercial vendors, but they claim to have permission to use them.

Other photos I can't identify the source, but seem to be a variety of different photography styles (a few I know are copyrighted, but I can't remember who the owner is.)

[stefpix]

Since I have been following this thread I went to check the pages on ebay as I was curious how those links were used.
So having a sample was worth more than the information.

I think asking for permission is nice, but can not always be expected. That vendor in the pages i have seen referenced the links with the image of the flowers.

I do not see legal issues nor to me seems unethical.

I used to follow the NY Times' ethicist column. It was great to give perspective on such and other issues, sometimes serious other times mundane.

I had my photos used against my will. sometimes it was nice but you need to check if the battle is worth.

ANyway webpages get linked all the time. If you look at the stats of your own webpage control panel you can see where is linked from, what pages countries etc.

I am wondering how Jay Pfahl, the guy that runs IOSPE feels about this as vendors so often link to his page. It would be good to hear his point of view about this debate.

Even some plants are now copyrighted and can not be reproduced or propagated in any way!