One of my slipper friends alerted me the other day that one of my photos was posted on an eBay site:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Phragmipedium-Wo...QcmdZViewItem?
When I saw it, I knew that someone from that company had taken it from the Porter's Orchids site, where I am the Webmaster and do nearly all the photography. I emailed Larry's Orchids, telling them that although I had given permission for that photo to be displayed on certain sites (e.g., slipperorchids.info), theirs was not one of them. I asked them to either take off the photo or pay me for it's commercial use.
They wrote back saying that the photo would be taken off within 24 hours. Their webmaster wrote back at the same time saying it would be taken off within the hour.
After 24 hours, and the photo was still up, I wrote to them again, stating that I was not pleased. I also mentioned that I'm now on our orchid society's Board of Directors, and that maybe the Board would like to know this about one of their proposed vendors for our February show. I also mentioned that people on the slipper forums have expressed displeasure with such antics on other eBay sites.
Larry wrote back and accused me of blackmail, and said he wanted to be placed on the Board's agenda. I gave him the names and emails of all the board members and when our next meeting would be. I also told him that he could call it blackmail if he liked, but wondered what he would call taking a photo from another's website and using it as his own? I would call it theft.
It has now been 53 hours since I was told the photo would be taken down within 24 hours, and it is still there. In fact, it appears 3 times on that page.
I also want everyone to be aware that he changed the name of the file, and put his own watermark on the lower right corner -- as if it were his own photo.
I contacted eBay support and told them of this infraction. Just got a letter back from them saying, basically, if I want to do anything about it, I have to download a form, fill it out and fax it to them. They noted that time was very important as items come and go quickly on eBay. In other words, although I gave them all the particulars in my email to them, they really don't want to do anything about it.
Yes, I've asked to place this issue on our Board's agenda.
Incidentally, until this happened, I had high regard for Larry and his business. I've purchased at least one plant and some supplies from them, and supported their inclusion on our vendor list.
Just thought you'd all like to know about all this.
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Larry's Orchids on eBay
You really have to wonder what people are thinking sometimes. 
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