reminder for all who post stolen images!

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reminder for all who post stolen images!

Postby Szoboti » Mon Aug 12, 2013 12:08 pm

The 3D community is growing, but it is still small compared to 2D photography. This means, that a lot of users know about eachother, and their works. And if someone uploads a stolen images, the chanes of getting caught are very real! Stealing is against the rules of Phereo, and all other good photo sharing sites, and mostly, it is against the law. The local you live by, the one where the stolen images originates, and the international...

I did come across some stolen images in the past, and sadly, i do know about a lot now, here on phereo! So, stop it!

I will not stand by, waiting! I will notify the original creator and owner of the image, if i see some stolen. An since we all can be 100% sure, that Phereo admins will delete stolen images as they did before, why to upload them in the first place?
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Re: reminder for all who post stolen images!

Postby nickmur » Mon Aug 12, 2013 1:10 pm

Hi,

Thank you for your support and attitude. Phereo supports the original content and it's creators.

All fraud images will be deleted once original authorship is proven.
Kind regards,
Nick Murashov

Phereo team.
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Re: reminder for all who post stolen images!

Postby Szoboti » Mon Aug 12, 2013 4:20 pm

All this stolen image thing got me thinking, and i do have a few questions that might be hard to answer. And on top of that, today i got a letter from someone who's images were stolen by one member here, and he wrote: "This is a constant problem with Phereo."

So the questions are:

How much does image theft hurt Phereo in general?
I mean, a lot of great work is on flickr, and we all know, that Phereo is far better in displaying 3D images. So why don't they come over? Is there a connection between the image theft problem and flickr artist not joining in large numbers? On a side note: I'm not a big fan of the save image option in Phereo app for android. We have phereo to see the photos, why save them? Almost a year ago i came across a 3D picture of mine on a 3D presentation by a big electronics company at IFA in Berlin. I was not all happy about it...

How to deal with stolen images?
I know, there is a good moderation, and I know, that you need good proof to delete any image. It is all fair. But i came across more users that have more stolen images than original. If a know the origin of 40% of their images, and there are sings that tell us, that others might be stolen as well, how to stop it? Some sites suspend and ban users for such activity.

Why they steal images?
Apart from the very basic "act as it is mine" can it be, that some people just want to see a side-by-side or cross view picture from flickr in a better format? I know, it sounds stupid... But lets assume!
I dream big, and i ask, can yo make a browser window within Phereo, to be able to look at SBS an X View pictures from other places, like Flickr? But all of this without making a copy, without stealing? So people could browse Flickr with Phereo... (I know, i did dream big)


One more extra thing:
A lot of images uploaded by rezan made it to staff picks and featured...
:(
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Re: reminder for all who post stolen images!

Postby nickmur » Tue Aug 13, 2013 3:04 pm

Hi,

You've asked some really interesting questions here, let me try and answer some.

Yes, Phereo is, by definition, a better place to share 3D images. Our initial idea was to create the best sharing experience for all 3D enthusiasts out there.
We do not have a high rate of improper use of images and do not consider it a major reason not to join our community.

Never the less, we are currently switching to Creative Commons to help you protect your images with a license of your preference. If you choose a non-redistributable license, your pictures won't have a save option or a right-click menu.

If you have any suggestions on security measures, we would like to hear them out and discuss. Please, let us know!

We act on Presumtion of Innnocence: innocent until proven guilty. Phereo assumes all of the content is used according to licences. Once images are claimed violated we delete them. There is no saying in whether the user will upload stolen content again. In this case, as it causes so much violation claims we'll try to adress the user and ask him to remove all of the improperly used content. If misused pictures appear again, we will consider banning.

About that Phereo Flickr browser: it's not that we don't want to extend our website, but we've already made a whole Flickr for 3D pictures: Phereo.com :)
Actually, there is a number of difficulties that will not let us handle Flickr pictures. Maybe users miss some Flickr features on Phereo? Tell us so we can improve and deliver you a level of comfort you expect.

Also, we have separate products, such as Phereo photo and video players that you can use for external viewing and galleries.

We do out best to protect the images you trust us with and constantly improve all the security features we have. We will be happy to hear your suggestions and discuss their implementation.
Kind regards,
Nick Murashov

Phereo team.
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Re: reminder for all who post stolen images!

Postby Szoboti » Tue Aug 13, 2013 5:59 pm

Hi,

What you write about the improper use rate is good. Now You guys should find out, why there are so many great 3D photographers on flickr, who are not here yet. I know, i'm not much help. :roll:

About the current bunch of stolen images. I will notify the creators and ask them, to act, since I'm not internet police. I'm just upset by the amount of stolen images i come across the last few weeks. And no, most of them were not here. Two weeks ago i went through some of my pictures with google "search by image" and i fund a lot around the web...
But in the end, I tried the function just out of curiosity, here and it works with 2D view. So i tried it with my own pictures, and then some others. From users whose galleries looked strange to me. With cut off borders, low resolution images and no consistence in quality. And images search prove my theory right. Now there are at least 3 users, who reposted images fromthe same website. And there is the one, who has a lot of staff picks and featured, and whos gallery consist at least in 80% of stolen images.

The solution?

Now that is hard and i'm sure You guys are way ahead of me.
About the Presumtion of Innnocence: You are absolutely right! But we have some probles,that need to be adressed and it will take time and effort.

1. If someone finds his/her image stolen, he/she can do whatever comes to mind. Make a copy of the page and start a legal action aganst the uploader, or usually, just ask You guys to delete is. It is all very simple.

2. if someone finds an image, that is stolen from someone else, he or she can act quick and use thre report fuction. But this will remove the evidence.
Or can start by notifing the rights holder. Now if you are a content creator and the first interaction you have with a site is the time you try to remove your stolen images... Well, i'm not going to assume you might not come back, but it is not the best way to meet. And there we have it. A real problem.
Now how about a new button under "Abuse"? One called "infringes on someone else's copyright" And in that menu, you would ask for proof of copyright infringment, contact information for the creator whos photo is stolen and same for the notifier. Now an automatic mail would go out to the uploader, the suspected rights holder and the notifier with details about the image and the submitted proof. After you deal with the abuese report, a new mail would go out to all. "proof was sufficient/insufficient" and so on. Not much, but enough to let people see, that you care. I know you care, but customer care shows a lot better when it reaches the surface. :)

About the users who upload stolen content:
We have a very real problem with rezan. He violated a lot of peoples rights and he still has stolen images uneder his account in Staff Picks, Featured and Popular. The fame might be virtual, but the hurt is real. I wold create a grey zone for those who upload stolen images, banning them from any recognition! So if a user is caught with stolen pictures, all his/her pictures should be banned from any recognitn (staff pics, featured and popular) except for like, for a few months.

Well, all of this is just my opinion. I would love to thear the opinion of others.

Best Regards
and Thank You for the work You guys put in Phereo!

Tamas
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Re: reminder for all who post stolen images!

Postby sleightman » Wed Aug 14, 2013 5:44 am

Hi Tamas,

I want to thank you for your diligent work in pointing out rezan's photostream. I was contacted today by a friend of mine who alerted me to the fact that rezan has about 8 images stolen from my Flickr stream posted in his account. I am so familiar with the work of others, that I can safely say that every image in his account is stolen. I seriously doubt he has ever taken an original photo. He has stolen from fossilmike, skipfotos, glinka, fotoopa, myself, and several others. It appears from a comment on one of the photos that the phereo team is aware of rezan, but his account is still up an running.

It's all very odd, because in my time at Flicker and at a 3D forum, I have never seen images being stolen like this. This seems to be unique to this site as this is the second time I have had my images posted in Phereo by someone who lifted my images off of Flickr. :?

I think it would be prudent for Phereo to delete rezan's account, now! He (or she) has not responded to inquiries and certainly hasn't responded to me. Keeping the account up and running will prove to be more of a headache than it is worth. None of the work in the stream is the work of rezan.

All that being said, I still think Phereo is an excellent platform and their intergration into our forum has been fantastic.

Best,
sleightman.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sleightman3d/
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Re: reminder for all who post stolen images!

Postby Szoboti » Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:15 am

Hi Sleightman,

The reasons, why rezans images are still up might be two things.

1. The images were not reported as abuse (not yet, and not yet by me) only pointed out as suspicius.

2. If Phereo removes the images now, the original creators/right holders might not get a canche to get proof for the theft. Don't forget, that while chances of getting a useful legal action against "rezan" might be slim, some might still decide to do it.

So my "plan" is to get in touch with every affected creator i can, and ask them to use the "abuse" button themselves or let me do it. It must be their choice, not mine. But i might not reach all, so if you could tell your friend, it might help us all. I'm certain that Phereo admins will do the best they can, but as you see, now they are in a complicated situation.
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Re: reminder for all who post stolen images!

Postby Szoboti » Wed Aug 14, 2013 3:48 pm

One more very important problem!

People who are not signed in can not report abuse!
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Re: reminder for all who post stolen images!

Postby Szoboti » Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:15 am

rezan just showed how ignorant he is. He still claims the pictures as his own, while more and more evidence is surfacing.

We can argue about it, but it is wery clear, that he has stolen most of his pictures. I posted link to the originals to a lot of his pictures. How much more proof you need?

Most of the people he has stolen from responded, claiming right of their images. Many of them are not capable to file an abuse report since the site requres them to be registered. The situation ha become unfair for the original creators and the sistem is protecting someone who clearly violated the rules of this site.

If proof is what you need, i will provide you with it!
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Re: reminder for all who post stolen images!

Postby turbguy » Fri Aug 16, 2013 6:14 am

I have provided PROOF to Phereo, and officially demanded mine be removed from Rezan's photos over 36 hours ago. I used the proper "DMCA NOTICE OF ALLEGED INFRINGEMENT (“NOTICE“)" via proper feedback channel provided by Phereo, and yet they are still there.

Phereo, do you really wish to here from my attorney?

GET THEM OFF!!!


NOW!!!!
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