What to do about image theft in this modern day and age...

[Taffeta]

IMO, you can't accidentally claim you own something. You can accidentally share it without knowing where it came from. But you can't accidentally write that you're the source and it's your own. And if people know that, that makes them complicit, which doesn't make the situation any more right.

The code thing is possible but the thing is the person that would annoy most is me. I often link from my own images to post them here for POTD threads or in discussions. And honestly, it doesn't matter anyway. You can get around right click disable by printscreening. And if you can disable printscreening - which some sites seem able to do - there's getting the phone and taking a photo of the screen. Also I don't mind people saving my pictures for personal reference if they're useful. I just mind them posting them online in other places and claiming they put them there.

I agree with brightberry that you can go to hours of trouble to fight this, but the problem is in the morality of the person. And the more you have to expend energy trying to fight against it, the reality is you're condoning that it happens, rather than calling it out.

I've had pony images stolen for ebay before, and also the entire text of my old website by a very odd person who decided that would be a good idea for some reason...? But that's going back a very long time. The latter person turned out to be a scammer. The former is clearly a scammer as they were claiming they had for sale the items which in fact they didn't (you may remember that, as I think you were key to the whistleblowing in that case...)

I also remember the ID site thing you mention. It's come up in discussion before.

The thing in those cases is that people got annoyed and it got stopped. So ponypeople did care about stuff being stolen from other members in those days and they did do stuff about it.

In the modern world it's not easy to stop, but people have almost given up with caring that it's wrong to take something without crediting it. Maybe I'm also looking at this as an academic who has to fastidiously reference anyone else's work else be accused of plagiarism, but I still don't think it's valid to take and claim an image, any image, that you didn't put there in the first place.

[Carrehz]

To be clear, I don't think of it in the same terms as original artwork being stolen. That's much more base and disgusting, especially when it's being used for a profit.

yeah, I didn't word that very well before - I was just trying not to put your problem down if that makes sense (like I didn't want it to come off as "oh well there are worse things..") I meant, I can more easily understand why people repost stuff like this - how someone can think "oh, well it's not their image, they didn't make it, so it's okay to repost it!". But that still doesn't make it quite right x)

Especially since in your case the OP is apparently specifically claiming it as their own... THAT is just messed up.

Plus you bring up a really good point about watermarking being counterproductive in cases like this. I've been thinking about that lately, too - been considering scanning some rare stuff from another collection I'm in, or taking detailed collection photos and stuff, and then I think, well should I watermark them? What if someone tries to jack the photos and use them for an eBay auction or something? But then I'm not a fan of big intrusive watermarks, either. No point putting up a nice pic if half of it has my name splashed all over it, right? It's difficult to know what to do for the best. :/ Can't win either way. But blatant reposters like this do ruin stuff for themselves, since as you pointed out it makes honest folks like us think twice about sharing rare stuff...

I guess I just wish it wasn't so... accepted nowadays. It's always gonna happen but people used to be more against it. I blame social media x)

[banditpony]

Yeah, I do know that xD. I realise I probably seem an idiot to you for not watermarking, but it's not that I don't know how it works or that the image is not being hosted on my server on that site, so there's no point in changing my file now. It's already out there in spamland.

Please don't say things like that. I didn't think you were an idiot.

I added that extra part, because you quoted it, and I wanted to clarify it is something you do before hand.

I tried to cover all general bases for 1) beforehand and 2) after. And I tried to just word if for people in general.

Quite honestly, everyone in the pony community is the same mix of people in life. There are going to be people who just take pictures and share.

Some well known pony ID site took my ebay pictures without credit, and I came down hard on them. Just flipping ask.

I’m right there with you with watermarks.  They hide details, not too hard to crop out unless they cover vital parts and modern image programs are making it easier and easier to remove them anyway.  If someone is determined enough, there is no stopping them.  The only thing you can do is call them out after the fact.

A lot of people don't bother with the extra effort. While it's SO easy to photoshop stuff (I do it for a living), a LOT of people don't even know how to edit pictures at an optimal size for viewing.

Come to think of it, that is something you might look into.  You can add code so that when someone tries to right click it will produce a text box, and you can make it say whatever you want (like "Don't copy my images without permission.")

While that would be a good thing to add, it's easy enough to just screen capture.


and I think the point of adding a small watermark (it doesn't have to be obnoxious) or the disable right click are not bad things at all. Because they will deter most people.

[LadyMoondancer]

If you're talking about the "Source: blogname" then I think that's auto-text from Tumblr.  (Not sure because different blogs display slightly differently depending on CSS.)

@Bandit  Most people are not going to go through the extra effort to screenshot, although I do agree it's an easy way around "no right-click".

[Taffeta]

Quite honestly, everyone in the pony community is the same mix of people in life. There are going to be people who just take pictures and share.

Some well known pony ID site took my ebay pictures without credit, and I came down hard on them. Just flipping ask.

On this we can absolutely agree.

@LM - ok, I didn't know that. But #mine is presumably not tumblr, so the same rules apply.

[LadyMoondancer]

I actually edited my post because I'm not sure anymore, Tumblr is weirdly variable which is both a blessing and a curse, ha ha.  (Edit:  did some more checking and I think I was initially right about it being automatically added.)

[banditpony]

If you're talking about the "Source: blogname" then I think that's auto-text from Tumblr.  (Not sure because different blogs display slightly differently depending on CSS.)

@Bandit  Most people are not going to go through the extra effort to screenshot, although I do agree it's an easy way around "no right-click".

I do it all the time-- although I rarely find things disabled these days. If I need to save an image, I will do it. (Although I don't share it). O_o I'll even just take a phone screenshot if that is what it takes.

But yes, probably most won't.

[Carrehz]

heck you don't even need to screenshot, usually you can just click on the image and drag it up to your address bar to see it full-size and be able to save it and stuff.

[Taffeta]

If you're talking about the "Source: blogname" then I think that's auto-text from Tumblr.  (Not sure because different blogs display slightly differently depending on CSS.)

@Bandit  Most people are not going to go through the extra effort to screenshot, although I do agree it's an easy way around "no right-click".

I do it all the time-- although I rarely find things disabled these days. If I need to save an image, I will do it. (Although I don't share it). O_o I'll even just take a phone screenshot if that is what it takes.

But yes, probably most won't.

I will also printscreen for private use. From ebay mostly. I will never use those images on my site. But if there is one surviving MOC image of a rare UK pony, I will want that for my private records, so that on my site I can write, "the comb is this, the ribbon is this" and know I'm not making it up.

I also had permission from someone to printscreen my way through their argos catalogue collection for my website use, and they're credited on my site for it, as they had rightclick disabled and so I emailed them.

As I said before, I have no issue with people saving my images for private reference use.

(complete tangent but my laptop is one of those that has very flexible hinges and can operate as a tablet basically. And for some annoying reason it won't print screen in that format, only when it's in proper PC format. Cue computer gymnastics as I try to get the screenshot that's clearest in the moment between it flipping from tablet to PC. Sigh, modern technology...)

[LadyMoondancer]

Speaking of photos and eBay, eBay's new policy is they will even allow (and maybe encourage) other sellers to use YOUR image for THEIR auction, which seems like an unbelievably bad idea for vintage collectibles.  (If it's a new, in-box toaster then yeah, I can see how it doesn't really matter.)  You could be pouring over a pic of Cotton Candy, looking for flaws, never realizing you won't be getting that particular pony . . .

[Taffeta]

Speaking of photos and eBay, eBay's new policy is they will even allow (and maybe encourage) other sellers to use YOUR image for THEIR auction, which seems like an unbelievably bad idea for vintage collectibles.  (If it's a new, in-box toaster then yeah, I can see how it doesn't really matter.)  You could be pouring over a pic of Cotton Candy, looking for flaws, never realizing you won't be getting that particular pony . . .

It's on the same lines as, "you lost this auction, but don't worry, we found other similar items! (that are entirely different ponies, generation or even different toys shaped like horses!"

[LadyMoondancer]

I'm waiting for eBay to try to sell me a real horse as a consolation.  I'm sure the day will come.

[Carrehz]

XP

What drives me crazy is when I'm trying to look at an ended auction's description/pictures/etc and they show me an entirely different active auction. I don't want to buy the dang thing, I just want to see its pictures!

[banditpony]

Speaking of photos and eBay, eBay's new policy is they will even allow (and maybe encourage) other sellers to use YOUR image for THEIR auction, which seems like an unbelievably bad idea for vintage collectibles.  (If it's a new, in-box toaster then yeah, I can see how it doesn't really matter.)  You could be pouring over a pic of Cotton Candy, looking for flaws, never realizing you won't be getting that particular pony . . .

I get it for stock images of new items... but dang, what is with that for vintage items. You want to know what you are getting.

That's what sparked my hate with amazon a long time ago. (like a LONG time ago). You never knew the condition, or if something was even a bootleg.

[Taffeta]

I'm waiting for eBay to try to sell me a real horse as a consolation.  I'm sure the day will come.

Ebay keeps trying to sell me MOC Cars figures.
Not sure how that is like MLP. Horse power engine? Dunno.

Their algorithms are not great

@Carrehz, that annoys me too.