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Association of Lifecasters International
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FORUMS
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CJ Munn
Joined:
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20-Apr-2004
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Started On : 03-Dec-2007 at 09:23:34 AM, #Views : 6617
Topic Subject : Image theft |
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I am writing to have a big moan about image theft. Namely the website http://www.casts4you.com/ which belongs to ALI members Nicole Belley and Stephanie Pinnett in America.
They or their representatives stole an image from my website over a year ago and have been using it as their logo for some time now. I have asked them firmly but politely to cease and desist from breaching my copyright, and I gave them fair warning to remove the stolen image from their website or I would take the matter further. I do not enjoy shaming someone publicly but these ALI members have behaved in a dishonest manner by using one of my images on their website and not withdrawing it when I asked.
I gave them a more than fair deadline to remove the image from any and all of their website/advertising and this deadline has now passed. I feel I therefore have no choice but to get a bit tough and ask for the support of the ALI organisation in pressuring them to comply with the law and basic human morals. My next step will be to contact their ISP to have their entire site taken down until they remove the stolen image.
The company in question do not dispute that they have taken and used my image. Although they argued that since it is not in their gallery that they are not trying to pass it off as their own work. If that were a reasonable defence then I'm sure we'd all just put pictures of George Segal's work on our front pages or The Mona Lisa and then claim since it's not in our gallery we're not doing anything wrong. IT'S MY IMAGE! That's all that matters.
Those of you who have known me for years know me to be a fair and mild-tempered person, but NOTHING makes me quite so angry as when people try to pass off someone else's work as their own.
The only reason I haven't had their site taken down yet is because I've been too busy working with my Christmas commissions, but I will get around to it. I would prefer if the guilty parties took it down themselves to show they do have some remorse and a conscience. All ISPs have to comply with complaints about their customers breaching the law, so it costs nothing except a bit of time to force the issue. Lucky for them, I haven't got the time at the moment.
The reason I know they've had it for over a year is because the picture was taken from my old website, which has been down for over a year. It's not even a very good picture, but that's not the point! The point is that people should NOT steal other people's images and should NOT try and pass someone else's work off as their own. It's immensely disrespectful, lazy and dishonest. And the amount of times it happens to me and other good hardworking lifecasters is appalling. For it to be done to us by OTHER ALI MEMBERS is just outrageous. It is NOT acceptable for artists to blame their web designers and say they had nothing to do with it - you are each responsible for your own website and if the person you hire breaks the law to make you look good then unless you pull the plug on your ISP account yourself (which any site owner can do) until they remove offending items then you have allowed this to happen and are complicit and responsible in the breach of copyright/image theft.
I've said enough. I've given these people enough time to do the decent thing. After their first acknowledgment of the theft I've not even had the courtesy of a reply to my second letter.
GRRRRRR!
CJ
www.rockabelly.co.uk
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