Content Theft

[Buzby]

I have found a seller on Ebay selling many of our products using the same images and text. I politely asked them to remove all content.

I had a reply to say that they had not used our text (although it has now been changed) and that the images were their own.

I then pointed out that the pictures of the jewellery were in Our branded boxes with our website address printed on :D

no reply but all auctions have been cancelled.

[RuralWeb]

Google images has a lot to answer for - people think that they can use whatever it turns up.

[pinbrook]

Google images has a lot to answer for - people think that they can use whatever it turns up. I've always used robots.txt to ban google images from indexing my sites

[Buzby]

I don't think this is a Google Image problem as the person would have found our site from just searching the Internet for the brand name.

The manufacturer does supply branded packaging with the products but we choose to use our own as it is much better. I can only assume that the Ebayer assumed that the official packaging was the picture we had on our site and not our own branded packaging.

We do have a lot of problems with content theft but this has to be the funniest, or most blatant.

[BPJ553]

I have come across images on ebay that were taken from my website, and then the seller puts their own copyright text across the front of it to stop other ebayers nicking the image that they nicked in the first place!

[PJ ENG]

I have come across images on ebay that were taken from my website, and then the seller puts their own copyright text across the front of it to stop other ebayers nicking the image that they nicked in the first place!


Just had this happen with me but Ebay did remove the items at my request.

It makes my blood boil

[jont]

Does your server allow for mod rewrites? There is code you can add to the .htaccess file to prevent hotlinking... if they are nabbing the pics then watermarking is your best option.

Facebook make my blood boil - I have never been on the site (I went through puberty many years back) but my stats show my product images keep on appearing. Gits.

[TraceyHand]

Facebook make my blood boil - I have never been on the site (I went through puberty many years back)

implying?? :p

don't knock it til ya tried it, I say....Facebook, that is :rolleyes: (and I know there are a few here who would agree with me ;) )

[leehack]

Bumpsy i bet £50 you play online Bingo or have done in the past?

[TraceyHand]

Bumpsy i bet £50 you play online Bingo or have done in the past?

haha..not on your bloody life!!
Definitely NOT a bingo person...online or otherwise!

[leehack]

It's just that i heard they never shut up either.....

HTH

PS - happy with you CiN role?

[TraceyHand]

It's just that i heard they never shut up either.....

HTH

:p

PS - happy with you CiN role?

sure...why not! :D

remind me again?...doing what? lol

eta.... PS...you owe me £50! :p

[Jan]

We had a classic case of copying a while back, they denigned everything as well - but it was so blatant that they were using our VAT number.

Jont, don't blame facebook, when you add an image you have to tick a box agreeing that you have permission to upload the images, so it's the skanky users not the site that are to blame.

Regards,

[Darren B]

I use a mod re write for linking to my images, have not used an offensive image yet just a nice little150x150 image advertising my website, has turned up in a few places, one being a german VW forum ?

D

[fergusw]

I seem to recall a fantastic post where someone had their images hotlinked by an eBay user. Their solution was to allow the hot linking to continue but to change the image to something stating "Buy one get one free" or something of that ilk! Inspired :)
Mod rewrites to stop hotlinking is, as said already, the best approach.
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/hotlinking/

[los_design]

I seem to recall a fantastic post where someone had their images hotlinked by an eBay user. Their solution was to allow the hot linking to continue but to change the image to something stating "Buy one get one free" or something of that ilk! Inspired :)
Mod rewrites to stop hotlinking is, as said already, the best approach.
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/hotlinking/
Guilty as charged....worked a treat too, they were even talking about it in the feebay forums

If they are hotlinking, give em a leg up and add the above, once they get the message add the js code to prevent it.

If they are grabbing from google embed a watermark via PS or similar.

[PJ ENG]

In my case it is not hot linking but just copy and past. I have got to put a ghost image over all of our image.

[leehack]

Watermarks everytime, learn how to run a batch process and it ends up a very quick process.

[los_design]

Digimark offer a good plug in for PS (I think the company is called that??)

[PJ ENG]

Digimark offer a good plug in for PS (I think the company is called that??)

Spent a bit of time on there web site buy very very confused ?? and also looks like they dont put a water mark over the image just put some code in to see where it it is being used.

The way i see it i need to add a water mark to all of my images with the copyright PJ Motorcycle Engineers LTD 2007, but then in 2008 i need to update them all and so on for 2009 how can i do this ?

[RuralWeb]

learn how to run a batch process and it ends up a very quick processLee gave the answer

[parklifeclothes]

Try Faststone Photoresizer, you can add text watermarks or even image watermarks and then batch resize, alter, rotate, it's a fantastic bit of kit, they also have loads of other programs available

Hope this helps

[leehack]

Spent a bit of time on there web site buy very very confused ?? and also looks like they dont put a water mark over the image just put some code in to see where it it is being used.

The way i see it i need to add a water mark to all of my images with the copyright PJ Motorcycle Engineers LTD 2007, but then in 2008 i need to update them all and so on for 2009 how can i do this ?
Don't put the date on, what does it achieve having it on there?:eek:

[PJ ENG]

Don't put the date on, what does it achieve having it on there?:eek:

I thought it had to have the date on it to make it 100% copyright ? that is why i said that.

[PJ ENG]

learn how to run a batch process and it ends up a very quick process

can some one walk me though this ? as i have no idea where to start or even what software to use :confused:

[leehack]

If your picture is watermarked correctly it is almost impossible for anyone to use it, so why put on a date or even a copyright, company name is fine. If my images have my company name and someone wants to use them, then i will welcome that advertising. A copyright could in fact limit that situation.

What would you do legally if you found someone using it anyway, noone ever does anything, at best you send a polite warning asking they desist. You would never use the copyright legally so why introduce an admin nightmare of changing the date each year?

As for batch processing, i use Photoshop, but its quite expensive to buy. In short you create a series of actions (things you want to do to an image) and then you add these actions into a batch process which defines which original images to use, what to do to them (the actions), how to name them and then where to put the new files. It takes some getting used to at the start, but boy is it a dream once you know what you are doing.

An idiot's guide or a photoshop for dummies guide would teach you how, that's how i learnt.

[Legends]

As said before you need faststone photo resizer this program is the dogs and will do exactly what you want in one click.

An image converter / resizer intended to enable users to convert, rename, resize, crop, rotate, change color depth, add text and watermark to images in a quick and easy BATCH mode

Go to faststone dot org to download it - its free!!

case closed

Cheers

[los_design]

Lee gave the answer
As long as he owns PS or similar.

If not, then a 3rd party solution would be needed.

[pinbrook]

you need to be careful if you use supplier/manufacturers images as you shouldn't copyright these, just a simple website name is probably all you can do in these circumstances

If not, then a 3rd party solution would be needed.which is what Legend has just provided

Most big image manipulation software PS, fireworks and PSP have batch commands to automate the process (Not just PS which Lee mentions)

[EDIT] I just downloaded and tested faststone, its much much easier to use that setting up commands/batches in FF/PS

[los_design]

Most big image manipulation software PS, fireworks and PSP have batch commands to automate the process (Not just PS which Lee mentions)

Gotta be honest, I prefer the batch command within FW.

But then again I am a founder member of the Macromedia Fan Club in Leicester :D and despite their workflow improvements, I am damned if everything is going through PS ;)

[CymraegKev]

As said before you need faststone photo resizer this program is the dogs and will do exactly what you want in one click.


Agreed - one the of best pieces of freeware around in my opinion.

Kevin

[PJ ENG]

Thanks all will go and have a play now :)

[Jim Jackson]

Hi

I'm new to Actinic (V6.1.5) and am trying to change the company logo on my shop. Have followed all the instructions under 'Using Design Options to Make Further Changes' but just nothing changes!? :confused:

Can anyone help, preferably in words of one syllable!

Thanks

Jim

[leehack]

av ya dun it in boaf places?

[TraceyHand]

av ya dun it in boaf places?

"places" isn't one syllable, Lee

:p

[leehack]

uk ov
:p :p :p

[Darren B]

"places" isn't one syllable, Lee

:p

A what :p . thats that bird that tried singing once used to do that show on saturdays

[Stereo Steve]

As some of you know, we have been going to great pains lately to write lots and lots of unique content for our site. I have now found that a competitor is stealing that content and posting it on their site. The infuriating thing is that I found this by pasting some of the text into google. Their page came up, ours is supplemental (I wonder why).

I am currently so livid that it's lucky for them they are the other end of the country. I have started drafting an email to them but wonder if this is the correct first step because I feel like taking them to the cleaners. You know how I feel about google and you know how much work I have put into this. I have so far found 2 pieces of 400 odd words that they have stolen and god knows how much more there is.

Suggestions please?

[RuralWeb]

possibley scraped from your old site map - if they got the content onto thier site before your pages were reindexed then as far as g is concerned you have copied thier site. Complain to G via the spam report

[Stereo Steve]

Yeah probably. Doesn't look like they have pinched too much else. I've searched for the spam report but can't make any sense of it. Is it a good idea to do this without too much proof? What I have read seems pretty heavy.

[pnagames]

Steve

moan at big G about them

also send them an email with evidence of their copying and tell them that unless they have removed all duplicate content within 24 hours you will take them to court

[Stereo Steve]

Sent them an email. Pan, I haven't had time to call you back today. Will try to email tonight. It's all got a bit hectic here.

[Stereo Steve]

The thing that really winds me up is that if you google 'datawrite lightscribe' there they are at 1 or 2 with my bloody content getting them there. My page is supplemental.

[Mark H]

Looking on the bright side, that could help you to see what they're doing better in SEO terms, which you could then copy;)

[Stereo Steve]

The thing they are doing better is getting their stolen page indexed before my original one was. Reported to Google now. Still not heard from them but my suppliers have heard about it and phoned me to ask whats going on!

[Froogle]

which site is it? Digital promo or bigpockets? They are the two that's coming up 1st and 2nd. I can't see duplicate content on there?

[Stereo Steve]

It's digital promo on the datawrite lightscribe product page. If you look at our page for that product (under Blank DVD - DVD+R Printable) you'll see it's almost identical, I think they have now removed some sentences but what they have left is duplicated.

[Stereo Steve]

OK, they have not responded. I know they are aware of the situation through a common supplier. I do not want them to think they can nick my hard work for every new product that comes out. Where do I go from here as I need to make a stand.

[pnagames]

Steve

if you have a lawyer for your business talk to them.

otherwise if you are a member for FSB (or whatever they are called) give them a call

[CymraegKev]

I had a very similar thing happen to me a while ago on one of my client sites. I spoke to the FSB lawyer, and he basically said: "don't mess about sending them 24 hours to do this and that letters - send them one letter (not email), stating you are suing them for breach of copyright" - they stopped straight away of course and grovelled with an appology of sorts.

Basically, the lawyer was saying that as long as you can prove it was your own work then go straight for the short and curlies. It will probably never get to the point of suing them as they will back down asap.

As mentioned though, if in the FSB give their legal chaps a call - well worth it in my opinion.

Kevin

[Stereo Steve]

We're not in the FSB but I'm thinking we should be.

[papermilldirect]

Searching for some of your text today did indeed return the DP site but the page now displays 'Product Not Found!'

Looks like you succeeded.. :)

[Buzby]

Latest hotlinking.

This site had hotlinked 3 small images side by side.

I have made a little advert to replace the images.

http://www.identityonline.biz/cat/179/Charms_-_NEW!.html

[Chunkford]

Classic, love it - Beats google image ads LOL

Wonder how long it takes them to notice

[Duncan Rounding]

Looking at the source code it appears they hot link from many different sites.

Personally I'd have been more blatant and said something like:
For Better Service, Better Quality, Better Prices go to.....

[fergusw]

Just to recap, you can do all manner of things to sites that perpetrate hot linking:
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/hotlinking/

Also a site that can be worth bookmarking is:
http://www.copyscape.com/
Which easily allows you to check if anyone else is ripping off your unique website content. Just pop in the page you want to check and off it goes.
Also a handy tool if you are trying to track how far an article you have written gets proliferated across the web.