Stolen Photos from RailPictures.net

Hello all. I would just like to post a link to my journal which has a group of links to 6 free Flickr accounts loaded with stolen photos from RailPictures.net.

http://sullivan1985.deviantart.com/journal/16965149/

These pages contain not only NJ Transit photos, but photos from all around the world. I had 6 of my own photos stolen and I noticed plenty of others from people who post in these forums.

The more who report their stolen work and these 6 pages, the faster these accounts can be removed.

Sully - I'm not a lawyer, but if I'm not mistaken, you can't steal a photo off the net that's then used on another web site. I believe that no copyright is in force as they then become public domain. I get my pics taken off NERAIL regularly. The only time that I would make a fuss is if I saw them being used commercially for profit. Then, I would demand a cut.

3rdrail wrote:Sully - I'm not a lawyer, but if I'm not mistaken, you can't steal a photo off the net that's then used on another web site. I believe that no copyright is in force as they then become public domain. I get my pics taken off Railroad.net regularly. The only time that I would make a fuss is if I saw them being used commercially for profit. Then, I would demand a cut.

It's not even that I'm worried about him making a profit. Most of the photos are of such low resolution that not much can be done with them. However, if someone sees a photograph and wants to make contact with the photographer for whatever reason (possibly commission in some cases) there is no link back to the original photographer. Plus, any comments left on these photos would never had made their way back to their rightful receiver.

Yeah, I hear ya buddy. I just think that unless you're willing to go to the time and expense to document that he's making a profit and hire a layer for a court proceeding, that he can tell you to stuff it. Frustrating I know, but I'm pretty sure that that's the rule. I could be mistaken.

For those who aren't familar with Flickr, here are there rules that relate to other peoples work.

]What to do
Do upload photos that you've taken.
Respect the copyright of others. This means don't steal photographs that other people have taken and pass them off as your own. (That’s what favorites are for.)

What not to do
Don’t upload anything that isn't yours.This includes other people's photographs and/or stuff that you've collected from around the Internet. Accounts that consist primarily of such collections may be terminated at any time.

Copyright Infringement
If you see your photographs in another member’s photostream, don't panic. This is probably just a misunderstanding and not malicious. A good first step is to contact them and politely ask them to remove it. If that doesn't work, please file a Notice of Infringement with the Yahoo! Copyright Team who will take it from there.

You may be tempted to post an entry in our public forum about what's happening, but that's not the best way to resolve a possible copyright problem. We don't encourage singling out individuals or their photos in our public forum.

Those links are an interesting collection of other peoples work. As Sully said, it nice to know when someone asks for permission to use your photos and the feedback to ones photos are always welcome. It's simply wronge when someone else takes credit for it.

Yeah, that may be Yahoo's policy, but I still think that there is no real bite in going after the other poster legally. If Flickr cooperates, great (but, you'll probably see them on another RR photo site the follwing week !)

Sully, sorry to hear this. I just went thru all the galleries and could not believe how many pictures I saw that were stolen. There are definitely pictures up there of people on this site, and the yahoo boards. Did you post this on the railfpictures.net forums? if not you should.

3rdrail wrote:Sully - I'm not a lawyer, but if I'm not mistaken, you can't steal a photo off the net that's then used on another web site. I believe that no copyright is in force as they then become public domain. I get my pics taken off Railroad.net regularly. The only time that I would make a fuss is if I saw them being used commercially for profit. Then, I would demand a cut.

That is absolutely incorrect. If a work is yours, you are the only person who decides whether it is copyrighted, creative commons, or public domain. Having it be used on another website does not make it public domain. If merely putting something on a website made it public domain, the RIAA and MPAA wouldn't have cases.

Steve F45 wrote:Sully, sorry to hear this. I just went thru all the galleries and could not believe how many pictures I saw that were stolen. There are definitely pictures up there of people on this site, and the yahoo boards. Did you post this on the railfpictures.net forums? if not you should.

There is an ongoing discussion on RailPictures.net between many of the photographers who work has been ripped.

good to hear. I haven't ventured to the forums in quiet a while.

Thats the main reason why I rarely upload pics to the net, which is frustrating for me because I'd love to share them.....

3rdrail wrote:Sully - I'm not a lawyer, but if I'm not mistaken, you can't steal a photo off the net that's then used on another web site. I believe that no copyright is in force as they then become public domain. I get my pics taken off Railroad.net regularly. The only time that I would make a fuss is if I saw them being used commercially for profit. Then, I would demand a cut.

With all due respect: Wrong, wrong, wrong. The photos still remain your property. They DO NOT become public domain. You have every right to request they be removed.

-otto-

Otto Vondrak wrote:

3rdrail wrote:Sully - I'm not a lawyer, but if I'm not mistaken, you can't steal a photo off the net that's then used on another web site. I believe that no copyright is in force as they then become public domain. I get my pics taken off Railroad.net regularly. The only time that I would make a fuss is if I saw them being used commercially for profit. Then, I would demand a cut.

With all due respect: Wrong, wrong, wrong. The photos still remain your property. They DO NOT become public domain. You have every right to request they be removed.

-otto-

Quite right. Publishing on the Web is no different that publishing a book, CD or DVD. As a web site owner, you have the right to link to photos, articles, etc. on other sites, as long as they are presented in their original form (i.e, no frames). That's what the Drudge Report is, a collection of links to other sources.

As far as "fair use" is concerned, copyright law generally allows for people to download photos on the Web for their own use. Just as it is generally accepted that you can burn CD mixes of music you already legally own, but like the photos, you can't distribute it, sell it or technically even give it away.

However, common sense and the Real World does come into play here. Posting something on the Web makes it available to millions of people, and there arent Intellectual Property cops out there to enforce it. There are going to be abuses. But when something is blatant, and host site is responsible, they have a duty to respond to your concerns.

What if you opted for the railpictures watermark when uploading. Would this help curb/ eliminate the theft?

The person who posted those 1,200 photos on Flickr made sure to crop out the RRPictures.net copymark at the bottom of each image - I don't think we're dealing with some kid who liked the pics and didn't know any better.