leeched shots again...

[allanphang]

Hi all,

Regarding this thread, I had two encounters previously. One which nearly end up in a lawsuit

CASE 1 (year 2001)

I started posting pictures I took of Japan GT Racequeens in Malaysia,2001 and posted them in my website.

A few weeks later I noticed a leading search-engine portal in South-East Asia region, which has portals including Singapore, posted up the pics from my site without prior written permission !

I got furious (I know how you owners feel) as they displayed the pics by cropping off my copyright notice which were on the pics. I sent some nasty e-mails to the admin. staff of that company.

Then I also published my situation in a forum like this, used to be known as AAI (AsianAuto.com). Forumers in there asked me to go on with a lawsuit but others gave their views saying the company might counter-sue. All this talk was spreading around companies & sponsors related to that portal.

News spread like wildfire in the Net through the "power of forums" and the Manager of that company took down the pictures as the news reached upper management whom were questioning their(admin.) naive actions as a lot of watchdogs (observers)were closely monitoring the situation,especially whatever is published in the forums. It was damaging their reputation-everytime I send in a response in the forums and many ppl in the forum were interested in this case.

Later on, the manager of that company offered to buy the pictures to display them at their site. The company has now closed their Malaysian branch.

The identity of that company isn't that hard to figure out, but I won't blow the whistle again as I think their reputation is at stake as I think I ruffled a few feathers already ! After that incident, the company offered me some freelancing, but I wasn't gonna do that, especially somewhere ,where one disturbed a hornet's nest. :devil:

CASE 2 (year 2002)

I found out that a similiar incident occured recently in http://www.photoforum.org/ , the domain where you guys are having a legal tussle.

Someone posted my pics and even had the cheek to crop off my copyright notice !! This is the reply I received from a Callan, supposedly the moderator of that forum...


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: Callan Chua
To: Allan Phang
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2002 2:11 AM
Subject: Re: photo removal 3


Hi Allan,

Photos Removed. Apologies for the inconvinient caused.

anyway, we really like your pictures and would hope that you can post them up yourself. I believe our members would really appreciate that. also please do add your copyright to your photos so that such an event would not happen again. and if you like I can teach you how to creat a better watermarking system

Oh, and I believe if you are professional photographer, posting the photos up will drive trafice to your site too!

Anyway, have fun at photoforum!

Regards
Callan Chua

----- Original Message -----
From: Allan Phang
To: admin@photoforum.org
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2002 1:32 AM
Subject: Re: photo removal 3


Dear Sir,

Please remove photo ID 40910 and ID 40911

It's a disgrace to see your own picture with the copyright
of your work being cropped out.I wouldn't mind if that guy leong61 didn't crop off the copyright on the photos I took. I noticed that he cropped off copyrights of other pictures he contributed including reputed import-models portal pictures.

Thank you for your time.

Please respond.

Cheers,
Allan
Webmaster
Allan's Japan GT Racequeens in Malaysia!
www.allanphang.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Brudders,

I suggest having a look at this site - You may find it useful in your current situation.

Getting Permission to Publish: Ten Tips for Webmasters

Nolo Self-Help Law - Legal Information

I feel the site owner of that domain - webmaster is gonna land up in hot soup very soon at the rate its going.

Hope my insight has helped in some way or other. Best is - "prevention is better than cure" and stop posting pictures of your pretty gal friends and start posting more landscape, men & animals etc etc... :light:

Just imagine if you come across your sister or niece's picture in there. Not to mention the tons of other innocent ppl whom have their face displayed in that sort of site.

I hope those kinda sites get what they deserve.

Cheers,
Allan

 

[Darren]

Stevick,
I have added your pics to the list that we are petitioning to remove.

My apologies to all, I have been away and not able to complete the petition/legal letter.

Will complete tonite and send by email to sggirls admin as well as jplf77.

 

[Silverelf]

Well, i hope this will be resolved quickly.

However, this is only for sites that you came across... surely thaere are those that you didn't see! The net is so big..... I think I shall try to find out more of these kind of rules.....

 

[Stevick_Lee]

Thanks Darren, very much appreciated. If in need of any means do let me noe.

 

[shawntim]

Originally posted by Darren
Stevick,
I have added your pics to the list that we are petitioning to remove.

My apologies to all, I have been away and not able to complete the petition/legal letter.

Will complete tonite and send by email to sggirls admin as well as jplf77.

i'm not sure about the law, but usually websites that allow member uploads have disclaimers that keep them safe from all the undesirable content that maybe be uploaded.

In this sense, if I have that disclaimer (whether legally valid or not is another matter) I won't give a hoot to whatever you write. It's like those people who post porn on their site then putting a disclaimer that if you're in a country that doesn't allow.. not over 18,21... etc.. the last I heard, such disclaimers are not valid in court of law.

You may wish to CC to a real law enforcer: police or lawyer otherwise.. for a solid impact.

In DESIGNER magazine (local) there's a column where a law firm specializing in publishing copyrights give advice regarding designers and their work. You might wish to check it out.

 

[RuthBaby]

From e photoforum:
If the copyright of this photograph is yours, and you do not want the photograph to be up here, email to Administrator (Callan) indicating that you want to remove photograph (eg:ID 1674.) You are to provide the evidence that you indeed own the photograph.

Try asking wolfus.. someone submitted his Race Queen pics up too.. and was taken down after emailing to our admin...



[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:02] <Gracie> Hi
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:02] <Gracie> which one?
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:03] <Gracie> tt chiobu?
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:03] <Gracie> ask her to email the mods.. and she must prove tt its her pic.. den we will take it down
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:04] <zipitup> ya and i guess she needs to present her birth cert too
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:07] <Gracie> its okie
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:07] <Gracie> np need
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:07] <Gracie> wahahah
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:08] <zipitup> sorry but i m not in the mood of joking
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:08] <zipitup> i m up to the nose wif those leechers
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:08] <Gracie> so?
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:09] <zipitup> u really wan the whole CS community to up against u guys hur?
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:11] <Gracie> u mean its my fault? im e mod onli... if she wans mi to take down... she can email mi... r u his bf or anithing?
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:12] <zipitup> no, but she is our fren. and it is not tat my shots were nvr leeched b4
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:12] <Gracie> as i said... i onli approve.. i dun submit....
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:12] <Gracie> if u think im e one who sumbit.. sue mi if u deem fit

Mr Zipitup...
As Ive already repeated myself more than once tt I onli approve.. i dun submit... pls get this into yr head!!!!!

and btw.. i onli mod e guys photoforum... pls look fer gazy or callan.. and i hate getting this involve...

ive been moderating for photoforum even b4 i joined CS...

 

[ziploc]

Originally posted by RuthBaby
From e photoforum:
If the copyright of this photograph is yours, and you do not want the photograph to be up here, email to Administrator (Callan) indicating that you want to remove photograph (eg:ID 1674.) You are to provide the evidence that you indeed own the photograph.

Try asking wolfus.. someone submitted his Race Queen pics up too.. and was taken down after emailing to our admin...



[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:02] <Gracie> Hi
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:02] <Gracie> which one?
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:03] <Gracie> tt chiobu?
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:03] <Gracie> ask her to email the mods.. and she must prove tt its her pic.. den we will take it down
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:04] <zipitup> ya and i guess she needs to present her birth cert too
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:07] <Gracie> its okie
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:07] <Gracie> np need
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:07] <Gracie> wahahah
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:08] <zipitup> sorry but i m not in the mood of joking
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:08] <zipitup> i m up to the nose wif those leechers
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:08] <Gracie> so?
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:09] <zipitup> u really wan the whole CS community to up against u guys hur?
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:11] <Gracie> u mean its my fault? im e mod onli... if she wans mi to take down... she can email mi... r u his bf or anithing?
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:12] <zipitup> no, but she is our fren. and it is not tat my shots were nvr leeched b4
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:12] <Gracie> as i said... i onli approve.. i dun submit....
[23:15] <Ruth`WrK> [23:12] <Gracie> if u think im e one who sumbit.. sue mi if u deem fit

Mr Zipitup...
As Ive already repeated myself more than once tt I onli approve.. i dun submit... pls get this into yr head!!!!!

and btw.. i onli mod e guys photoforum... pls look fer gazy or callan.. and i hate getting this involve...

ive been moderating for photoforum even b4 i joined CS...

And may I ask, what other actions have you "mods" done to the poster other then just removing the pics? If a theive broke into my house and steal something, and the police retrieve the things, will they just say, "ok, once you proved that these things are yours, you can have them back", and let the theive shake his butts and walk away?? :angry: :angry:

 

[RuthBaby]

Originally posted by ziploc


And may I ask, what other actions have you "mods" done to the poster other then just removing the pics? If a theive broke into my house and steal something, and the police retrieve the things, will they just say, "ok, once you proved that these things are yours, you can have them back", and let the theive shake his butts and walk away?? :angry: :angry:

hey.. pls be rational ok?
we come out wif such forum fer appreciation... appreciate pretty gers and stuffz.. if tts e case... those big AV stars can cum sue us fer their 1000001 pics being posted up!

 

[ziploc]

Originally posted by RuthBaby

hey.. pls be rational ok?
we come out wif such forum fer appreciation... appreciate pretty gers and stuffz.. if tts e case... those big AV stars can cum sue us fer their 1000001 pics being posted up!

And I sure hope they do! And get the site owner and the leechers into jail!

 

[ashrobo]

Originally posted by RuthBaby

hey.. pls be rational ok?
we come out wif such forum fer appreciation... appreciate pretty gers and stuffz.. if tts e case... those big AV stars can cum sue us fer their 1000001 pics being posted up!

i dont suppose those AV stars mind their pictures being ogled by guys, else why would they even get those shots done?

 

[RuthBaby]

Originally posted by ashrobo


i dont suppose those AV stars mind their pictures being ogled by guys, else why would they even get those shots done?

gd point... but dun mind mi.. she shd have been aware tt her pics will be "ogled" by others who are surfing her website.. does tt make a diff?

 

[ziploc]

Let me ask you one thing, would u want your photos to be posted in sleazy forums like photoforum or sggirls, and be judge and appretiated as a SEX objects by all the guys who visit there only for that purpose?

 

[RuthBaby]

Originally posted by ziploc
Let me ask you one thing, would u want your photos to be posted in sleazy forums like photoforum or sggirls, and be judge and appretiated as a SEX objects by all the guys who visit there only for that purpose?

den u might wanna scold mi a whore.. cos i visit that forum everydae... im a great fan of photoforum... we call tt gers appreciation

 

[ashrobo]

Originally posted by RuthBaby

gd point... but dun mind mi.. she shd have been aware tt her pics will be "ogled" by others who are surfing her website.. does tt make a diff?

personal websites are more often than not for people to express themselves whereas sites like those involved are "flesh parades" where guys ogle at girls. the context in which the pictures are presented is different.

 

[yamashita]

I wrote an article to The Newpaper. Let's hope that it will be published and do some justice for those photographers whose photos are leeched.

 

[ziploc]

Great job yamashita! :thumbsup:

 

[Callan]

Hi all,

I'm the key moderator for Photoforum.org. and no, photoforum.org is not in anyway related to sggirls.com. I hope to clarify this first as whatever statement I'm gonna make is only in the stand of photoforum.org and not sggirls.com.

Firstly, this matter has been brought to my attention recently. I believe so far we have not rejected any request to take down a photograph. By far our policy is to respect the copyright ownership of the photos. Thus should anyone inform us about such infringement, we have always gladly take down the photos in such incidences.

As Yamashita has informed me in HWZ, my reply to him I believe speaks for itself. It is impossible for us to identify whether the person submitting the photo is the original copyright owner of the photo. But what we can do is to provide a channel for such complains should there be anyone wants to complain about copyright infringement. We do post such messages on all pages of our site to magnify on this channel as much as possible. Here once again, I like to inform all clubsnap members of this channel should you like us to remove any photograph which infringe upon your copyright.

1) Please send and Email to admin@photoforum.org and if you want to feel safer please cc it to callan@photoforum.org.

2) Please state the photo ID number so that the process can be done without much hassle. Photos should be taken down within 2 days once the email is send.

3) Normally we do not question too much, but due to a previous incident, we would like you to provide us with some sort of evidence that you do indeed own the rights to the photograph. Normally a URL to state the origins of the photo would be enough.

Please do email me at the above address should you find your work on our site. We do not in anyway disrespect your work. Though we are definitely glad should you allow us to publish your work on our site for sharing purposes.

Here, I would like to do some clarifications of what we actually do.

1) The photographs are submitted by our members and not by us. Our work is only to approve photos following cirterias making sure as much as possible that no porn is availible thru our site.

2) Photoforum.org does not condone our users to take photos from other sites without approval. But (Once again) due to the nature of the internet, it would not be possible for us to know if this photo is owned by the submitter.

3) Photoforum.org does not print it's watermark on photographs not own by us. Any photobearing the photoforum watermark is very much taken by our staff for events coverage.

4) Photoforum.org does not alter the original submission piror to posting. Thus should you find your copyright statement or watermark missing, this change was not done by us, but edited by the submitter.

5) Photoforum.org will not release any information of our members or log unless by order of a court of law. This is in accordance to our privacy agreement with our members and user. Thus should you like to file any lawsuit against the submitter, the subject accused should only be revealed if it is by order of the court and there is a legal infringement issue involved.

I hope that by making this statement, we, photoforum.org and clubsnap.org members would be able to cooperate and find a solution to your displeasure against us, if any. From my knowledge, there have been some clubsnap members who have approached me to take down their photographs. Till date, I believe all requests and complains by them have been handled peacefully and on good terms. Thus I encourage clubsnap members who find their work on our site and would like them removed to email me as soon as possible so that the same working relations can be achieved.

Thank You

regards
Callan Chua

 

[Wai]

Originally posted by Callan
I'm the key moderator for Photoforum.org. and no, photoforum.org is not in anyway related to sggirls.com. I hope to clarify this first as whatever statement I'm gonna make is only in the stand of photoforum.org and not sggirls.com.

ok..sorry for the misunderstanding for the above matters

 

[RuthBaby]

Originally posted by Wai


ok..sorry for the misunderstanding for the above matters

-_-"

all well ends well...

 

[Bluestrike]

Originally posted by Wai


ok..sorry for the misunderstanding for the above matters

SEEE
I told you liao!!!!!