# Website stealing and selling images



## coastalconn

I figured this would be the best place to post this.  A friend of mine in Canada sent me a message about a website called wallpart.com  They seem to be using a webcrawler and stealing images and then selling them.  The website has a redirect for US IP addresses.  I think many people here might be affected by this.  I was hoping someone might know the best plan of action?  
This is a screenshot from my phone when I was briefly able to get in.  I know some of my images are hacked from 500px (they are the high res version from their store) and I have already emailed them..  Dropbox - Screenshot 2015-07-06-23-51-36.png

Other images just seemed plucked from google and other sources.


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## TomOScott

I looked and they have dozens of my images as well. But when I click on the thumb, someone else's image comes up.


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## IronMaskDuval

I'm not so sure this is stealing? They are offering an image search engine and only selling the service of printing. It's no different than someone taking your image from 500px and taking it down to the local print shop to have it hung on their wall.

*Terms of Service*
WallPart Respect the copyright of others. 
This means we don't steal photos or images that other people have shared and pass them off as your own. 
We have no base of images, and doesn't host and store the image on servers. 
Wallpart.com only helps the user to find the images interesting him, the site uses data of the most known third-party search engines.
Process of search happens at user's browser.
The user himself makes search queries, all content displayed in a window of the browser is received from third-party search engines. 
The displayed images are loaded from third-party servers, and aren't host on the site hosting.
When the user make the order, we get the image from the user, he is responsibility for use.
Wallpart.com doesn't bear responsibility for the images received from users.


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## Braineack

Napster lost that lawsuit...


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## Overread

Iron - its copyright infringement. Otherwise you could take books, movies or anything else and just sell the "printing" services. The content itself is protected and as such they are indeed stealing. That they have found back doors into highres versions on online-hosts means that they've been doing this long enough and are certainly in it for the theft.

Chances are you can send a DMCA takedown order and get the website shut down; but they likely know this and will setup again under another site. Spreading awareness and keeping on-top of such groups is the only way.


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## DarkShadow

Thats the internet webs for you. As long as there out there to public view, there is always going to be risk of theft. I remember a while back one of my Osprey shots and Coastalconn shots  was on someones blog that they plucked from flicker.


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## 480sparky

Even if they are not selling anything, they do not have the right to post them on their site.



DarkShadow said:


> Thats the internet webs for you. As long as there out there to public view, there is always going to be risk of theft. I remember a while back one of my Osprey shots and Coastalconn shots  was on someones blog that they plucked from flicker.



That means we merely need to be vigilant, not simply accept that there will be those that steal.


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## astroNikon

Funny ... their "Contact Us"  on the main page is disabled.  
But it works on other pages.

yeah, Napster tried that route before.


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## 480sparky

astroNikon said:


> Funny ... their "Contact Us"  on the main page is disabled.
> But it works on other pages........



Maybe that's intentional on their part.


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## astroNikon

480sparky said:


> astroNikon said:
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> Funny ... their "Contact Us"  on the main page is disabled.
> But it works on other pages........
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> Maybe that's intentional on their part.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking ... too many ppl complaining.


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## 480sparky

astroNikon said:


> 480sparky said:
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> astroNikon said:
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> Funny ... their "Contact Us"  on the main page is disabled.
> But it works on other pages........
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> Maybe that's intentional on their part.
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> Click to expand...
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> That's what I was thinking ... too many ppl complaining.
Click to expand...


That's why you send both them_ and the site's host_ the DMCA notice.  I've already done so with one of my images.  

Strange thing is, when you search for an image, it will come up. Repeat the search, and it won't.  It's a crapshoot.  *So make sure you copy the URL and take a screenshot of any of your images you find.*


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## DarkShadow

How do you guys find your images that  someone else has, is it stumbled upon or is there some search thing you guys do? I really don't know,thats why i ask.


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## tirediron

I couldn't find any images on the 'site...


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## waday

Their contact information page...

[Removed image per @KmH request. See this post for contact information.]


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## 480sparky

Funny.... I'm doing random searches and came across one titled "Synringa - Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia".

http://wallpart.com/adder/preview/stockholm-lilac-print-poster-466528793.jpg


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## coastalconn

I emailed them last night and notified them of my copyrighted images they wet trying to sell.. They quickly removed all of my images. I urge you to do the same if you are on there.. I also got an email back from 500px and they are aware of the website and are investigating it.  Of course that web site knows that there are 1000's of people that will be oblivious that there images are there..


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## C. Brian Kerr

can you share there email address and i would say that every TPF member should send an email


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## coastalconn

DarkShadow said:


> How do you guys find your images that  someone else has, is it stumbled upon or is there some search thing you guys do? I really don't know,thats why i ask.


You can try tineye.com


C. Brian Kerr said:


> can you share there email address and i would say that every TPF member should send an email


If you can actually get on the site I kept hitting contact us and a window eventually popped up. I also clicked report violation under each of my images..


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## C. Brian Kerr

coastalconn said:


> I emailed them last night and notified them of my copyrighted images they wet trying to sell.. They quickly removed all of my images. I urge you to do the same if you are on there.. I also got an email back from 500px and they are aware of the website and are investigating it.  Of course that web site knows that there are 1000's of people that will be oblivious that there images are there..





coastalconn said:


> DarkShadow said:
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> How do you guys find your images that  someone else has, is it stumbled upon or is there some search thing you guys do? I really don't know,thats why i ask.
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> You can try tineye.com
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> C. Brian Kerr said:
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> can you share there email address and i would say that every TPF member should send an email
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> If you can actually get on the site I kept hitting contact us and a window eventually popped up. I also clicked report violation under each of my images..
Click to expand...


i cant get to there contact


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## sm4him

How are you all finding your images on their site? NOTHING I search for is yielding any results at all, of mine or other images.


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## C. Brian Kerr

email sent


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## Overread

They probably use a randomizer that goes through known archive websites. So your photos could appear now or later. Such a system means they don't see every photo at all; the computer does it all randomly for them. By being random they avoid getting caught as quickly (because people only search once or twice every so often); and they then just need an exceptions addition in their code to allow them to add exceptions for those who do catch them - since most people will stop complaining once their content is down. Of course nothing stops them putting that persons content back up at a latter date


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## IronMaskDuval

Napster may have tried that route before, but the music industry is more well funded than the photography-- I assume.


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## KmH

waday said:


> Their contact information page...


Which is copyrighted, so unless you have rights to use the photo you can't post it here on TPF according to TPF's rules. 
You can however post a link to the page.


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## terri

Here's a petition


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## KmH

Help I ve Been Infringed Photo Attorney


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## DarkShadow

Not sure is this is the same thing but.


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## waday

Oh, and my profile picture from Twitter is on there... haha



KmH said:


> waday said:
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> Their contact information page...
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> Which is copyrighted, so unless you have rights to use the photo you can't post it here on TPF according to TPF's rules.
> You can however post a link to the page.
Click to expand...



I guess two wrongs don't make a right...

So... Their contact information:

They're located just down the street from Newtown Station at:

921 King St, Newhouse
Tele: 2300 751 017

Apparently their shop hours are Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri, and Sat from 10 am to 6 pm, Thurs from 10 am to 7 pm, and Sun from 10 am to 5 pm.

Also, they have a contact form on their website if anyone wants to submit any comments. Go here: Contact Us


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## 480sparky

DarkShadow said:


> Not sure is this is the same thing but.
> View attachment 104723



Wallpart is not the same as Walpart.


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## 480sparky

Overread said:


> They probably use a randomizer that goes through known archive websites. So your photos could appear now or later. Such a system means they don't see every photo at all; the computer does it all randomly for them. By being random they avoid getting caught as quickly (because people only search once or twice every so often); and they then just need an exceptions addition in their code to allow them to add exceptions for those who do catch them - since most people will stop complaining once their content is down. Of course nothing stops them putting that persons content back up at a latter date



If you right-click on any image that comes up, you can see that the image is hosted on their site..... such as http://wallpart.com/adder/preview/2-costa-print-poster-911720398.jpg


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## DarkShadow

480sparky said:


> DarkShadow said:
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> Not sure is this is the same thing but.
> View attachment 104723
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> Wallpart is not the same as Walpart.
Click to expand...

Oh Ok Oops, I guess I read it wrong.


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## klaesser

I doubt if these people are doing anything illegal. It appears they are only a printing service where one sends them an image and they create a poster for you. They are not going totry and verify or not that image is copywrited and probably no obligated to do so. That responsibility would fall on the individual having the project done.  They in turn probably forward the image to a printing shop along with an address to ship it to and sit back and make a profit from a few keystrokes on a computer. Don't appear that they have a database of images

I would think trying going after this service would  like pi$$ing into the wind.


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## 480sparky

The mere fact that MY image is POSTED AND HOSTED on THEIR site is an infrigement.


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## TomOScott

They have appropriated hundreds of my images, and have removed my copyright notice as well. 

I have put together a "Whois" info sheet on them, including information for their domain supplier, Enom. I intend to pursue this, even though the site is in the Ukraine. However, the admin contact is in San Jose, CA., meaning that action may be taken under the Berne Convention Copyright laws. 

You can go to my website to get the info if you need it:

www.tomoscott.com/wallpart-info

I have most of my images registered with the US Copyright Office. If you are in the US, and have had images appropriated by Wallpart or anyone else, you would be well advised to have them registered. Otherwise, companies like this are only liable for actual damages. If they are registered, the penalties can go up to $150,000 per image, including legal fees.


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## KmH

klaesser said:


> I doubt if these people are doing anything illegal.


What part(s) of federal US Copyright law leads you to that conclusion?


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## klaesser

KmH said:


> klaesser said:
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> I doubt if these people are doing anything illegal.
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> What part(s) of federal US Copyright law leads you to that conclusion?
Click to expand...


I did not give a conclusion simply an opinion


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## <error>

From a couple of images that I looked at, they are not hosting these images. Instead they are hot-linking, which means the images are fetched from the original server.

Now if you run your own webserver and have access to your .htaccess file, you can jump off and away from wallpart (and everybody else) pretty easily; at least for the images on your server : lmgtfy.com/?q=htaccess+prevent+hotlinking


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## paigew

They have 9 pages of my images. There is a petition going around to shut down their domain  [emoji16] Petition Remove Wallpart.com Stealing People s Work without Persmission Change.org

Idk of it will do any good [emoji12]


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## 480sparky

They ARE HOSTING ON THEIR OWN SITE.

This is NOT A LINK TO *MY *SITE. 

Here's a DIRECT LINK TO THEIR SITE for one of MY PHOTOS.

http://wallpart.com/adder/preview/western-vista-print-poster-597105673.jpg


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## <error>

Indeed. As I said, the few I saw where hotlinked. I was wrong. Unfortunately.

Still, they also practice hot-linking, so tuning your htaccess might be a first step. I can't imagine they download the whole internet, but only those that have been chosen/bought/printed. So preventing them from showing the images in the first place might be a good idea.

Petition signed.


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## 480sparky

How on God's Green Little Half Acre do they know if an image they're stealing has been 'chosen/bought/sold'?


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## <error>

Because someone put it in the cart for print? After all, that's their business: Print images that someone liked.


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## 480sparky

Just for S&G's I'm gonna order my own image.   Filled out the form, and it now says, "Awaiting Payment".

Seems they're shipped from China.


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## 480sparky




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## DarkShadow

Petition completed.


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## allysoncampbellphoto

Put a watermark on your image if you don't want it stolen.


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## JacaRanda

allysoncampbellphoto said:


> Put a watermark on your image if you don't want it stolen.


 
Oh,  none of these photographers ever thought of that.


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## DarkShadow

I put a watermark on most my images but can be easily removed or cropped off. IMO nothing worse then a watermark across the middle of image.


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## 480sparky

allysoncampbellphoto said:


> Put a watermark on your image if you don't want it stolen.




If you think that really works, try again.


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## allysoncampbellphoto

480sparky said:


> allysoncampbellphoto said:
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> Put a watermark on your image if you don't want it stolen.
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> If you think that really works, try again.
Click to expand...

It is certainly better than putting nothing. of course it it can be easily removed but it is more than just that. It is getting other people to notice when you images are being stolen. I've had people let me know when my images are being ripped because they knew it was mine in the first place.


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## jeffjeff1

The website looks really hinky. I went to the shop part and it shows the same page just some small pictures below. It's probably run by some shady people.


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## paigew

All my stolen images are watermarked [emoji12]


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## albancuku

Hey guys , I'm new here, Mind asking a quick question. I am thinking of buying a new camera for under $300, and I am thinking for a camcorder 'Canon Vixia HF R500' 
Would you guys please suggest an other good one  Thanks


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## Derrel

paigew said:
			
		

> All my stolen images are watermarked [emoji12]



Oh, wow--mine are too! No, wait, if they're stolen from me, then aren't they the property of their new owners?


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## Leslie C

Just checked out that site, and it's really weird.  According to their ticker on the side, it doesn't look like a whole lot of people are printing from them, but I agree with some of the above posts, it's stealing.  The book analogy was great.


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## 480sparky

I still haven't heard anything about my order.  But then again, I haven't been prompted to pay for it either.


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## Leslie C

P.S.  That brings up a question I've had for a while - how do you prevent people from right clicking and copying or downloading your images?  

Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated.  I want to protect my work.  Thanks.


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## 480sparky

Leslie C said:


> P.S.  That brings up a question I've had for a while - how do you prevent people from right clicking and copying or downloading your images?
> 
> Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated.  I want to protect my work.  Thanks.



Depends on the software used to create the hosting site.


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## TomOScott

Leslie C said:


> P.S.  That brings up a question I've had for a while - how do you prevent people from right clicking and copying or downloading your images?
> 
> Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated.  I want to protect my work.  Thanks.



You can't. Any "right-click protection" scheme you see is bogus.  I don't even use right-click to capture my own images. I use some image capture software, and it doesn't even activate the right-click mechanism. You can be assured that anyone stealing your images will do the same.

If you really want to protect your images, register them with the U.S. Copyright Office, or the appropriate national office if you're a resident of a country that's part of the Berne Convention. In the U.S. at least, a registered image can cost a violator up to $150,000 + lawyer's fees, while an unregistered image, while still copyrighted, will only get you actual losses.

I also put the copyright notice, in small print, at the bottom of each photo. If a company crops that off, then I have a case for intentional removal of the notice, which carries statutory fines of up to $25,000 per image.


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## Braineack

How does registering your image prevent someone from downloading it?


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## 480sparky

TomOScott said:


> ........while an unregistered image, while still copyrighted, will only get you .............



......... absolutely nothing.  If the image is not registered (at least per US copyright law), you cannot pursue in court.  Copyright law states specifically that the image must be registered for a federal case to be filed.  And a federal case it must be, as the law is federal as well.  There is no 'small claims' court for copyright suits.


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## Braineack

and what stops you from registering it just before a lawsuit?


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## 480sparky

Nothing.  But that may make a difference on the dollar amount of any judgement.


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## Braineack

Okay so before you sue some random person in a foreign country who runs the world's worst website (that he probably coded in a day) which stole your image using google search results, spend money to register it first in the US, then spend money on a lawyer to whip up a suit, curse at yourself for trying to sue someone outside the US in US court, spend money to hire a PI to find thief, spend money on plane ticket to fly to said country after the PI finally tracks him down, spend money on local laywer of said country to whip up a suit to said theft, spend money living there for months while your case works through the legal system, spend money flying home empty handed when you find out said country of said theft doesn't recognize national copyright laws of a foreign country and don't even have any of their own--and regardless turns out said theft didn't even have a rubel to his name--spend money on alcohol to self-medicate, because it makes a difference on the dollar amount of the judgement.


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## 480sparky

Sorry. I don't imbibe.


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## Braineack

you can spend your last few quarters shocking yourself here:






_creative commons_


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## Overread

Of course in cases like this registration is unlikely to yield a result. However it is there as a protection when/if such a situation which can be viably legally challenged arises. As such it's good form to register your copyright if you are based in the USA so that you do get full protection over your creations. Otherwise if that music band who you took photos off that one time that then published them as album cover without permission - yep they can get away with it with minimal payouts to you.

Websites like this get attention, but at the end of the day international legal action is very hard to carry out and you have to start dealing with hundreds of thousands of £/$ before police really start to take notice. A few tends of thousands just isn't enough; esp if you've got multiple countries involved. Chances are if you look you'd find a good number of websites that operate like this; though most try to be smaller scale and fly under the radar for longer - those who run them are already prepared to close bank accounts and use false addresses to shut-up-shop and move on to start again. They run as long as they can to make as much as they can and then close up once/if they get enough attention that they become unprofitable/the target of legal challenge. Most will continue for quite some time because they know most legal threat is al bark without bite. 



Note if you are in the UK you don't need to register copyright - you get full protection from the moment of creation


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## Leslie C

Thanks, Tom.  I realize that if someone really wanted to go through the trouble to steal (save, download, copy) an image they could do it, but if I can learn how to prevent some of the easier ways to do so I would feel much better.


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## Leslie C

Overread said:


> Note if you are in the UK you don't need to register copyright - you get full protection from the moment of creation



Makes me want to live in the UK!


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## TomOScott

Leslie C said:


> Thanks, Tom.  I realize that if someone really wanted to go through the trouble to steal (save, download, copy) an image they could do it, but if I can learn how to prevent some of the easier ways to do so I would feel much better.



Personally, I hate right-click "protection", because it interferes with any browser add-on that uses swipes for navigation.  So you end up aggravating a user and protecting nothing -- not a win-win situation in my book.


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## Bryston3bsst

It's been asked and never answered........how are you all finding your images and that website?


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## 480sparky

I just search for the title I've named the image as.


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## paigew

I searched my name 'Paige Wilks photography '


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## DarkShadow

Just got email notification of my signed petition 5 days ago now helped reach 50,ooo signatures.


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## 480sparky

I got it too.

But I still haven't been prompted to pay for my image from them, nor have they contacted me about getting any rights to print it.


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## paigeturner

Let me clarify for all of you who don't understand IP concepts.
1. Copyright infringement is using someone's creative works (in any form) without their written consent. These are violation of Intellectual Property laws both in the US and abroad.
2. The fact that they then also PROFIT from your IP rises to the level of a federal crime since it's on the Internet.
3. The steps you must take are:

Send them a CEASE & DESIST LETTER saying you'll pursue prosecution if they don't immediately comply.
Demand they take your images down.
Demand they provide an accounting of all revenue, including a breakdown of what they've earned from stealing your images. Then demand they send you a check to compensate you, not only the amount they collected illegally, but damages as well.
REPORT THEM to Visa, Mastercard, and AmEx, so they immediately lose the ability to collect monies with ANY credit card. Trust me, these three CC providers will sever the relationship immediately if they know it's a company operating illegally in violation of US Federal Laws.
REPORT them to Google via Google's link for this.
REPORT them to TLD, their domain provider, and tell TLD you'll name them as a co-defendant if they fail to shut down the site after being notified of the illegal nature of the business. Send an email to abuse@tldregistrarsolutions.com, and insist they take the site down as a violation of US and International Copyright Laws. 
REPORT them similarly to CloudFlare, since the site is on servers at CloudFlare.com. See this page: https://support.cloudflare.com/.../200167716-How-do-I...-
SIGN the petition at Change.org. Petition Remove Wallpart.com Stealing People s Work without Persmission Change.org
FINALLY - SHARE ALL OF THESE LINKS on Facebook, and with everyone you know. Have everyone send those notices and sign the petition. 
ANYONE on this thread who says Wallpart isn't committing a crime, DOES NOT understand or know what the heck they're talking about. My background is in IP law.

And if you're in the UK (where these thieves are located with an alleged storefront), go to your local baristers and initiate an action against them. I'd also recommend organizing a very public picket in front of their store and get News Coverage.

NOW FOLKS, GO GET 'EM!


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## paigeturner

Google in talks to cut funding to illegal piracy sites - BBC News


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## FeatherMonkey

paigeturner said:


> ....
> 
> And if you're in the UK (where these thieves are located with an alleged storefront), go to your local baristers and initiate an action against them. I'd also recommend organizing a very public picket in front of their store and get News Coverage.
> 
> NOW FOLKS, GO GET 'EM!



Not sure how you got to the UK I can find a lot of newtown and King St in a lot of places... This link concurs and discovers it's little more than a troll.
ATTENTION THE WHOLE WALLPART THING SEEMS TO BE JUST A GIANT TROLL - An Italian Brony 

As for the Google link that reads like we're trying to change piracy laws so we have to do nothing... I bet they'll still provide advertising streams though.


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## paigew

So I just read this....maybe don't do that cease and desist letter 
This Website Will Steal Your Photos and Then Hack Your Computer Fstoppers


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