Copyright stupidity(legal action) at it's worst!

[arthurking83]

Copyright story from Adweek that has to go down as one of the most idiotic cases of unprofessionalism in history(so far).

I'm sure more ludicrous stories will reveal themselves as Americans attempt to sue each other back into the dark ages tho.

Basic premise:
Magazine post unlicensed photo on their FB page, and removes watermark.
Photog notices her photo on a magazine's page, politely asks magazine to remove image.
No response and so she contacts Fb for takedown action.

magazine then abuses photog! for issuing false takedowns and threatens to sue!!

I can't help but think .. is this an suing mentality taught to Americans at elementary school or something? Is it hardwired into their DNA?

What is it with these people.
I don't have anything personal against Americans, and I think there are even a few on AP .. I have a couple of American friends who don't seem to be like this .. maybe the move to Australia changes them or something, but they really have internal issues to come to grips with over there.
But it seems every day you hear of some deranged lawsuit action from the land of the massively trunked automobile.

They break the law, then they threaten to sue the person they stole from!
... now that makes sense.

This is seriously deluded backward thinking deranged mentality stuff here!

Just freaking unbelievable on so many fronts. I dunno .. maybe you'll get a laugh from it, as I did.

[I @ M]

Failbook users, what more could you expect ----

[JM Tran]

Failbook users, what more could you expect ----

Curious to know what encapsulates facebook users as a fail? This shite happens via websites and blogs and not only from FB.

[ricktas]

Not just Americans. I got drawn into one on FB here in Aus. Where an Epson Pano Award winning photo was stolen and used by a weather related site on their FB page. They removed the watermark, replaced it with their own and claimed they had taken the photo. The photographer found it (cause someone else asked her if she knew them as it looked like they had been with her when she took her photo). Copyright infringement report to FB and it was removed. But it did not stop there.

Then the abuse, threats etc from the owner of the weather site began. And then on FB I stuck up for the photographer. Well that started me being sent threats, including being told I would be filled with lead..and more.

We sought police help. Their response was : Don't use facebook : We sought legal advise and were advised that whilst we could take him to court and we would likely win, he has no assets and we would get a token win, and have to pay our legal costs, so it would not be worth it.

At this point I am no longer on FB. And although we got the photo removed, the abuse and attacks continue. People have had threats to burn their house down, be shot (including a photo sent by this person of him holding a pistol at his webcam) and that being sent with the words "I am in your street right now".

He stole a photo, an Award winning one, and even though FB did the right thing, now months later, the abuse from this person continues. And recently this person has been caught out by another photographer using his photo.

So in fairness, it is not just Americans. This person is from Bundaberg!

[nimrodisease]

Wow, that's pretty intense Rick.

FWIW, New South Wales is apparently the most litigated state in the world. Meaning there are more lawsuits filed in NSW than any other state in the world.

[Mark L]

Jackie, I understand you've found FB a very useful tool, though things change.
It allows what Rick has mentioned. Of cause that is not exclusive to FB and will happen on new platforms. And then things will change again.
Counter intuitively, FB may become useful for some business purposes when 80% of people lose interest and go else where (just a random thought there).

Quote taken from a not so good article, though it shows change happening.
''From the outset, Facebook has always been about social [not commercial] networking. As sponsored posts and Facebook ads have increasingly filled users' newsfeeds in recent years, there is a growing sense of scepticism, disillusionment and downright irritation.
This movement away from what made Facebook great is probably the strongest indication that the social network as a brand is losing its way.''
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/d...205-31zub.html

[JM Tran]

Jackie, I understand you've found FB a very useful tool, though things change.
It allows what Rick has mentioned. Of cause that is not exclusive to FB and will happen on new platforms. And then things will change again.
Counter intuitively, FB may become useful for some business purposes when 80% of people lose interest and go else where (just a random thought there).

Quote taken from a not so good article, though it shows change happening.
''From the outset, Facebook has always been about social [not commercial] networking. As sponsored posts and Facebook ads have increasingly filled users' newsfeeds in recent years, there is a growing sense of scepticism, disillusionment and downright irritation.
This movement away from what made Facebook great is probably the strongest indication that the social network as a brand is losing its way.''
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/d...205-31zub.html

Exactly, its a social tool, the business side is only a bonus and not to be relied upon as the main thing.

Hence, I am seeing a trend where a lot of 40+ or 50+ age group who dont see the long term purpose and usefulness of facebook as a means of keeping up to date with friends and family around the world, but see it as another form of internet social trend.

I have been with FB since 2005 and still going strongly. This week I've made 5 figures of bookings from it and its not even the primary source of advertising. I still use it 90% as a way to connect with friends and family though.

My view is that those who see no purpose in it, scoff at it. Much like some people on here who scoffed at the idea of using a tablet when the iPad was announced before release. Look how useful it is and implemented in life now.

P.S - that article is pretty rubbish. Instagram overtaking FB for popularity? That thing is for vanity and for ppl with vapid lives - its merely a place to show off inane photos - you dont really communicate with others there let alone have diverse content, if you know what I mean. I for one am not interested in seeing someone's 'amazing breakfast' or a cat

[ricktas]

The issue I have with FB is their lack of real action. I could create pages tomorrow JM calling you a pedophile or worse, and you can report them, and eventually (some took weeks) FB will remove them after repeated reports (some pages were being reported by over 100 people), yet FB took ages to decide that they really did breach their 'community standards'. If that page does get taken down, I could start a new one called the same thing, and fill it with the same content, straight away.

FB rules state you must use your real name. But even an account in my name, took over a month to get removed.

All you need is one unhappy (and sick) customer or contact, and your reputation could be in disarray quite quickly. Anyone who searched my name on FB found some of these other profiles above mine in the FB search results.

FB is a great tool when EVERYONE uses it the way it was intended. But to many people have found they can use it as a tool to attack and denigrate others, including businesses, and the implications of that go way beyond FB. Until FB tighten up their controls and make sure their own rules are adhered to when someone reports a post/page, and it is acted on in an appropriate timeframe, it is dangerous.

I sincerely hope JM that you never have a disgruntled person decide to do anything similar to what we have experienced. You seem to be doing really well from your FB page, but be aware if you end up on the end of something bad, do not expect help to come to rectify it from FB administration. I have not been on FB for weeks now, but still he is creating pages about me and others (several who have closed their accounts, photography pages and more). One person was even called in by their employer and questioned about their FB activity, and the information the employer had, was from a profile created in their name, but was not their account.

**warning - extreme language and violence threat*

rick2.jpg

*Originally I posted this screen-grab with the business name still visible and without any words edited out. I decided to remove that and post an edited one, as I in no way want to promote this business name in any form.*

this post was on facebook for over 2 weeks, I reported it 10 times and others reported it as well. It took FB over 2 weeks to remove it. So my advice is on FB be extremely careful, you only need one person with a grudge and your reputation could be in tatters. The problem with FB is its popularity. People search FB before they search google these days. People will search google to find your business, and then search FB to find out ABOUT you and your business. If you end up being the subject of a horrid attack on FB, then your reputation can suffer because of it, and it can be complete and utter lies being posted about you, but that will not matter one bit.

[Kym]

FB's lack of moderation and action on reported abuses is the core problem.
AP on the other hand is a safe place

[enseth]

For the life of me I can't understand the mentality of someone who gets abusive and threatening when they are caught out do the wrong thing. If I was in their shoes I would at the very least seek a very low profile and try and disappear for a while. Some people are just plain WEIRD!

[MissionMan]

I think the challenges with these things is that business are not necessarily run by business people. They are run by people who are passionate about a topic who may have no clue how to run a successful business. They also don't seek legal advise through ignorance. There is also a severe lack of knowledge about copyright and intellectual property. They think because an image exists on the web, that they can use it or that because the person may live on the other side of the world, they will never know.

i used to see examples of this in the surfing/kitesurfing community. I did a review of two boards, and found the one vastly superior. The reality was the one brand was using newer technology. The owner of the worse brand confronted me on the beach and threatened to have me beaten up for hurting his business. Surfer mentality rather than business mentality. Last I heard of him, he had creditors chasing him and had moved states and gone into hiding after taking money for boards and not producing the goods when the going got tough.

These se days, facebook and other prebuilt web technology have made it too easy to build a popular website through luck and that means that people start to make money and don't seek the right advice when they do.

[swifty]

For the life of me I can't understand the mentality of someone who gets abusive and threatening when they are caught out do the wrong thing. If I was in their shoes I would at the very least seek a very low profile and try and disappear for a while. Some people are just plain WEIRD!

Probably no different to real life. You catch someone in real life doing something wrong and have the guts to call them out. Sometimes they walk away embarrassed. Other times they tell you to mind your own business, threaten you or worse, carry out the threat.
I try to give everyone a fair go but I grow more cynical everyday I fear.

[MissionMan]

Probably no different to real life. You catch someone in real life doing something wrong and have the guts to call them out. Sometimes they walk away embarrassed. Other times they tell you to mind your own business, threaten you or worse, carry out the threat.
I try to give everyone a fair go but I grow more cynical everyday I fear.

Unfortunately, there are no tests prior to allowing human's to breed. And I don't mean intelligence tests, I mean basic parenting skills that will allow your child to grow up as a decent human being as opposed to a violent neanderthal.

[WhoDo]

Probably no different to real life. You catch someone in real life doing something wrong and have the guts to call them out. Sometimes they walk away embarrassed. Other times they tell you to mind your own business, threaten you or worse, carry out the threat.
I try to give everyone a fair go but I grow more cynical everyday I fear.

I wish that were true, swifty. Unfortunately the pseudo-anonymity of the Internet emboldens some idiots well beyond their natural, real life limits. That said, I'm like you in that I'm sure my cynicism is increasing exponentially with age! As someone who has born the brunt of a particularly persistent attacker on another forum (that I no longer frequent), I'm glad for all of the reasonable people, like your good self, and for the fact that AP discourages personal attacks. It's a much safer place to participate as the result.

[swifty]

Unfortunately the pseudo-anonymity of the Internet emboldens some idiots well beyond their natural, real life limits.

Tis true, this anonymity breeds ''........." Fill in the blank but there's a lot of negative things you could slot in there.

[in2fx]

I also had threats from Jason as well, but not to the extent of you and a couple of others I know..... hopefully karma will sort him out

[I @ M]

Yep, the social networking site that brings out the best in people today ----

[ricktas]

I also had threats from Jason as well, but not to the extent of you and a couple of others I know..... hopefully karma will sort him out

Yeah Steve, saw you mentioned on a couple of the pedophile pages along the way.

[Mark L]

Yep, the social networking site that brings out the best in people today ----

Bring out the best in people and linking to News Ltd ?

[bricat]

Rick Perhaps you could publish his email address here so we could bombard him with spam. It is easy to set up an email address then close it, then set up and so on. Pricks like that are bullies that's all. Spent 15 years dealing with those a...holes JMHO cheers Brian