I am sorry to report that there is a website that seems to be blatantly catering to copyright violations. For a fact, there is a member there who is stealing images on the web and redistributring them as screensavers, e-cards, you name it. The person's online user name is "pinupcutiesII" and their STOLEN "gallery" is located here: http://community.webshots.com/user/pinupcutiesII You may wish to look over this site and see if any of YOUR copyrighted artwork has been stolen by this person. There is a link for reporting copyright violations, but the owners of the list have made it much easier to STEAL artwork than to report the theft of same. I figured that the best way to deal with these thieves is to turn their URL over to you guys here... and pity the poor fools that even thought about stealing 3D artwork from Poser artists! lol Thank you for your attention folks. Let us not allow this sort of thing to continue. Thorne =};-}>

WebShots has been reported many times over.. they usually take down the copyrighted material after its brought to their attention, but it seems they dont look for the stuff themselves..alot to go thru no doubt Thanx for this tho Thorne :) ~J

Attached Link: http://community.webshots.com/photo/50878476/50979017sFSKZc

Yup... it's been reported to CL already.

I have sent a letter to Webshots reporting this person, and his/her images. I cannot believe the images! They are all stolen!! There is one image there that I KNOW has been altered..most of them have but the one Im refering to here is the one in the album titled 'Fantasy Storybook II' under the image title 'Tides'.. the image has had an overlay of mermaids... SHEESH! If you see any of them that are your own, or know who they belong to, here is the addy to WebShots copyright violations reporting service.>> copyright@webshots.com ~J

Thank you all for responding. The main discussion of this subject is also in the Poser forum. I posted it here as well to ensure the maximum exposure for this criminal activity. Thanks again, Thorne

I have had the similar problem with msn and its groups! and they will do something only after most times you threaten legal action.

Alot of that is Will Kramer's stuff.

Has this been brought to Curious Labs' attention? I'm sure they wouldn't like the fact that their Poser 5 image is being creditted to that person! Or that's it's available as a "Webshots" image! I'm sure that a company may have more clout than a bunch of regular people. Also, is this the same Webshots that was mentioned in another forum... the one that comes with Gator spyware? If so, why does anybody use it? Stolen images, spyware, man, what's next, a plug-in that will let you download MP3's and copyrighted software??

Posted this in all my threads- this just in from the copyright person at Webshots: QUOTE: Dear Thorne, Thank you for contacting Webshots! Thank you for your message. As you may know, the image you identified as belonging to you, like all images in the Webshots Community, was uploaded by a user, not by employees of Webshots. We have deleted the image from the Webshots Community and reminded the user who uploaded it that our Terms of Use prohibit the posting of infringing images. Although we have deleted the image from the Community, it is possible that the image may have been cached on our servers, and it may take a few days for the cache to clear. However, within 24 hours, the photo should no longer appear in the user's album or topic pages, and users should not be able to download it. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any other questions or concerns regarding the Webshots Community and thank you for calling this user's posting to our attention. Sincerely, Andrea END QUOTE------------------------------------- I wonder how many other complaints they have now received on this person? It seems the prudent thing for them to do would be to permanently ban that user- of course we all around here know how well that works! Thanks to everyone for the public outcry against these people. Thorne =};-}>

Well, the Curious Labs ripoff was still there. I clicked the "refer a friend to this page" link and sent the referral to legal@curiouslabs.com As much grief as I may have given CL over time, I sincerely hope they nail the ripoff artist to the wall, and I'll certainly be rooting for CL on this one. /P

Altho I havent been back to check it out yet, Andrea from Webshots (copyright dept.) informed me that ALL albums by that member were being deleted, I reported to her that all, or most of those images were stolen and within 24 hours that none should be there if they are cached on servers this time tomorrow. I can post her reply here if you would like. We shall see... ~Jani :)

woohoo I love it! The power of numbers sometimes it works for us ;o)

All that has been done, so far, is that the primary link to the galleries has been removed. All of the "albums" & individual pictures are still available for download if you have a direct link (such as the one above posted by odeathoflife). A follow up email to webshots may be necessary.

If they are not completely removed by this time tomorrow, or the time I recieved the reply email, I will once again send them a letter. In my first I told them that I would give them the chance of removal first before contacting the original artists, and they promised 24 hrs.. If they are not removed, then I will proceed to inform those that need to know about their artwork being stolen ;) Hell, might even do it anyways and probably should ;) ~Jani :)

Attached Link: http://community.webshots.com/user/linda222103

Why can't there be anything done about Webshots itself. They provide a platform for people to share stolen artwork - isn't that illegal? Maybe it would be nice to have Webshots closed down just as an example for other webhosts/providers what can happen if they do not take copyright protection serious. At it is now it looks like it's enough for them to refer to their TOS and demand proof from those that report stolen artwork. Those who steal don't have to fear anything. All what will happen to them is that their account gets closed and that's it.

You have it right. The people that keep doing this get off with nothing but a closed account if that much most times. Not just one webshots. Trust me if there was more to do Let me know I would help in an instant!

"Why can't there be anything done about Webshots itself. They provide a platform for people to share stolen artwork" But this could also be said about Renderosity galleries, or any other site that allows people to post images. It is impossible to check and verify copyright on every image that gets posted on sites like this, so things have to be taken on trust. Artists just have to be vigilant, and complain if piracy occurs. If Webshots are taking these works down when asked, I can't see what else can be done. Mick.

that may be so but when someone is shown to be stealing images or as a repeat offender something more needs to be done, something more then a slap on the wrist

Webshots no only provides the platform but makes income based off of others works in the form of postcards ect ect. I think those involved should go after them for that reason as well.

Yep, and in their TOS they say: "As a condition of membership, you hereby grant Webshots a perpetual, universal, nonexclusive right to copy, display, modify, alter, transmit and distribute any materials provided by you to the Webshots community. You are the owner of all materials submitted by you to Webshots and you represent and guarantee to Webshots, as a condition of membership, that you are the legal owner of the copyright to all materials you submit to Webshots or that you have permission from the copyright owner to submit the materials to Webshots."

Nice, huh?

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act If your copyrighted work is displayed illegally on a website, you may be able to take advantage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the "DMCA"), codified at 17 U.S.C. 512, to convince the ISP to delete the infringing material from the ISP's servers or to prevent it from being accessed. The DMCA contains a procedure that grants "service providers" immunity from copyright infringement liability under certain circumstances when the infringement is caused by the service providers' users. Service providers include "a provider of online services or network access, or the operator of facilities therefor." Most ISPs probably do not want the potential liability that could result from having infringing content on their servers. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act provides that an ISP may be able to avoid copyright infringement liability arising from infringing content on a website hosted by the ISP for a customer if the ISP follows the procedures set forth in the DMCA. One way to get your copyrighted content off the internet is to notify the ISP that it has infringing content on its servers. The copyright owner may notify the website's host ISP of copyright infringement and demand that the ISP remove the infringing material from the internet and its servers. Under the notice and takedown procedure, a copyright owner must give a proper notice to the service providers designated agent. If, upon receiving a proper notice, the service provider promptly removes or blocks access to the allegedly infringing material identified in the notice and if certain applicable requirements of the DMCA have been satisfied, the service provider will be exempt from monetary liability arising from the infringement. The service provider is also protected from any liability to any person for claims based on its having taken down the material. The notice to the service provider of infringement must be given to the service provider's designated agent and must contain the following information: # A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive copyright that is allegedly infringed. # Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site. # Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material. # Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted. # A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. # A statement that the information in the notice is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. On receiving a proper notice of alleged copyright infringement, most ISPs will promptly remove or block access to the infringing material. Be sure to follow up with the ISP to make sure it complies with its obligations after receiving the notice.

webshots isp is verio.net

Attached Link: http://community.webshots.com/photo/48268955/52032128KwVpGQ

And Gevidal, too... Didn't even bother to remove the names...

Those numbers that follow the name are our ID numbers at the 3DCommune. Don post's there nearly every day. Gawd that is a lot of stolen images. Thanks Tom

hmatienzo: The easiest way to reach Don Tatro is at alt.binaries.3d.Poser, and don't bother with it. I cut and pasted your post and name and have already sent it to him, with a little background on what is going on. All I can say is that damn, I wish they'd ripped Legume off. =THAT= would be worth the cost of an E ticket to watch!

O...M...G!!! Linda has got to be stopped.. She has tons of 'yourgeorgie's' and ocridave's, Here are 2 of the albums>> Sea Album: http://www.webshots.com/album/48798173jmaWkR Graphic Fantasy Album: http://www.webshots.com/album/48268955buUQnI She has images of SEVERAL 'Rosity, and 3DC artsits.. yourgeorgie ocriddave hobbit ladyjane sndcastie dontatro and several that I know are from 3DC but do not know personally. Has anyone reported this to webshots yet? If no, let me know and I will contact Andrea. If Linda has been reported before, there has to be a way to get her to stop..any ideas? ~Jani:)

I'm not Sure if our Copyright admin has contacted Webshots ,but I suspect she has. BTW Don knows but he's used to this kinda stuff with the Creepy Clown model. Even a television program used his work without permission. It' doesn't really bother him. Tom

if those that have there work taken ...cant they do a class action law suite to those servers and/or people that keep doing this and get them stoped and monetary damages awarded?

Lordy ...out of curiousity I went and typed in "poser" into webshots search...I am seeing many pictures that I hve seen in here...one was of the sacrament and tears pic from the market place.

Looks like Stormi and dalinese entire galleries are in there too.

Thanks, Dale! I can't access the newsgroup with my current server... they don't consider it family-friendly, LOL!

There are lots of images from Morris too.

Yeah, saw the Morris'. Multiple galleries of them. I'm never sure if I should be relieved, or vaguely offended that my work never shows up on these.

Did it occur to you that Morris' entire gallery (and perhaps the art of others as well) is there because they put it htere? Morris' gallery is credited to her and even links to her artist page here at 'rosity....

I thought about that she maybe has put it there because there were a lot of pages with her art BUT I do not think that someone who grabs images from a lot of different people without giving credit has permission to do so.

most likely not - but the morris images are in a gllery for Morris. Just saying that everyone over there may not be stealing work but may be the artist. For those that are violating copyrights - well they are jsut asking for it in my opinion.

After you see numerous "Gallery of Olivia", "Gallery of Luis Royo", "Gallery of Julie Bell," links, it's hard to see "Gallery of ANYBODY" without getting the feeling that something just isn't right. Most artists tend to be somewhat consistent in the nicks they use on different sites. When you see something unassociated with any regular names, followed by a bunch of numbers that makes it look like a license plate, it's pretty easy to assume that someone else is posting. Even if they do put links to galleries, and give credit to the original artist, it's still Not Right if they're doing it without permission. I really hope that it actually is Morris on that site, because otherwise, this goes far beyond minor copyright offenses and into the realm of felony (not sure what the dollar amount required is there). And there's no good solution for the artist, either. One idjit with a scanner defeats 'book or poster or other 2d hardcopy art only' idea. You don't have to show your work online to get it stolen.

Attached Link: http://community.webshots.com/photo/15562094/15562445XZuzIPOXKv

Seems the simple thing to do would be to send Morris an IM and ask her if she has given permission. Most likely she has NOT but you never know. I will ask her myself and let you know ;o) I think that if we could get one of the big names to really go after WebShots it might have some positive effect. Otherwise I fear what we have here is a many-headed Hydra with a predilection for stealing art work- chop off one of its heads and three more rise to take its place.

For sure... it makes one sick to see all that "borrowed" art! The worst is that they get away with it, like you said.

Actually I do go by Picture F/X at Webshots, I was posting my images there before I started posting them here, and before I was a part of Visual Silence my graphics business was called Picture F/X. But it is very sweet how you all really watch out for each other. However on another note, I have had my images posted several times to others albums over there and when I find out I simply ask webshots to remove them because I own the copyright and I did not give any other member at webshots permission to post or use my images. So far they have always been great about removing any of my images from another persons album promptly. Sincerely, Jeni

Thanks for replying, Jeni =;o)

I am glad that at least that one is cleared up! One down, how many more to go over there? :- Thanks, Jeni!

If someone gets the names of all the infrigned artists, they could get together and file a lawsuit for damages.

That's definitely a relief, Jeni.

I get tired of people ripping off other art and calling it their own. to me, these people don't get a second chance. I've already sent a link to the licencing division of Louis Royo, and I know they will have a thing or two to say to verio.