posted on April 10, 2003 04:59:19 PM new
I just noticed on my account detail that someone has a link in their auction to 4 of my images, and I'm being charged for it. What can I do. The auction just ended today it is #3511747415
If you are receiving charges for images that are being used by a third party, please contact the user and ask them to cease and desist. Using someone else's copyrighted images is against eBay's rules and regulations, so we would urge you to notify eBay as well.
You may request a refund for the image hosting charges associated with the stolen images. Here is a link to our refund request form:
Note that you will need to enter the Ref ID number from your statement for each erroneous image hosting charge. If there are more than 25 line items, please let us know.
Here are some suggestions that may help with this problem:
1. The best way to avoid this is to watermark your images. There are many programs available that will allow you to do this in bulk. A user recommendation is Thumbnail Refinery, available at www.slideshow-refinery.com.
2. Insert javascript into your listing's description that will disable right-click. You will find many scripts available on a Google search. You must be very careful when inserting javascript that you do not alter the script in any way. Note that this is not foolproof - users can still view the source code of the page to obtain the URL.
3. If you notice that your image is being used in an active auction, and you are not currently using it in any of your auctions, delete the image. This will remove it from our server and it will no longer be displayed in the auction. Note that this will only work if the user has inserted your image URL into their listing. If they have copied your image and uploaded it to their own server, you will need to contact them or notify eBay of a copyright infringement.
I had a similar situation of having my photos & text swiped by another seller, for a similar item. I contacted eBay & they sent me an infringement form to fill out, which I promplty did. Upon receiving that form, eBay pulled their auction immediately. The use of another sellers photos & item description (word for word) is against the law now. If you really wanted to pursue your matter even further, I believe you have legal recourse against the offending party. Be that as it may, you should definitely contact eBay about it. Anna
posted on April 11, 2003 06:00:18 PM new
Thank you RetroBargains! I didn't bother to turn them in to ebay since the auction had ended by the time I realized the pics were stolen from me. I love looking at their auction now! I just hope that the seller sees it.
I have reported to ebay in the past for stolen pictures, but this is the first time that I've had a seller actually link to my image. It just irked me that I got charged for their laziness!
posted on April 11, 2003 08:44:08 PM new
Since I deal with vintage ads, I've been a bit concerned about people just printing the pics of the ad out or saving the images. I've toyed back and forth with the right-click disable, and after reading some about it figured that locking out the honest customers from right clicking to save the page or whatever just wasn't right. Hate to infringe on the "good" people just because of the few idiots that are out there. (yeah... that's directed at whoever is dishonest or too lazy to make your own images or thinks that it's okay to steal from other people).
It's a shame that adults don't (or did not) teach their children better.
I'm exploring the javascript for just disabling the print or save image function - that would work. In the meantime, I just shrink 'em down, give them enough of a "teaser" for the ad contents and end with "ad text continues". If they want to read it, they can buy it or they get a lousy copy if they steal it. <lol>
I'll remember your replacement image idea if I ever run across a similar situation. I love it! Isn't payback grand? <g>
posted on April 15, 2003 05:49:00 AM new
I've seen people get around it another way too. They rename the picture, put up another one with the name of the original one that isn't so nice (ie: one guy made a sign in psp that said: "i'm a stupid dork and I steal pictures." So the offending party got to have that posted on their auction.
posted on April 17, 2003 07:47:18 PM new
Using Javascript to disable the save or print function is absolutely no deterent to someone getting your image. All you have to do is view the page source and the full URL of the image is in the source. Just copy it to a browser address line and the image is yours.
If you have an image that you don't want others to save, then there is only one reliable way to do it and that is to put a watermark in the image. If you aren't familiar with watermarks you can see an example at http://www.magazineframes.com/Playboy53.php. The thief can still steal your image but with the watermark it isn't of much use to them. I actually want people to take the images from my web site as I use the web site address as my watermark and if they use it for some purpose I get free advertising. I don't use watermarks for my eBay auctions but if I did, I would use something like "Scanned for myEbayName's auctions only".
Almost any graphics program will allow you to put a watermark in an image. You set it up once in most graphics programs and save it to their graphics library and its there whenever you need it. Since you edit/crop/compress all your images anyway (if you don't, you should) before using them for auctions, one more little step to add a watermark doesn't add much time.
So the offending party got to have that posted on their auction.