Everyone Please Read.....

[Russian Blue]

A moderator on another site found a member using Nakita pics and claiming them to be their own. The moderator knew me so they knew this member was lying. Just a warning that others may be using your pics in other forums, online contests, etc. If you want some protection to your photos, place a watermark through the image.


I'm not sure if I should just post this message here, or Karen/Paul should post a message in the general forum.

I'm just so ticked off. Nice way to end the week! NOT!

So you may see past threads missing photos because I am taking the Nakita pics off the board.


:mad:

[Kirsten]

Oh no, that's so annoying! Never thought about that! :(

I'm sorry that this happened to you!:mad:

Thanks for the warning and the water mark advice!

Kirsten

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

That's awful! Some people are sooo sick. :(

Does that mean we won't see Nakita anymore? Or the new pics will have the watermarks on?

Any suggestions on how to put a watermark on them? I've got Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0, can I get watermarks on the pics with that?

Thanks for the warning. :)

[Russian Blue]

I'm still researching the watermark thing. I don't have photoshop so I'm out of luck there.

The watermark will not really protect your image. Someone can still use it on another site and say they own it. Even online contests don't really validate that the person is the owner.

I'll just be more selective with my pics! Or, I'll post a pile of out of range, blurry bad hair day Nakita pics!


:p

[bluekat]

:mad: I never thought of that either, those people make me sick! :mad:

[Prairie Purrs]

That's plain disgusting! :mad: I hope you can figure out the watermarking, because I just love seeing darling Nakita.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

I just got this from the Help section of Photoshop Elements 2.0

Adding file information

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Windows, you can add file information to files saved in Photoshop, TIFF, JPEG, EPS, and PDF formats. In Mac OS, you can add file information to files in any format. You can add information such as the image title and a caption, and copyright information.

Note: File information cannot be saved in GIF format when converting a file from a different format.

To enter information about a file:

Choose File > File Info.
Enter the desired information in the File Info dialog box:
Caption to enter text that can be printed under an image or displayed in a Web browser's title bar. To print the caption, choose File > Print Preview, and select Caption. Then print as usual. (See Setting print options for more information.)
Choose Copyrighted Work from Copyright Status to display a copyright symbol in the image window's title bar. Enter the desired text in the Copyright Notice text box. Specify a URL in the Owner URL text box if information about an image can be found on a web site. Click Go To URL to test the link.
Note: If Photoshop Elements detects a Digimarc watermark in the image, the Copyright & URL section is automatically updated.

EXIF to view information imported from your digital camera, such as the date and time the picture was taken, resolution in ppi, the ISO speed rating, f/stop, compression, and exposure time. For more information about EXIF annotations, see your digital camera documentation.
When you've finished entering file information, click OK.

I haven't tried it yet, but hopefully this is what we're looking for. And if Photoshop has it, there's a good chance the other popular software packages have something similar.

[NoahsMommy]

Oh my gosh! Why would someone do that? I mean, I know Nakita is gorgeous, so I know "why", but that's stealing! And lying....

(OK, I sound naive. But I can't understand why someone would do that!) ;)

I'm sorry. I wish we didn't have to not see Nakita as much, but we understand.

[Christiansmommy]

People are really sick sometimes!!

I am also a member of a board devoted to babies. And one of the mothers on the board gets all professional, beautiful pics done of her daughter and has them in her signature and also has a website with the pics...well, one of us on the board saw an advertisement for baby hypnosis on a totally different website...and the pics of the baby that they were using in the website was this womans own child!! They were pics of her sleeping...the mother felt so violated and terribly upset,. as i would be too!! I think she may have even gotten lawyers invovled, b/c this was her child, and besides the fact that they stole these pics from her...what if she didnt even believe in hypnosis and here her child is being used to advertise it on an actual website!!

To make a long story short, nothing that you put out on the internet is sacred/safe...dont give addresses, phone numbers, and personal info and if you have websites, you may want them only password accessible...or put a watermark on them as Russian Blue said!

I am sorry you were violated!!! :mad: :mad: That is just terrible!!

Robyn

[K & L]

Woah! That it's too sad! Can you contact this person, or someone that could do something about that?

[julijul]

This happened to my friend as well (Jonah and Finn's breeder). A woman stole kitten pics off her website and used them as her *own* kittens to be adopted on Petfinder. I happened to be looking on Petfinder when I noticed a kitten had a remarkable resemblence to my friends kitten, I then went on my friends website and discovered it was the exact same photo!!!!

[Chinadoll]

Originally posted by Christiansmommy
People are really sick sometimes!!

I am also a member of a board devoted to babies. And one of the mothers on the board gets all professional, beautiful pics done of her daughter and has them in her signature and also has a website with the pics...well, one of us on the board saw an advertisement for baby hypnosis on a totally different website...and the pics of the baby that they were using in the website was this womans own child!! They were pics of her sleeping...the mother felt so violated and terribly upset,. as i would be too!! I think she may have even gotten lawyers invovled, b/c this was her child, and besides the fact that they stole these pics from her...what if she didnt even believe in hypnosis and here her child is being used to advertise it on an actual website!!

To make a long story short, nothing that you put out on the internet is sacred/safe...dont give addresses, phone numbers, and personal info and if you have websites, you may want them only password accessible...or put a watermark on them as Russian Blue said!

I am sorry you were violated!!! :mad: :mad: That is just terrible!!

Robyn

That's awful! For most things on the internet, if someone isn't using it for business purposes..but entering pictures in contest and stuff or posting on other message boards I don't think there's much you can do. But if it's a picture of her child and because it's for business advertisment and they did not have permission, I do believe that it's illeagal, and she can take legal action.

[batgirl1980]

People are sick. I design my husbands website for him, and some others, and i've had to start implementing what is called an anti leech program on the images they are worried about.. because on Tuesday I went in to check the referrers to his website for him, and noticed about 10 different punk people linking to his forum smilies... so i immediately protected it. The anti leech won't help here though.. unless you have your own website server where you can run the program and tell it petoftheday is ok for requesting the image..

But it really the only thing to do is watermark or copyright it.
Those of you with edit programs, if you can't add a watermark you can:
1. Add your name and what not to the actual graphic.. in regular letters..
or if you have a more advanced program:
Add your text over the image where they can't just chop it off without ruining the photo, but make it semi transparent, sorta see throughy.

I didn't do any of that to my images on here, because I thought of all things, pet pictures would be safe!!

I'm really sick of people who are so stupid they can't do anything for themselves and take what is other people's as their own!

[PayItForward]

But don't they say....

Imitation is the lowest form of flattery

So in a way, it is a compliment to Nakita. (Beautiful girl)

Sad people, to steal anothers pet image but they can't steal the cuddles.... :D

[popcornbird]

:eek: :eek: :eek:

That's why I always delete Popcorn and Muffin's pics a few days after posting them. You just never know what crazy people could be out there! :mad:

How rude!

[Barbara]

It is mean. I always downsize the pics before I get them on Imagestation -so nobody can use them for print purposes. If somebody steals them for their website -ok it won't be Filou or Tigris -it will just be a mass of pixels.

In most of the European copyright laws you could take legal action (sorry I don't know much about the US laws) -but with the internet it is very difficult. I work with a publisher and we have sometimes problems with our contents that are stolen. So if the one using it illegally is European it would be easier -but with let's say China or Egypt or some other countries you just don't have the money to do something against it.

[tikeyas_mom]

I dont realkly think you should take it that harshly, the person probably just thought your cat was so cute and were jealous. Maybe they arent allowed to own a cat. have you ever thought of that? I think it is sweet how someone would like your pet soo much that they would take a pic and say it was theirs. I dont find it that bad JMHO.

[Steffi N]

What happened is a real shame. I have just been looking through old posts to see some of my favorite Nakita pictures (couldn't find French Fry Adventure). I
hope there is something you can do. It would be a pity if we could not see Nakita any more, but we all understand.

[boscibo]

Maybe you could do something like this:

http://home.attbi.com/~pattis_garden2/hanna_copyright.jpg

Put your name and Nakita's name on it, so someone can't pass it off as their cat. I just used the free program Irfanview (http://www.irfanview.com) to do this - you don't need Photoshop to add text.

[marysmerrycats]

I'm so sorry that happened to you! what creepy people out there...:(

[kimlovescats]

There is a way to combat this.... it is by placing a "no right-click" html script on the boards. I have them on my website pages, but I don't how easily it could be done here on PT boards????

[wolf_Q]

:mad:

I've had that happen to me also. I bet it's happened (and is happening) more then I even know also.

One time I joined this yahoo group, and the club photo was a drawing of a chihuahua......not ANY drawing, MY drawing. I'm not stupid, I KNOW it was mine. You could tell they had cropped off my signature.

I *nicely* talked to the group owner, I just said, "Hey, I don't mind if you use my photo, but I'd like to have credit for it, and not have my signature cropped off." She gets all mad and is saying "My friend drew that, it's my dog, I watched her draw it!!" :rolleyes: Um...NO.

[boscibo]

Originally posted by kimlovescats
There is a way to combat this.... it is by placing a "no right-click" html script on the boards. I have them on my website pages, but I don't how easily it could be done here on PT boards????

The no right click script doesn't work if someone really wants to steal the image - they can go right to the source (where it is stored on the server) or do a screen cap. And lots of people surf with java script turned off - they won't even notice the no right-click script. Another thing is with IE 6 you don't need to right click - the image toolbar enables people to email or save without right-clicking.

The only way to truly ensure no one steals your images is don't upload anything that you don't mind sharing. Or brand the image with your unique style - your name or website URL, in a way that it can't be cropped out or cloned out.

[Cheshirekatt]

OMG...I had this same thing happen to me, but even worse! I also belong to a breast reduction support board. They have before and after surgery photos there, but you have to have a special password to access them. Well, some girl took my photos off there and put them on her website and represented them as herself! I couldn't believe it! The web site I belong to actually got a lawyer and the FBI involved and had her web site shut down. She had also stolen other women's photos.

The moral of this story? Nothing is safe on the web. :rolleyes:

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

That is so sad! Imagine how awful it will be if we can't even share pics of our kitties with other people on PT.

Russian Blue, I appreciate and understand your decision to remove Nakita's pics - but what a loss for the rest of us! She is so gorgeous, AND you take such great pictures:(

[krazyaboutkatz]

Russian Blue, I'm so sorry to hear this. :( I guess some people just don't have a conscience. I sure hope that this doesn't stop you from posting Nakita's pics here. I wonder if this has ever happened to Niina, Casper&Kitty, because I've noticed that she's been putting her copywright info on all of her pics.

[Former User]

Originally posted by krazyaboutkatz I wonder if this has ever happened to Niina, Casper&Kitty, because I've noticed that she's been putting her copywright info on all of her pics.

Funny you should mention, it has. For example Kitty was indroduced as Tiger on another site, and as a male :eek:
Also, Sweet stormy had copied Casper and Kitty pics to her site without even asking from us nor even telling that the pics are there, she did give credit, but it went to Pet Talk because that's where she copied them. I know alot of people are annoyed by the fact that I have that copyright text on our pics but well, can't help it.

Russian blue, I'm sorry to hear this, it's so annoying when people do that :mad:

[Miss Meow]

That is so freaky. I hope you find a way to mark your images because it would be a great shame to not see her as often.

It's a bit scary that it's happened to several of our members.

[Soledad]

I'm with Noah'sMommy....why???!!!

I mean, I guess you could take it as compliment, but you have to wonder, what is the motivation? My guess would be that they're just sad and pathetic. Nakita is sooo beautiful, though, at least this creep has good taste!:p

[jenluckenbach]

Maybe I am just being plain stupid, but WHO CARES?!?! I have thought about this happening and I dismissed it as something that can't hurt me. So they claim ownership,So what ? If someone wants to steel Sterling's picture, enter a contest and win $1,000,000 so what? Let them. He is still my cat and no harm has come to me. Maybe I don't see the whole picture, but if I worried about everything that COULD happen or MIGHT happen, I'd have to live my life in a vacuum seal.

[IttyBittyKitty]

While it is a compliment to Nakita's adorable little face, it is disturbing and many people would feel that it is an invasion of their privacy and that of their cat - even exploitation of the cat with the misuse of her image. Some of the other examples in this thread are even more appalling such as the baby photos and Cheshirekatt's example is disgusting! There really are some freaks out there!

We still want to see Nakita's cute face so please don't take her away entirely :(

(For the record, my little graphic is not my own work - it came from a free cat graphics site :) )

[catmandu]

It ia a damn shame that there are people out there , to whom money is a God , and thatthey will do anything to get it , even using pictures that arent thiers. I would love to have a Cat as beautiful as Nikita , but would never take false credit , when it is not deserved! Some people , no brains or morals!

[Cataholic]

I am with Jen,...who cares? It isn't truly hurting me- maybe my ego, but, not me. I just can't get upset about someone else and their wrongdoings too much. Since you can't totally control it, might as well spend your time/energy on things you can control. I wouldn't want to live my life always thinking, "what if..".

Course, while I think my pets are beautiful, they just don't compare to some others, like Nakita.

[AvaJoy]

Seems like the bottom line is that any image on the internet is literally up for grabs. Even with a watermark or caption someone can still claim the cat as theirs and enter the photo in a dozen contests . . . and how would you ever know just where your photo is being displayed and what it is being otherwise used for??? :mad:

[smokey the elder]

Unfortunately, the Internet is the Wild Wild West as well as the World Wide Web. Individuals put stuff out there at their own risk. Congress or Parliament or whomever can make all the laws they want but if they're unenforceable they may as well not exist.

Having said that, I would hope that most people would use an honor system and ask permission to use pictures. I even ask in a PM if someone has a pic I want to use as wallpaper, even though that's staying on my local machine at home.

Hacking into web sites and stealing pics of really private individual stuff is really heinous.

Just my opinion.

[kimlovescats]

I have to agree with Jen! Sorry! ;)

[Felicia's Mom]

I don't like the idea of stealing pictures, but I would rather have my pictures taken than my cats.

[aguu]

With all due respect to everyone, I agree with Jen... what's the big deal? (Sorry)
It's not like they mean harm to the cat.
Probably just envious of her beauty.

[Nomilynn]

I don't really care either.. I enjoy sharing my pictures so I will continiue to do so. I think if people on this site show pics of their own websites, and give credit even if it is credit to PT, why should it matter?

However I agree that showing the breast reduction pictures is much more disturbing.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Originally posted by kimlovescats
I have to agree with Jen! Sorry! ;)

I somewhat agree. I'm not going to rush right out and put a watermark on every pic of T & P I have, and I'm not going to stop posting pics of them even though they don't have the watermark, but when I have the time, I will be looking into this some more and will start putting watermarks on future pics.

Why? Because it's just not right for others to steal the pics like that. And not that it would hurt me, but if someone was going to post pics of T & P, I would like to know about it so they aren't represented in a way that I wouldn't like. Not a huge deal, but if I can stop - or at least deter - someone from using the pics, why not? :)

[boscibo]

Many people get mad because they are the ones that spend big $$$ on cameras, and spend time taking the perfect shots, and spend time setting up webspace to share their pictures.

Not to mention some people link to the pictures on your webspace, and some webhosts charge for amount of bandwidth used, and if someone else is posting it directly, you are getting charged for it.

What makes me mad about people stealing pictures is that all it takes is one polite email to *ask* someone if they mind it being used. I have been asked plenty of times by people who have wanted to use my pictures, and I have never said no. The people who don't ask - they just take them - are the ones who make me angry.