Quote:
Originally Posted by MT2008
This is a bit of a 180 for you, no? I never thought I'd see you acting so cool about the idea of your pics being used on other sites, permission or not. Have you had a change of heart, or are you merely taking the pragmatic route?
And BTW, I don't think you were wrong to desire some credit for the images on sites where they appear.
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No, not really. and yes, I still strongly disagree with your previous points (in the far past on this matter) for the following reasons. My outrage was primariliy about people taking CREDIT for the photographs. Like people we shall not mention, nor kids who post the pics as if THEY create them on their own video game wiki pages, etc. etc. and depending on how the image is used, I still file copyright infringement claims (rather than complete ignore the thefts like you suggested I do
) The gunbroker and Gunsamerica thefts are just pathetic, but also misleading to the buyers. It would be a bigger concern to me if not that I've run into so many 'buyer's who say "Hey, that pic's from IMFDB". Once that happens, people won't be fooled into thinking that this is a picture of 'THEIR" gun. The dynamic has changed. MPM pics are being recognized as being such. The risk of others building their own reputations and websites off of my hard work lessens each day, as IMFDB dominates cyberspace. I remember that you thought that the images should be shared with others and I still strongly disagree. You can't stop all theft, there is not enough resources to do so, but we must still be consistent. I go after folks when I can. That allows me to be consistent when I go after someone who really steals from us. If we were to adopt a policy of open sharing, then a 'cease and desist option' would no longer be available to us.
Edit: for example, I (aka IMFDB) still exercises our copyrights against abuser. If suddenly some guy published a desktop book with my pics in it and sells it for profit, I can still sue him. Openly sharing the images as a matter of policy would eliminate any challenge to that and his lawyers would know that.