A Thief Among Us - Someone Steals Quiltish Photos

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Oh for the shame! I came upon an Etsy shop tonight who has stolen my photos. Now, as many of you know- my photographs have become a sense of pride for me- the product of much trial & error, a little sweat & even some tears. Apparently, another "mamapreneur" has opted to forgo this necessary rite of passage of small businessdom (creating your own style, look, design) by simply copying & pasting my images into her shop. Oh, but it doesn't stop there- not only has she stolen my photos but she has spent some time (minutes she could've spent learning to use her own camera) to photo-shop out my garment labels. It's obvious, you can see for yourself.

Tricky dicky though, these images are copyrighted.

So, while I generally let a lot of things roll off my back & am a pretty forgiving person, here's where I draw the line. Don't mess with my hard work!

Shame on you AbbeyLane.

9 comments :

Paputsi said...

... and it's so obvious too!!! I am so sorry that you are having to go through this. I would hate to have someone steal my hard work. I'm glad that your work is copyrighted....

Good Luck
~Lyn

Bagladee said...

That is so bad....and I dont blame you for not letting i go. Stealing someones photos is just as bad as stealing physical products. Shame on her indeed!! Have you reported her to etsy? I hope she has to retract her listed items. Good luck with it.

~Michelle~ said...

From her shop policies:
"All images & text property of Abbey Lane Baby Boutique © All Copyright Reserved"

That really sucks - are you going to have to watermark all of your pictures now?

Kailla Platt said...

This sucks! How did you find out? Can you take action? Has she responded? Wow - the nerve of some people. Luckily your beautiful work speaks for itself.

Amber said...

Wow. There is A LOT of this going around lately. I am so sorry. I just "discovered" your shop today by chance when I was signing into Etsy and I love your stuff! Sorry you have to go through this, but kudos for calling her out. These people need to be stopped.

~Michelle~ said...

I just realized my earlier comment sounded like I was defending - I'm not, I think it's deplorable. I just sort of found it funny that she's trying to ward off the attack. I'd be really curious to see how the embedded details on each picture would match yours (like camera, ISO settings, date, etc) - you'd have to be pretty smart to mess around with that stuff!

Live a Colorful Life said...

Wow. That is gutsy. And unbelievable! I would LOVE to hear what she has to say in defense of herself. How blatantly wrong. One of the very things that has been keeping me from adding more items to my etsy shop is the photography.It is HARD work!
Report.Her.

And P.S. Your stuff is amazingly cute.

Amanda Metz said...

Hey, just went to look at her listings that you listed and they aren't online anymore! just shows that she is GUILTY!

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry that happened to you. I can say that it has happened to me as well - it's one thing to borrow pictures and credit them properly, another to make money off of them.

Anyway, you won my fabric giveaway!

Send me your mailing address at info {at} beesquarefabrics.com