Re: [MOPO] Image theft on eBay

[JR]

Steve,   Yes, the usual reaction one gets from an eBay scammer of any kind... regardless of the specifics of what they are doing... is "Hey, why are you picking on me? Leave me alone, I'm working this con here and you're cramping my style! Get off my back and never contact me again!"  Now, this might work in real life if you were standing on a street corner in New York and the guy was some big burly type, but thinking that this kind of reaction is going to "scare" someone away from calling you out and/or reporting you to eBay is just absurd.   Like you, I find the large semi-transparent letters of the owner of the picture across the image to be distracting... unfortunately I guess it's the price we pay for living in the kind of world we do. About the only think I could suggest would be to have two identical pictures with the auction -- with the company name across the top half in one and the bottom half in the other, so that people could look at each unobscured half of the picture in turn to make their condition evaluations. A stupid hassle, but it's better than having someone steal your images. The world is full of idiots.   -- JR   ----- Original Message ----- From: dsonesheets To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Sent: Sunday, August 20, 2006 2:12 Subject: Re: [MOPO] Image theft on eBay Just wanted to let everyone know about a seller on eBay (quality-man-2004) who "accidentally" used my image for a Japanese poster (here - the main image showing the complete poster) on his auction.  What's funny is that I shot this pic back in Jan '05, and have since snapped far better pics that he could have used.  When I called him out on it, he got extremely defensive, telling me to "chill out" and to "never contact him again", as he doesn't need my business.  All this even before I contacted eBay, as I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, and allowing him an opportunity to explain what happened before I went that far with it.  He doesn't even explain how it came to pass that my pic got used.  He said he chose the wrong one by mistake, although he tells me he could send me "a million different shots from any angle for proof."  My question is how he got my pic mixed in with his poster pics in the first place.  A simple apology would have been enough for me, but I guess that was asking too much. I don't recall having dealt with this seller before, and I'm sure that he's probably a straight-up guy, and he does have good feedback.  It just upsets me that he thinks I am the villain here, especially when he's trying to sell a $500+ poster with the wrong image.  If I was considering buying a $500+ poster, I would sure as hell want to know that I was looking at the poster actually being sold.  And no apology, just a brush-off.  Guess it was my fault for noticing it in the first place. I've noticed a lot of people superimpose their names or company / website over all the images they post.  I personally find that it detracts from the image, and that's the only thing the buyer has to go off of when making his/her decision.  Any thoughts?  I've actually considered starting to do it myself because of this incident. Steve Zammar [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.dsonesheets.com 303/478-3973 Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.