AquaCon and intellectual property theft

[Len]

This fine print at the very bottom of their website is extremely disconcerting:
"To use salt water fish , live coral, or live rock pictures contact - [email protected]
(c) Copyright 2002 - All pictures are copyrighted and usage is prohibited without consent from Aquacon.com in writing."

 

[Unarce]

but that's a whole other story.

I found some other stories. Here are some old wounds we can open and pour salt on.

http://www.reefs.org/cgi-bin/ultimatebb ... 000026&p=1

 

[liquid]

This one looks very familiar:

I can't remember where I saw it before though...

Also, I know I've seen their images on Harbor Aquatic's website and Tropicorium's website.

Shane

 

[reefland]

I know I've already stated this, but I wanted to be explicitly clear (for legal purposes) that all I'm looking for is other folks who have had their images stolen by Aquacon for commercial gain. I wish they'd simply stop practicing this one unethical and illegal activity, but past warnings have gone unheeded.

I search the site and didn't find any of my pictures.

 

[Anonymous]

This is a good heads-up, Len. I'm not entirely familiar with Bob's images, and he's off to IMAC. I would like to bring this up to the WWM crew in general, as more heads on this will be of help.

 

[Len]

I'd bet there are some of WWM's images somewhere in there. It's so rampant it's repulsive.

 

[ricky1414]

Thought this looked, well, peculiar:

Why the smudge beind the logo?

its smudged b/c it said "5th Day Aquatics" on it originally
Should be called Aquafraud

 

[Money Pit]

I think that you might try placing digital watermarks on your photos if you are worried about copyright infringements. You can then register with www.digimarc.com, which for a small monthly fee, will track your images and provide you with a monthly online report giving you a list of any Web sites using your watermarked images.

While we're on the subject of "Intellectual Property" did you know that emails are considered literary works and are protected by copyright laws. This means that you are not permitted to cut and paste or forward an email without permission from the author. The reason I bring this up is because it is a pratice that I see often on this forum and is no different than what Aquacon is doing under the eyes of the law.

I say send them an email, let them know that they are using a copyrighted photo that belongs to you and that should be enough. Life is to short to litigate.

 

[Len]

I'm far from a litigious person (I've never filed suit in my life). But you need to realize several things: I've sent multiple emails to all their email addresses, and they have all been met with non-compliance/non-response. Aquacon has assumed my images as their own, stamping their own names on my photos. They stipulate all images on their website are copyrighted by Aquacon, and in order to use images from their website, one needs their expressed permission! Aquacon is using my photos for fiscal gain without my consent.

It should be clear that sharing emails are completely different. FYI: I do not endorse sharing private correspondance for ethical reasons, but it should be noted that posting literary works for dissemination, parody, and other designated fair usage is legal. That alone differentiates Aquacon's stealing intellectual property with shared litery work (which, BTW, I don't often see here).

I agree: Life is too short litigate frivelously. But this isn't frivelous to me. The main thing I'd like is for Aquacon to cease and desist their highly unethical practice of stealing intellectual property.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey, I am with YOU, Len. This is theft, plain and simple, and since they won't cease and desist on their own, use the system. This is EXACTLY what it's there for!

 

[cdeakle]

I'm with you to Len!

I say send them an email, let them know that they are using a copyrighted photo that belongs to you and that should be enough. Life is to short to litigate.

This would be fine and dandy if they didn't know they were stealing and using others pictures for financial gain. If they were reputable and didn't know then I am sure they would like the heads up.

Obviously they know they are stealing photos and trying there best to cover there tracks but they are thiefs and realy bad thiefs to boot. Kinda like a bank robber that drops his wallet with his personal ID at the scene of a crime.

Len, I hope you gather a big group of people who have been taken advantage of and take these SOB's to court. Please don't get discouraged and let this one go. These guys need to pay.

 

[cdeakle]

Len,

Have you contacted and recieved communication back from others that have been ripped off like 5th day aquatics?

 

[Len]

Yes, 5th Day was shocked to hear of the theft and I will keep them updated as to the status of this issue. I am hoping more will be found as I have no doubt we've only scratched the surface.

 

[Anonymous]

The logo is a different salinity than the tank water.

LOLOL


..............


Well I am deeply offended. They didn't like any of my pix enough to steal. WTF?

 

[Money Pit]

There is a legal advantage to writing a copyright notice on your photographs consisting of (c)2004 & Artist's Name or using a digital watermark. This will eliminate the innocent infringer defense. An Innocent infringer may only be liable for a fair licensing fee. Also you will have to prove actual damages and lost profits to recover any compensation.

Good luck to you, let us know how it works out.

 

[Anonymous]

will have to prove actual damages and lost profits to recover any compensation.

True, but I think most here would be satisfied by a cease and desist, which isn't that tough to get. With or without copyright notice, US federal and state laws consider someone's intellectual property as "theirs" whether the property is labeled so or not, especially in the case of photographs.

 

[Anonymous]

I cannot locate who posted it, but I'm pretty sure I've seen this as a user's posted picture, possibly here or on nano-reefs.com.

ps I hear starfishes love to be exposed to air.

 

[Anonymous]

you should sticky this thread len

 

[Len]

There is a legal advantage to writing a copyright notice on your photographs consisting of (c)2004 & Artist's Name or using a digital watermark. This will eliminate the innocent infringer defense. An Innocent infringer may only be liable for a fair licensing fee. Also you will have to prove actual damages and lost profits to recover any compensation.

Good luck to you, let us know how it works out.

Yep, a cease and desist for all past and future thefts is what I really want.

Writing your name on photographs is a decent idea, but then again, they just blurred out 5th Day Aquatic's and super-imposed Aquacon's name over it. I am certain they know what they are doing is illegal. There's been a long history of this, and at the very least my emails to them stated so explicitly.

 

[Len]

you should sticky this thread len

There's enough views and traffic (1000+ already) as it is, and I want to keep this strictly a personal venture without using any of my special privledges.

If you'd like to see Aquacon stop stealing images and claiming it as their own, please take a look on their website and report any abuse in this thread. Spread the word.