Yes folks it’s that old favourite of ours, the internet’s free, take what you want and don’t pay for it! Copyright theft, hey, no one gets hurt, it’s a victimless crime. Overcharging!, hey, no one gets hurt, it’s a victimless crime.

Today a good friend advised me he’d been made aware that a trader was using an image of his without requesting or paying for its use. Just like here the copyright is easily seen and understood to be his own, and if you want to use them, ask. Well it seems too that the same trader ‘likes’ my images too. So much so that he appears to have deleted my copyright logo from the image, and added one of his own.

He’s now in receipt of an invoice and an instruction to remove the image immediately. I have learnt to start that way, it focusses attention. For any interested readers thinking of purchasing Parkside kits, please buy them from people who don’t actually over charge you like this trader does. So not only does he steal from photographers, he then takes the piss out of his customers, (poor sods), by charging them more than the list price for a stock item.

The very nice chaps at Parkside are here: http://www.parksidedundas.co.uk/ And they will supply their kits at their list prices, which is better than wide boys who charge in excess of these prices with postage on top. So at the very least look at the prices on Parksides website first, save yourself some money and don’t put it in the pocket of a shark.

Its not the first time its happened to me;
http://bawdsey.wordpress.com/2012/01/12/important-announcement-2012/
http://bawdsey.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/copyright/

Realistically it probably won’t be the last. Hopefully the invoice when he pays it, or if he’s stupid enough to contest it the legal costs too, will be a stark reminder that the web isn’t ‘free’. This is a lesson in life, and commercial reality, especially if you’re thick enough to steal an image marked ‘copyright’ or from a site where copyright is enforced.

He’s got my details, so let’s see what the reply is, I’m sure theres a simple reasonable excuse …