my content was stolen and put up for sale

Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 10:58 am

Header image source Pixabay

Any info cited for this post was found via a general online search.

Over the weekend I happened to Google Life With Pal because I was looking for one of our social platform handles.

During the course of my search, I found something very surprising.

I found one of my photos for sale via two websites.

I was surprised

I was surprised to see that one of my photos was up for sale on a website. It’s one I sell in Pal’s shop.

The odd thing is that one site was selling the image for 10 times what I was selling it for. They had the Grape leaves image priced at $93 then dropped it down to $46 dollars (I assume it was USD).

The second site had it for sale for $6 (again assumed USD).

Links to the sites in question:

https://statloveov.live/product_details/19632490.html

https://mirasellsk.life/product_details/19450331.html

It’s crazy that the first site was asking so much for it. But it appears they had various ways to use it such as on clothing or bags or even shoes.

You might say it’s just a photo

It may just be a photo but I was the one who took it and I am the original copyright holder. So it might just be a photo but for me, it’s the principle of it. If the brand had asked me to use the photo I would have declined or requested some form of payment.

But for the sites to profit off of my work is insane. I don’t think anything has been purchased because I didn’t see any reviews listed for any of the products on the website.

These sites seem to be scraping content

It appears these sites are scraping content from across the internet. I saw images that looked like they could have been posted on Temu or other sales sites. I even saw a real estate listing photo of a home.

If you need more information on data/content scraping Cloudflare has a good article.

what I learned about the sites

According the Whois the parent company has been around since 1993. The two sites I shared above have been around since August of this year.

Thanks to Whois I found their hosting provider’s contact info and who to reach out to. an email address to report abuse.

What you can do if this happens to you

You can reach out to the website(s) and ask that they remove your content. You can send a cease and desist letter as well.

If you have the means you may also pursue legal action.

At the time of writing this, I have contacted both websites using the emails provided on the sites. I also contacted their hosting provider’s abuse emails as well as the parent company support page.

I don’t know if I will hear back from any of these emails but I’m trying.

Some helpful links

Note: You may want to check your state copyright / digital content laws as well.

I happened to ask a WordPress Facebook group I’m a part of and they gave me some great suggestions.

Cease and Desist letter

One person suggested this link that gives you info about common uses for a Cease and Desist letter.

https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/4-most-common-ways-to-use-a-cease-and-desist-letter?fbclid=IwAR1spJIhbqKRb5Rf8wPTqdoT-2RTOQ9OczInw7Ml20yvmVnMxEQWr-X6CoU

Dmca Take down notice

Another user suggested I submit a DMCA notice (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). They also suggested this article via Kinsta (hosting).

Use Whois

Whois is a great tool for anyone to use. You can find out any information about a website that is available to the public.

https://www.whois.com/

Sites that might help protect your content

I was suggested two sites that help protect your content. Each have free and paid options. I joined the free options for now because I want to see if they are worthwhile.

DmCA

DMCA offers a variety of services from protecting your media such as websites, and social media to videos. They offer commercial take-down services as well (paid version). The site’s services are global.

The free version is pretty good. You verify your site and email info. I believe there is a limit to media you can add for protection.

https://www.dmca.com/

Pixsy

Pixsy is similar to DMCA they offer similar services. They have a free and paid option. The site is easy to sign up for. I also believe the free version has a media limit.

You can check out more about the site here .

Hopefully, you won’t have to deal with this but it’s always better to be safe than sorry. I’ll keep you updated if I hear back from the websites.