Posterbe - Ripoff American poster seller using OUR photographs!

cheeky sods! Although after searching my name I saw some images on there that I thought looked pretty good but didn't think they were mine, turns out they were!
 
weybourne said:
I've given it a go for one image but I suspect its purpose is to protect them rather than me.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's there to give the impression that they take copyright seriously. If they really gave a sh!t, they wouldn't be scraping photo sites for content in the first place - they KNOW what they're doing is wrong.
 
Ive just taken down my myOMSystem site as that was the place it was linking to. I also sent them a message asking to remove my images from their search function.
 
Well they definitely aren’t checking what is be pulled down, as they have pulled some shockers from my Flickr
 
They don't have a database for a DMCA request to be made against and they don't host any of the images.

It's a straight forward embedded Google Images search tool that they then print the chosen image from.

They've been around for at least five years or so and every so often someone notices and starts screaming.
 
I only post images of modest resolution online, to maintain a kind of threshold against purloining. So a poster print - good luck to anyone.

It's the sort of thing that's inevitable with the internet, & isn't going to break my sleep tonight. It's an off-piste scam - there are far worse things going on ...
 
lindsay said:
@Tori_T Are there any tools you have at your disposal to search and destroy crawler bots? We can take this outside the thread
Click to expand...
You can add entries to the robots.txt file in the root of the website. You may also want to consider including entries to get the bots that power the AI tools to stay away too.
 
lindsay said:
@Tori_T Are there any tools you have at your disposal to search and destroy crawler bots? We can take this outside the thread
Click to expand...

Thats a bit unfair isnt it.. so only you know how to stop them? lets keep it on the thread eh ? :) share and share alike :)
 
Craikeybaby said:
You can add entries to the robots.txt file in the root of the website. You may also want to consider including entries to get the bots that power the AI tools to stay away too.
Click to expand...
And you think these guys, assuming they are even using a bot* would honour robots.txt?

*my guess is that they aren't, they are scraping google images
 
robots.txt just tells need-do-wells where to look....
 
ajophotog said:
Ive just taken down my myOMSystem site as that was the place it was linking to. I also sent them a message asking to remove my images from their search function.
Click to expand...
Can you implement a hot linking prevention solution?

One suggestion I saw was to get the server to present an image of a large dildo whenever it was asked to do an unauthorised hotlink.
 
Hotlinking does seem to be the problem with this and other abusers , it gets round pixsy legal framework
 
An unfortunate fact of life is that if it's on the internet, it can be taken off it (as in downloaded, as well as deleted - actually, I'm not sure things can ever be properly deleted from it!)
 
DemiLion said:
They don't have a database for a DMCA request to be made against and they don't host any of the images.

It's a straight forward embedded Google Images search tool that they then print the chosen image from.

They've been around for at least five years or so and every so often someone notices and starts screaming.
Click to expand...


So what happens when people start screaming? Is there anything that can be done?
 
the black fox said:
Hotlinking does seem to be the problem with this and other abusers , it gets round pixsy legal framework
Click to expand...
If it's hot linked swap your photo for a steaming dog "egg" with the words push off or similar, that should then be what they get.
 
So:-

Hotlinking is permissible e.g. the likes of Pinterest

But they are either hotlinking by their own 'searches' and/or visitor searches locate and display said imagery....all of which are attributed

Their function & business model is to then allow visitors to purchase posters.

The posters are printed by third party companies who are unwittingly or knowingly not checking that "they" are able to do so?

The company have a copyright report form that on the face of it is a farce.

I wonder if there is something in their terms, a bit akin to Grey Market purchases, where they state the responsibility of licensing is on the buyers and that "they" the poster company are acting the buyers agent?

If my summary of my understanding(?) and surmises are right/close to the mark........by whom & where is the wrong doing and as such why has this site not been taken down already???
 
Some of the images presented where things like the Marvel logo, might be quicker to report some of them to Disney etc, and let them pursue their rights as they tend to be hot on it and expensive as they offer to settle out of court for their reasonable legal costs (££4 to 5 figures typically) or persue it through the courts.
 
DemiLion said:
They don't have a database for a DMCA request to be made against and they don't host any of the images.

It's a straight forward embedded Google Images search tool that they then print the chosen image from.

They've been around for at least five years or so and every so often someone notices and starts screaming.
Click to expand...

FWIW they certainly do host images themselves when displaying them on their web site.

The file for the 'full size' version that use for the main image and then transform on the fly for various other views (such as a poster displayed above a sofa) is located in //posterbe.com/files/products/

N.B. the URL in the second screen shot below, which was accessed by right-clicking the main image on the page to open it in a new tab.

They have not embedded my original version at flickr.com, but they have made their own copy of the file for their use in displaying the image on their web site.


Screenshot 2023-11-04 at 13.58.55.jpg


Screenshot 2023-11-04 at 13.59.51.jpg

Screenshot 2023-11-04 at 14.03.57.jpg
 
the black fox said:
Hotlinking does seem to be the problem with this and other abusers , it gets round pixsy legal framework
Click to expand...

As it happens, I did get in touch with Pixsy myself.

The location of the files was not a problem (it's not hotlinked).

However, problem they have is that, as far as they can tell, the business name is not real and the address given is a domestic residence in LA. Consequently, it doesn't meet their criteria to pursue.
 
Pound Coin said:
Can you implement a hot linking prevention solution?

One suggestion I saw was to get the server to present an image of a large dildo whenever it was asked to do an unauthorised hotlink.
Click to expand...

As an administrator on Apache web server, you can control hot linking with a .htaccess file, either to prevent it completely, or to permit or deny hotlinks from certain sites, or to display different content when files are hotlinked (such as a This is a stolen image notice).

Ultimate htaccess Anti-Hotlinking Strategy | Perishable Press

Critical analysis and deconstruction of several popular htaccess hotlink-prevention techniques in order to create the ultimate htaccess anti-hotlink strategy..
perishablepress.com perishablepress.com

It wouldn't solve the problem here, though, as they're not hotlinking files; they have scraped the images.
 
Last edited:
I've tried using the site's search function today and only get "page not found". I've tried clearing cookies etc. but still get the same result. I even tried it through an anonymiser and still got "page not found".
 
weybourne said:
I've tried using the site's search function today and only get "page not found". I've tried clearing cookies etc. but still get the same result. I even tried it through an anonymiser and still got "page not found".
Click to expand...
May be they've been piggy backing a search engine and been spotted.
 
DemiLion said:
They don't have a database for a DMCA request to be made against and they don't host any of the images.

It's a straight forward embedded Google Images search tool that they then print the chosen image from.

They've been around for at least five years or so and every so often someone notices and starts screaming.
Click to expand...


So what happens when someone notices and starts screaming? Is there a solution to these scammers activities?
 
I only get page not found even using incognito window.
 
Likewise, even with a different computer. I get the same 'not found' when searching from my phone on 4G too, just in case it was my home IP address that got banned.

Might be an interesting experiment to try with a clean browser and VPN tunnel to the US if anyone has a few minutes.

There is another site which looks to be the same person/outfit: posterun.com, which claims to be in Tiffin, Ohio (again avery residential looking street judging by Streetview).

Apart from the logo the sites are pretty much identical.
 
Last edited:
One possible avenue of action might be to cut off their payments channels


Paypal said:
It is PayPal’s policy to take appropriate action where necessary to remove from the PayPal services or to disallow the use of PayPal services in connection with material that is claimed to be infringing. If you are an intellectual property rights owner and you believe a website or a webpage using PayPal services sells, offers for sale, makes available goods and/or services or otherwise includes content or materials that infringe your intellectual property rights, then please complete this Infringement Report in its entirety and email it to infringementreport@paypal.com.
Click to expand...

I did see how far I could get using some fake contact details during checkout without actually making a payment or creating an account, and it only mentioned card payments being available, so perhaps Paypal have already dropped them. If they have, then Paypal might have issues with their trademarks still being used on the site(s).
 
DemiLion said:
Not really
Click to expand...

This is the answer unfortunately. At the end of the day, if you don't want you work stolen (or rather Copyright infringed) then the only way to stop that is to not post your images on the Internet in the first place.

I've been using the Internet since the very beginning, and prior to that I was active on BBS's and the truth of the matter is that if something can be copied (whether that's Music, films, games, photo's, recipes, basically anything that is digital) it will be and there is absolutely nothing that you can do to stop it from happening.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top