With this photographer there was a concentrated effort to crop out and sticker over existing watermarks. No. Just NO.
If you don’t have photos of your own setup, don’t go trolling for them on Pinterest/Google/Facebook. Take your camera, take your props you intend to use, set it all up and take a photo. It’s not really that difficult.
Be better. Do. better. Stop Stealing.
(I think I may make this my new tagline)
Allegedly this photographer has been a repeat offender for some time. She posts a photo from Pinterest, gets a smackdown from the original photographer, deletes and then does it again later on with a new photo.
Some are still live, some are from the screenshots I’ve been getting for over a YEAR of her use of stolen images from various photographers who have been calling her out.
This is allegedly an online digital photo editing company.
Under their table of contents on every page under “Navigation’ they have a “List of Photographers” which one would assume means this is a list of photographers they have served. At the top they claim this is just a collection of the best of the best but they have dozens of photographers listed with a gallery for each. In my opinion, they are alluding to these photographers using them by the way of the navigation, but they are attempting to skirt the issue by saying it’s a collection of the best photographers. Either way they are using their images without permission.
Many photographers I have reached out to have never heard of the company and never used them. They are also allegedly putting some images in galleries for photographers that the named photographer didn’t take. They haven’t had permission to create any of these listings from the photographers I have talked to so far.
If you are one of their listed photographers and want your information taken down you can file a copyright takedown notice with their web host here: https://www.ovh.com/world/abuse/. Also make sure to document the theft with screen captures of your listing.
At the end of September, I was sent easily a dozen or more photographers who had stolen images of Grinch themed sessions done by other photographers. Some gave credit, most didn’t, fewer still mentioned that the images weren’t their own original works.
At the time I was buried in weddings and editing as the end of September through the end of October is typically my busiest time of the year here in Ohio. Since I didn’t have time to post every single one of the idiot photographers stealing the images, I made a Facebook post about it (uh, there may be language) and called it a day… or so I thought.
Here’s just a few of the images I was sent within a matter of a day:
A selection of images that various photographers stole of Grinch themed photo sessions.
Around the same time that I made a post about the Grinch photos being stolen, one of the sets that kept being stolen went viral for the original photographer. It ended up on a lot of mainstream websites like People and PopSugar and was even featured on the Today Show. Her sessions sold out.
In the comment section of my Facebook post, quite a few photographers brought up the question of the legalities of using the likeness of The Grinch, who is the intellectual property of Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss is notorious (like Disney) for being very proactive about protecting the copyright of their intellectual properties and some were curious if having a Grinch themed shoot violated on their copyrights.
They did.
Very soon after those photos went viral the photographer received a cease and desist letter from a lawyer on behalf of Dr. Seuss Enterprises and they weren’t playing around. You can read the letter she received on PetaPixel. Basically you can not have the Grinch here or there, you can not have him anywhere. Not by name, not by look, for it’s their copyrights in which they took.
However, some of those photographers who stole the sessions that the photographer got the smack down for? They didn’t care. They proceeded to go on with their shoots assuming that Dr. Seuss will never find out about them.
Elle Ivy and I Photography post about Grinch themed pop up on Instagram.
One of her clients posted a video to Instagram and to Facebook of their children running away in terror when Lauren’s ‘Grinch’ comes out from the trees and scares the children with the copyrighted music “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch” playing over the video.
Instagram post by client with video of the Grinch coming out of trees during Elle Ivy and I Photography’s pop up session.
Facebook post by client of Elle Ivy and I Photography’s Grinch Pop Up session with photos and video.
The photographer shared the client’s Facebook post to her own Facebook Page but after comments pointing out the fact that the use of the Grinch is a copyright infringement, she deleted the post.
Elle Ivy and I Photography Facebook share of her viral Grinch pop up session.
It’s obvious that the clients were made aware of the issues surrounding using the likeness and name of the Grinch when the client’s husband made multiple edits to the original post taking out the word ‘Grinch’ and eventually settling on #thisisntthegrinch.
Facebook edits showing the removal of the name of the Grinch eventually settling on #thisisntthegrinch and adding photos from Elle Ivy and I Photography to the post.
The photographer is currently still updating her Instagram Stories with the counts of the views on Facebook as the numbers climb.
Elle Ivy and I Photograpy Instagram Story of her video of the Grinch session going viral.
At this time the session is currently trending on Twitter and Reddit along with the Facebook.
WE NEED TO DO BETTER.
Too many photographers do not care about copyright infringement and it needs to stop. There’s plenty of Christmas themes you can do without infringing on someone else’s Intellectual Property. Be better. Do better. Care about the craft more.
Despite what many people have claimed, the children in the viral video are not Elle Ivy and I Photography’s children. She ran a full day of sessions with the Grinch.
Now the original poster of the video is running a Go Fund Me with a goal of $15 Million and claims the money donated will go to various charities.
I’ve been told that Dr. Seuss has been contacted and is aware but if so, this photographer isn’t being cautious like her predecessor and is continuing on.
Update 11/25/19
There are a few minor things I wanted to update/clear up from this past weekend.
Lauren of Elle Ivy & I Photography DID take money for the Grinch sessions. Someone sent me a screen capture of her Venmo activity and you can easily see she has a few payments for these sessions. I’ve been attacked a few times by people claiming that she didn’t take money for these sessions or claiming that the Grinch only came for the one shot that went viral or claiming that the children in the video are her kids so I wanted to add this to the post.
I’ve had quite a few conversations sent to me that Joseph (father of the children running from the Grinch) has had with people who were trying to warn him that attempting to monetize the viral video may not be a good idea. The conversation below is… something (click to enlarge).
It’s a lot, I know. For the record, he doesn’t know me.
Yesterday I was photographing a wedding and had a lot of people message me letting me know that Lauren from Elle Ivy and I Photography posted a story to her Instagram Feed with a swipe up to this post. However, she used an image from a session from the photographer who got the first C&D from Dr. Seuss and alluded to her running Photo Stealers/writing this post while degrading her work.
FYI, I am not Kim.
Sometime yesterday Elle Ivy & I Photography removed the Grinch from her profile photo and Instagram feed.
This wall of shame is dedicated to photographers that feel that it's okay to steal others' work and post it as their own. Oh I'm sorry, it's okay to let their "web designer" do it.
