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Is this Guy Trying to Steal Traffic? (copyright image issue)

by meegwell
10 replies
I have a situation new to me. Someong has contacted me about an image on one of my websites. The site is a sub domain long forgotten for many years now...never did anything with it. However, as of this month, an image on the main page was ranked as the first image for an extremely competitive single word term (312,000,000 G results).

This person claims they own the copyright to the image and they want me to remove it and 404 the image so they can then get the traffic by filing a claim with Google.

This image is on their website, but I don't know where I got it from. It seems to me that this could be a creative way of stealing traffic...by checking these top rankings and looking for a crummy site that seems to be abondoned and using non-copyright images, then threatening a lawsuit unless they 404 the image.

Anyone heard of this? Is there a way to check the copyright owner?
#copyright #guy #image #issue #steal #traffic
  • Profile picture of the author Kennyh
    Unless you can prove you have the right to use the image, I'd remove it. Breach of copyright is a serious issue, and even if this guy doesn't own the image, eventually the owner will spot it on your site and then you could be in trouble.

    Best,

    Kenny
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  • Profile picture of the author meegwell
    oh I removed it right away, knowing it wasn't my copyright. I replaced it with basically a blank image. Now he wants me to 404 it so he can make a claim with Google apparently to get the traffic from the #1 image ranking.
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  • Profile picture of the author DogScout
    For on-line copyright infringement, you should have a policy in writing on the site. The policy should very nicely ask for proof of ownership and contact information for them or their legal representative (and a link to the prior use of the image.)
    This weeds out a lot of unscrupulous claims.
    You are under no obligation to 404 the image URL,. I'd just replace it with an image I owned that was as similar and named the same as the old one. Lol.
    It is a good lesson to not use images that you don't own or KNOW are in the public domain again though.
    (PS-am not a lawyer, but I am not stupid either. )
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    • Profile picture of the author MizzCindy
      Originally Posted by DogScout View Post

      For on-line copyright infringement, you should have a policy in writing on the site. The policy should very nicely ask for proof of ownership and contact information for them or their legal representative (and a link to the prior use of the image.)
      This weeds out a lot of unscrupulous claims.
      You are under no obligation to 404 the image URL,. I'd just replace it with an image I owned that was as similar and named the same as the old one. Lol.
      It is a good lesson to not use images that you don't own or KNOW are in the public domain again though.
      (PS-am not a lawyer, but I am not stupid either. )
      Too funny, DS! You beat me to the punch!

      Cindy
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  • Profile picture of the author DogScout
    And yes, there is a way to try yo find the copyright owner if there is one. There are forums dedicated to that purpose alone that you can post it in and ask. They have several ways of figuring out ownership. Depending on the image type.
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  • Profile picture of the author MizzCindy
    Why can't you put another image in its place (with same alternate tags and description, etc.)? That way you still have something there for your visitors to see.

    I'm not sure why you'd have to 404 it just because someone asked you to. If the copyright does indeed belong to her/him, then you have an obligation to take down the offending material. However, you don't have to hand over your traffic.

    Of course, if you really wanted to be prickly, you could ask the person to prove they have copyright before taking it down...but if you don't know yourself where you got the image, that may or may not be a good idea.

    Sometimes, unscrupulous types will send out exactly these types of demands, hoping people will cave without any resistance. Not everyone is honest or above board.

    I'm interested to see how this plays out. If you get a chance, keep us posted, OK?

    Good luck.

    Cindy
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  • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
    You don't need to 404. You did everything necessary by removing the infringing image. This request is ridiculous (and shady).
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  • Profile picture of the author meegwell
    I called the person yesterday btw, instead of passing emails back and forth. I told him I would remove the offending image. He said that his business is being harmed since we were stealing traffic based on the image. He said I need to change the name and the size of the image. I called foul. The reason for the no.1 ranking is not because of the physical image that human eyeballs see, but the site, its seo, image attributes, etc...

    Today I wrote him an email. I appologized for unknowingly displaying the image. I stated that it was immediately removed upon his request. I also pointed the img tag where it was located to a completely different image. I dont think I need to do this, but Im just trying to cooperate but not 404. Upon further thoughts, I assume that will effect my rank since the image will no longer be on the page...might change that back.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    You don't need to 404 it. He can get his own traffic and ranking. I would replace it with an image that is as similar to the original as possible from stock photos.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
      Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

      You don't need to 404 it. He can get his own traffic and ranking. I would replace it with an image that is as similar to the original as possible from stock photos.
      YES, YES, YES! You can keep the ranking with a similar image.
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