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View Full Version : Someone stole my photos from my website to help SELL their hair!!!



FrannyG
January 18th, 2010, 06:48 AM
I was doing a search for crown braid photos, and I came across one of my own, but it was not tagged as being from my frannyslonghairstyles.com. I followed the link and it took me to a page on this site (http://www.******************/viewlisting%7Elid%7E252566.htm). You can imagine my shock! Images 1, 3 and 5 are mine!

Not only did the person steal my photos, but they used them to help sell their hair for a price starting a $950.00.

My hair has never even made it to waist length, but apparently this person wanted to show that she wears her hair in protective updos. The person claims to have virgin hair, and then is showing photos of my coloured hair. :rolleyes:

I'm thoroughly disgusted and am going to have the photos removed, I hope, although it's very late in the game.

When I started my website, it never occurred to me to put a "watermark" on my photos, and I don't know how to do it anyway. I know that many smart LHCers do that (Gumball springs to mind).

The thought of having to replace all my photos at this point is a bit too much of a chore for me to undertake at the moment, but I just wanted to warn other LHCers about this type of thing.

I'm wondering if the photos of the long hair down have also been pinched from someone else, perhaps from here.

I'm just really upset at what people will do. :mad:

ETA: the link won't work--I guess the name of the website has is not allowed here at LHC and is filtered.

Second ETA: I figured out the easiest way to find the webpage, since I can't write it here. Go to Bing.com, go to Images and search with the words "crown braid trader" without the quotes. My crown braid should be number 3 and follow the link.

Dreams_in_Pink
January 18th, 2010, 07:01 AM
it's about time you start watermarking. There must be applications solely for that purpose, you shouldn't need photoshop for that.

actually, i think all the long hair pics here should have some kind of watermark on them. i'm on the safe side though, nobody would buy anything based on my shoulder length frizzy hair :D

halfbakedtulip
January 18th, 2010, 07:05 AM
when you said they were selling their hair I thought you meant extensions!! They are actually claiming your hair is theirs and are willing to cut it for money...holy crap! Did you flag it? I was going to but then i realised I know nothing about you so I really couldnt lol...I dont think go check out LHC would be enough for site admins :p

halfbakedtulip
January 18th, 2010, 07:08 AM
I went ahead and flagged it but interestingly enough it says at the top that it sold in days. I wonder how it feels to have lost $950 to a fraudster

Dreams_in_Pink
January 18th, 2010, 07:13 AM
I went ahead and flagged it but interestingly enough it says at the top that it sold in days. I wonder how it feels to have lost $950 to a fraudster

I can't help but laugh at that :rollin:

FrannyG
January 18th, 2010, 07:15 AM
Dreams_in_Pink, you're right, I am going to have to do that. It's going to take a very long time to do though. :(

halfbakedtulip, I flagged it too, and then noticed that I'm about a year too late. I have since sent an email to the "Contact Us" of that website. I hope that the admins will remove my photos ASAP. There's no missing that mole on the back of my neck if anyone needs proof that those are my photos.

gnegirl
January 18th, 2010, 07:20 AM
There is a free photoshop-like tool that i use called Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program). It can be used for watermarking. There are versions for Linux and Windows...

Stevy
January 18th, 2010, 07:51 AM
Ugh, how creepy. You have all my sympathies.

Tangerine
January 18th, 2010, 07:54 AM
How freaky!!:( I am sorry this has happened to you ...

GlassEyes
January 18th, 2010, 08:05 AM
You can watermark with photobucket now too, if you use their editing options.

Upon closer review of the site...isn't that french braid and twist yours too? They're on the side bar of the listing.

SchnauzerMom
January 18th, 2010, 08:06 AM
How awful! I hope you can get your photos deleted from there. There's no way in this world that I would pay $950 for anyone's hair no matter how pretty it was.

SHELIAANN1969
January 18th, 2010, 08:12 AM
Oh Franny, that's awful! :grouphug:


I bet they didn't really sell any hair either, they probobly scammed someone, people are sickos nowadays, ugh!

DavidN
January 18th, 2010, 08:23 AM
Oh Franny, I am horrified to hear this happened to you.:grouphug:

Qamar
January 18th, 2010, 08:46 AM
I would join the site and add a comment to the listing page saying that the photos are stolen and that is NOT her hair. Then flag the listing and send a message to the hosting site so they remove it.

Carolyn
January 18th, 2010, 08:48 AM
Oh Franny I'm so sorry you had this happen. Maybe be flattered that your hair was gorgeous enough. I wonder what happened with the hair sale. If someone was scammed for $950, they deserved to be taken.

Fairlight63
January 18th, 2010, 08:54 AM
That is just discusting! I agree that I think that I have seen some of those long hair pictures before on others here.
Must be somthing that you can do to make them remove them.

I don't have to worry about anyone copying my pictures, I haven't been able to figure out how to take a picture, and NO one would want to copy my pictures anyway, LOL

lora410
January 18th, 2010, 08:58 AM
The link is apparently shut down so I wasn't able to see it. I am sorry this happened to you. It's sad the person who paid so much money will probably receive bleach fried hair.

Clarisse
January 18th, 2010, 09:33 AM
I don't like the site - so much beautiful hair, cut off! :( I know it's their choice and everything, but it makes me sad...

Hiriel
January 18th, 2010, 09:40 AM
There is a free photoshop-like tool that i use called Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program). It can be used for watermarking. There are versions for Linux and Windows...

paint.NET is also a good free image manipulator. It's not difficult to watermark pictures at all :)

Juneii
January 18th, 2010, 09:52 AM
that's horrible!
and kind of gross, who pays $950 to a person so they can cut their hair and send it to them? don't you need more hair than that to make a wig?

FrannyG
January 18th, 2010, 10:05 AM
Thanks everyone for your comments. You're all calming me down.

Also, for the tips on watermarking, thank you.

Glasseyes, yes, images 1, 3 and 5 are mine.

Qamar, I have already done what you suggested.

I wouldn't be the least bit upset if someone used one of my photos in say, a blog or something, but not for this nefarious purpose. It just makes me feel dirty by association.

Finoriel
January 18th, 2010, 10:40 AM
Iīm so sorry this happened to you Franny :grouphug: good luck with contacting them. I really hope they take down your pics immediately.

The problem with watermarking is that itīs a neat idea, but it is in fact pretty useless and does not protect pictures from being stolen. Maybe it makes it a little bit less attractive and a little harder, but not much.
If the watermark does not go right across the picture it can be clipped off.
Many photo-editing programs can not only create watermarks, they can also remove watermarks. Itīs not as easy and Iīve never tried it, but have been told it is possible.
Some people will steal and post the picture elsewhere with itīs watermark and not bother about it.
Using ones screen-name or homepage-url will in the worst case put a lot of erm īhair-admiringī-creeps on ones tracks. When they find a stolen picture with watermark somewhere on the Internet and like your hair they will probably follow the url or google your name :scared:
Invisible watermarks do not protect from being stolen, they just make it easier to prove that itīs your picture.
:shrug: Unfortunately I donīt think a watermark would have helped much.

The site name is indeed ****-out by our word filter. We grow hair and they have sellers and buyers for chopped off hair :wink: of course we donīt want to be traceable by accidentally linking to them.

FrannyG
January 18th, 2010, 10:48 AM
Thank you so much for your comments, Finoriel. I really see your point about the watermark not being an effective deterrent. I also see your point about if it had my website written on it, it might have attracted the wrong crowd. I suspect the buyers at that site are might be in the category of being the "wrong crowd". You've given me some really good advice.

I just wanted to make a website to show how diverse long hair can be, and I wouldn't mind people posting a style they like.

It's just that this was the most offensive usage of one of my photos that I can imagine.

Yes, I understood immediately why the website's title was filtered here at LHC.

ohiofritty
January 18th, 2010, 10:51 AM
That is seriously creepy!

I can agree though that watermarking will only vaguely irritate the real image thieves, just like locks on doors don't actually deter a serious burglar.

Sidenote - I once found an image of myself stripping wallpaper that my DH had posted to his flickr account on someone elses random non-english website describing how to stip wallpaper - while not illegal or anything (he was credited with a link to his flickr) - it sure was interesting...

Finoriel
January 18th, 2010, 10:59 AM
Youīre welcome and Iīm glad I could help at least some :flower: itīs good to see you back.
I really can relate how you must feel. Itīs bad enough when pictures get stolen and uploaded elsewhere without permission, but itīs really awful when this happens so out of context.

suicides_eve
January 18th, 2010, 11:09 AM
how dreadful!

Anje
January 18th, 2010, 11:26 AM
Franny, if you will excuse my rather morbid curiousity.... I figured out what site this is, but it's not coming up on Bing.com anymore. May I ask the number or user name of the lister? Meanwhile, I agree that you should probably contact the site and/or leave comments that the images are of your hair rather than the seller's, and that yours is NOT for sale.

I hate to admit having some hair envy at that site... I don't understand the idea of getting extensions, though. Putting someone else's hair on one's own head seems creepy to me.

LadyJennifer
January 18th, 2010, 12:38 PM
That is nuts! I can't believe anyone would do that!

Gypsy
January 18th, 2010, 12:48 PM
Franny, if you will excuse my rather morbid curiousity.... I figured out what site this is, but it's not coming up on Bing.com anymore.
It still shows up- I looked at it again before replying, did you look under "images" on Bing? I know if you just go into the web search, this company doesn't show up but under images, they do.

Liss
January 18th, 2010, 12:50 PM
I'm very sorry to hear this has happened to you and I hope that you receive a response from your contact to them.

If you don't receive any response from your email, you can try to find out who registered the site and contact them about your complaint through http://www.whois.net

I've found this site to be helpful when I've had my article writing plagiarised on numerous occasions. It also helped me once find out who the actual person was that had been stealing my work.

I think that all of us here should go onto the hair site and send emails through their contact page to say that the images have been stolen from someone we know. If lots of us do it, they will be more likely to remove your pics so they don't keep getting annoyed. :eyebrows:

Anje
January 18th, 2010, 01:22 PM
Ah, in Images... Sorry. I haven't really used Bing.

camara
January 18th, 2010, 01:40 PM
Oh Franny, that is dreadful! :(

coscass
January 18th, 2010, 01:47 PM
Looks like they're stealing quite a few things. If I'm not mistaken, they're using yahoo-chat smilies, which I can't imagine yahoo'd agree to.

I don't really get how this site operates. If they stole YOUR pictures, chances are a good deal of these were stolen, too. Do they actually ship people hair? I mean... I know how you can get a hold of it, actually, but it wouldn't be the quality they're saying. I have 7 manikins from beauty school, all virgin, natural hair (dark brown, but you can get them in blonde or red or whatever). The only catch is it's full of dead lice-eggs, which is why they're able to get the hair. A head costs about $30 here.

I just don't really get how this site works. I imagine if a good number of people got ripped off they'd be complaining/suing/etc.

FrannyG
January 18th, 2010, 01:48 PM
Well, it looks like the page for the listing has come down!!!! :happydance: I didn't receive an email reply, so I'll bet that it has something to do with LHCers showing up on that page and perhaps hitting the "report button".

Thank you all so much! :heartbeat

coscass
January 18th, 2010, 01:51 PM
Well, it looks like the page for the listing has come down!!!! :happydance: I didn't receive an email reply, so I'll bet that it has something to do with LHCers showing up on that page and perhaps hitting the "report button".

Thank you all so much! :heartbeat

What did they write on your page? I mean, did they make up a story about who's hair it really was?

SHELIAANN1969
January 18th, 2010, 01:56 PM
Yay! I hit report as well, if you looked at the messages, she/he made the listing on (Jan 9th? 2009) and a couple of days later someone posted that they couldn't get ahold of her/him by email, and then the people from the site posted that he/she needed to update their email with a correct email address.

At the top, it said 22 support contact, so maybe they blocked the listing immediately.

LittleOrca
January 18th, 2010, 02:40 PM
Well, it looks like the page for the listing has come down!!!! :happydance: I didn't receive an email reply, so I'll bet that it has something to do with LHCers showing up on that page and perhaps hitting the "report button".

Thank you all so much! :heartbeat


Woohoo!

:cheer::cheer::cheer:

Spring
January 18th, 2010, 03:05 PM
Franny, I'm sorry someone did this to you. This is scary. If we make our pics in the album "Friend only" would that make it harder for people to steal our pics?

FrannyG
January 18th, 2010, 03:10 PM
Franny, I'm sorry someone did this to you. This is scary. If we make our pics in the album "Friend only" would that make it harder for people to steal our pics?

Yes, if you make your photos "Friends Only", then you are much safer. I have a public hair site, (see my siggy) and I expected that people might occasionally grab a photo for reference or something, but I never imagined someone stealing my photos for such a horrible purpose.

EdG
January 18th, 2010, 05:50 PM
That was terrible. :grouphug:

If the photo hadn't already been taken down, you could send a takedown notice to the site's ISP.
Ed

FrannyG
January 18th, 2010, 05:53 PM
That was terrible. :grouphug:

If the photo hadn't already been taken down, you could sent a takedown notice to the site's ISP.
Ed

Thank you, Ed. :) Yes, I would have done anything to have the photos (there were 3 of my style photos on the page) taken down.

DarkBotticelli
January 18th, 2010, 06:30 PM
Wow, I just can't believe they can get away with that. I am tempted to write to them myself. How horrible! I mean seriously, that is total false advertising and I feel bad for anyone who has bought things from them. Who knows what the heck the hair they sell actually looks like...

yellowchariot
January 18th, 2010, 07:19 PM
FrannyG,

That's really disturbing to see your own photo's on another website. I am fortunate not to have this happen. I use a photobucket account set to private for linking certain pics. Also my album here on LHC is set to private. Only my friends/contacts can view both.

You should demand HALF of the website's profits :laugh: for using YOUR hair!

As for watermarking, probably the most effective way is to actually have a sign/logo or some other copyright gesture, actually next to your hair or deliberately in the picture itself! Whether you are holding it or other methods of display. Just a thought for taking pics next time!

Wicked Princess
January 18th, 2010, 08:34 PM
:grouphug:

I am so sorry this happened to you! I've had something similar happen before (someone stole several pictures of me and claimed that they were me) and it was AWFUL. After reading through this thread, it sounds like the pictures were taken down quickly, which is good.

I hate the way that watermarking can obscure the beauty of pictures, but sadly...it seems to be the only way to prevent a theft like that. :(

tralalalara
January 18th, 2010, 09:13 PM
The whole concept of a website to auction off hair is sickening to me. If you want to donate to charity, that's fine, but if you contact a wigmaker, they'll quote a decent price.

Otherwise, I don't know who else would need to buy it.

Liluri
January 19th, 2010, 04:31 AM
I'm sorry this happened to you!

enfys
January 19th, 2010, 04:42 AM
I'm glad the pictures were taken down! I'm sorry I didn't see a report button when I looked at it or I'd have clicked it. There were obviously problems from the admin messasges.

I never knew watermarking was so futile.

I suppose you have the consolation that when the computers are turned off it's your hair and no-one elses. And I think it's worth more than $950 :flower: