Advice/Help with social media.

[whisper]

Originally Posted by The Gurnard

I hope Im not sticking my neck out too much ..but I was interested in JonP’s comment and also Poly asking for verification..because I think it does affect everyone who uses the internet Matt ..and that includes users of Rib net.

To explain why.....

I used to post a few of my adventures on here and also on other websites on the net. Lately I have stopped.. you may wonder why ?

Its mainly because I accidentally stumbled across an Author’s website ..advertising their books. They had “lifted” not only my photographs..but also my written words and used them to Illustrate the setting for their latest novel. In other words ..they are using my artistic creation without my permission..to promote their product..and an Author and publisher should know better ? It was put on their web site three years ago..although I only just discovered this year..so am not pursuing it

So that is why I was interested in JonP’s statement and Poly asking for reference.

For clarification..it was a report on a Hill walking Adventure of mine..which I posted on another website..not Ribnet. But because of that author.. I have stopped posting adventures on websites.. so it does affect Ribnet and every other internet site.


I appreciate its going off topic of the OP's post ..so apologise to the OP..Im only offering this to show some folks are interested in the things coming to surface in this thread

You could start your own website and copyright it, then you could post links on forums etc, it would be a shame for you to stop writing as we all enjoyed your adventures

Have a look here, there's a sale on today:

Create Your Free Website | Wix.com

You can build your site without paying a penny until your ready to launch it. Just an idea

Here's an example of someone who has his own site:

https://snhd.co/vanlife/?utm_source=...mpaign=vanlife

[Poly]

Whisper I'm not sure that actually solves Gurnard problem - he almost certainly owns the copyright anyway, what he, as an ordinary person, has is little means of enforcement. he will find most publishers, credible Web companies and even Web hosting providers have policies for dealing with infingement though and a letter should achieve the desired effect (whether it be by removal or a licensing discussion). I don't think three years is too long to react to it.

Watermarking images is a good way of reminding people who the owner is. It's not so easy with words.

One of the issues for people like Gurnard who take great pics is how you could possibly keep track of their misuse... If that is something that matters to you Gurney, I could probably create a tool that hunts the Web for people pinching them, all you'd need to do is upload them and then review a wee report every so often. I guess we could do the same for your prose too, although it would be easier to modify that to avoid detection...

[The Gurnard]

Thanks for your kind comment Whisper. I enjoyed writing and posting my adventures.. it was a way to express myself. I only discovered this Authors website a couple of months ago..so although it has slowed my postings.. I will get over it. I was just disappointed they took my stuff without asking...as they are using it commercially.

I have been asked a few times by folks if they can use my stuff ..including requests from a well known author in Scotland .. and I have always agreed.. plus giving them more options or photos to chose from.

I did have my own blog..and stopped it when I started posting on here and other forums. Anyone who wants back dated adventures can find them here. I may start it up again next year..or continue posting on here. If the Rolling Stones can put up with folks putting their songs on bit torrent..I can surely put up with unscrupulous authors using my rubbish..they couldnt be much of an Author anyhoo..if they though my efforts were useful to them

Link to my old blog ..if its agent forum rules..it can be deleted. ..its just a blog of old adventures..many not posted here

Inflatable Boat Journeys From Scotland

Link to an unscrupulous authors site .. (to comply with the rule Willk posted)..in case anyone things Im making it up.

The Old Grey Man, the Murder Hole, and the Merrick Moor » Risky Regencies

I wrote an adventure called “The Old Grey Man, The Murder Hole and The Merrick” many of my sentences illustrate the web page..oh..and the photos are all mine..but lifted and pasted into their website..not linked. They did offer anyone who wants more photos and info on the area .. a link to the original Adventure I wrote.. but did not ask permission..and I never knew except by accident two months ago.

The Scottish Author who wanted to use a photograph of mine..enrolled on that site..PM and asked me if she could use it. In return I gave here many more photos and she gave me credit in her Book..all parties were happy.

Anyhoo..as explained..that is why I was interested in JonP's comments..I might be wrong and that author is entitled to sell her book based on my work

Just a note to JonP ..I think if we were both honest..its not the net that has done Photographers out of work..its digital cameras.. anyone and everyone has them.. the secret of staying in work is offering something the normal guy cant.

[whisper]

Originally Posted by A.C.

I am hoping that this does not offend any of the admin team or break any of the site rules.

I am after a bit of advice with regards Facebook. I would like to join a certain closed group that discuss subjects very similar to those that are found on this site (Trying to be diplomatic here by not actually naming the group).
When I search for the group using my Facebook profile nothing is found, it is as if the site is being blocked. However if I do the search using the same titles on my wife's or friend's Facebook profile the group is readily found. Do you know why this is occurring/what I am doing wrong?

I need to actually find the group so that I can submit a request to join.

I am new to this social media stuff and not finding it that easy.

I still intend to use this Forum but it would be nice to see what is also being discussed on the 'other' site.

Regards

Andy

Hi Andy you're all sorted now, I'm not a moderator of that group but I did get them to sort it out for you

[whisper]

Originally Posted by The Gurnard

Thanks for your kind comment Whisper. I enjoyed writing and posting my adventures.. it was a way to express myself. I only discovered this Authors website a couple of months ago..so although it has slowed my postings.. I will get over it. I was just disappointed they took my stuff without asking...as they are using it commercially.

I have been asked a few times by folks if they can use my stuff ..including requests from a well known author in Scotland .. and I have always agreed.. plus giving them more options or photos to chose from.

I did have my own blog..and stopped it when I started posting on here and other forums. Anyone who wants back dated adventures can find them here. I may start it up again next year..or continue posting on here. If the Rolling Stones can put up with folks putting their songs on bit torrent..I can surely put up with unscrupulous authors using my rubbish..they couldnt be much of an Author anyhoo..if they though my efforts were useful to them

Link to my old blog ..if its agent forum rules..it can be deleted. ..its just a blog of old adventures..many not posted here

Inflatable Boat Journeys From Scotland

Link to an unscrupulous authors site .. (to comply with the rule Willk posted)..in case anyone things Im making it up.

The Old Grey Man, the Murder Hole, and the Merrick Moor » Risky Regencies

I wrote an adventure called “The Old Grey Man, The Murder Hole and The Merrick” many of my sentences illustrate the web page..oh..and the photos are all mine..but lifted and pasted into their website..not linked. They did offer anyone who wants more photos and info on the area .. a link to the original Adventure I wrote.. but did not ask permission..and I never knew except by accident two months ago.

The Scottish Author who wanted to use a photograph of mine..enrolled on that site..PM and asked me if she could use it. In return I gave here many more photos and she gave me credit in her Book..all parties were happy.

Anyhoo..as explained..that is why I was interested in JonP's comments..I might be wrong and that author is entitled to sell her book based on my work

Just a note to JonP ..I think if we were both honest..its not the net that has done Photographers out of work..its digital cameras.. anyone and everyone has them.. the secret of staying in work is offering something the normal guy cant.

Firstly, although p1$$ed off, you should feel flattered that they used your work and it sounds like it's a shame that they didn't ask for permission as it sounds like they would have got it.

There is a comments section on that website

Don't stop writing dude, you have a talent and you should use it a lot more

As Polly says, you can always watermark or copyright your photos before you post them like this:

[A.C.]

Originally Posted by whisper

Hi Andy you're all sorted now, I'm not a moderator of that group but I did get them to sort it out for you

Thanks mate foe sorting it out...

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by whisper

Firstly, although p1$$ed off, you should feel flattered that they used your work and it sounds like it's a shame that they didn't ask for permission as it sounds like they would have got it.



There is a comments section on that website



Don't stop writing dude, you have a talent and you should use it a lot more



As Polly says, you can always watermark or copyright your photos before you post them like this:

We could all visit en-masse & leave "appropriate" feedback/comments😎

[whisper]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

We could all visit en-masse & leave "appropriate" feedback/comments😎

[Ian M]

Gurnard, really enjoyed your words and pictures on Ribnet. I hope that you find your way to continue. I haven't visited any other sites, but just say the word and I will leave an 'appropriate' comment on that other site, along with, it seems, one or two others
Apologies to the OP for taking this slightly further off topic (ish)

[The Gurnard]

Thanks for your comments guys..they mean more to me than an Author who “flatters” me by using my stories and photos to promote her work.

If it was recent I would have contacted her.. but it is not worth a small person like myself pursuing the matter .. but it has crossed my mind to Email her something like this ...

“Hi Im flattered that you have used my words and photographs to describe the location of your book. If you had asked me..you would have had my blessing to use them. As you seem to think a link to my original posting is enough to satisfy copyright laws..you will be happy to know I am crediting you at this link. (post this threads link)

Im sure that as an Author..will know the rules regarding copyright. You are only making yourself look foolish by using others work without permission.. but thanks again for the publicity”

The website she took the photos and words from clearly say all content is Copyright..and to contact them if they cant contact the originator...so she has no excuse.

Glad you got onto Facebook A.C. ..and sorry for hijacking the thread..it kind of took off.

I will post more adventures when the time comes.. Professional Authors wont put The Gurnard down...and you are too good an audience for my prattle ..for me to stop.

Sea Fever..by John Masefield ( I would ask him if I could use his quote..but he left the show a long time ago)


I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

[ShinyShoe]

TheGurnard
Firstly please don't stop posting. I have a feint belief that your inspirational adventures will one day inspire some spotty teenager who is addicted to the t'internet to realise there is a world of adventure outside his house for little more than the cost of his XBox and games. A real adventure, where you get cold wet and genuinely invigorated rather than one where you get carpal tunnel and astigmatisms.

As poly says it should be possible to search for image 'borrowing' and if there isn't a service that exists to do it I'm sure something can be cobbled together with some of the geekery found on the t'internet... Universities certainly already do it for text plagarism. However, as whisper suggests a watermark or signature on a photo makes a difference. Personally I prefer a signature as I think its a classy way of saying "I think this photo is good enough I want people to know I took it" while more subtly saying "steal my photo, you'll be crediting me". I'm sure a few of us have borrowed a photo from the web for a presentation etc over the years. The ones that are signed or have a water mark are less likely to be borrowed in my experience unless you want to say "this isn't my work".

A text footer in your posts that says something to the effect of "Hope you like what I have to say, but if you want to quote it else where please ask first. If its not for profit I will usually agree." You may also want to look at some of the Creative Commons Licences (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/) which help to avoid mis-interpretation of what you are happy to allow. It sounds like you might want to say your images and words are CC-BY-NC-ND and that you may consider other uses on request?

On your email to the author. It doesn't hit the right tones for me. I'd be far more tempted to look for a template take down or licence fee request letter which I'd send with the expectation of reaching a happy compromise where they publicly apologise on their website for using your material, credit it correctly on any use, and if they are making any money from it pay you a typical licencing fee - that might not be much you'd need to decide what proportion of their income was because of your photograph... If they wanted to negotiate on price they should have done it before using it. If you put the images on a stock photo site you probably get 20-30p per use! But if there are 10 photos thats £3.00. The more photos they've used the more they need you ;-).

The Law
I doubt the law has changed. I very much doubt the law can recognise "Social Media" versus "The Rest of the Web". Is this site Social Media? BUT what I do suspect is that you may either explicitly or through an implication of a statement in the site T&Cs that may say "No content you upload shall be copyright" be 'giving up' your copyright. Although my person interpretation of the above sentence would have been that it can't be subject to someone elses copyright unless I have their permission that is not what my made up example says...

The other thing with social media is the images and text content you are seeing may actually be supplied by the media. So the website may not have "copied it" they may just be distributing the social media's content. Not the case in the Gurnard's case but it can happen through web services and can still look very different. If that's permitted use by the Social Media site you can't argue.

So The Gurnard should check the T&Cs of the site he's uploaded them on to make sure the author doesn't have a case.

[treerat]

I know this is something Simon has had to deal with too - I don't often believe in cross forum posting but this thread explains it so much better than I can.

Question to the professional photographers.

Simon Brown is an underwater photographer Simon Brown - Underwater 3D digital photogrammetry but rarely publishes images on his site any more.

[Wibs]

Andy...

I can help with the original question

I'm one of a few that deal with 'requests to join' that FB group and after an increase in 'spammers' (people wanting to sell sunglasses or links to porn) it was decided to be a little 'strict' on letting people join.

I remember your previous request some weeks ago but it came from a profile that was 'locked down' i.e no information available on you.

Now some people do have high settings on their profile- which is fine but most boaters have some sort of boating picture on their Facebook which indicates they are 'real' and have an interest in the group.

If I 'suspect' someone- I'll send them a quick PM. Just asking them a simple question- the spammers don't seem to reply.!!

Glad your all sorted and have joined up- you've even got a boat in your profile picture now.

[BogMonster]

^ That's quite keen

A group I moderate on Facebook is dealt with using the following rule: "if you have no mutual friends with me and no friends already in the group, the application is deleted without further thought"

If they are genuine they'll reapply!