I guess I should be flattered but I feel so cheated

[Kagemaru]

I don't think I shared this series of pics on POTN of my friend, little Keri Lee and the Big gulp. We did this shoot about 7 or 8 months ago (back when I was banned from POTN but we won't talk about that :confused:) in the back of my warehouse.. the shoot was totally unplanned, at the last minute I stopped by 7/11 to get a big gulp for her because I thought it would be cute (She's 5'-0"). The whole shoot lasted no more than 20 minutes but we got some great stuff.

Anyway, here is the pic from my port:

http://davecphoto.smugmug.com/photos/301259439_6sxN3-XL-1.jpg

And some other favorites from the shoot

http://davecphoto.smugmug.com/photos/301266040_cWoBz-XL-1.jpg

http://davecphoto.smugmug.com/photos/301263426_UTHUr-XL-1.jpg

http://davecphoto.smugmug.com/photos/301260266_xCWQo-XL-1.jpg

http://davecphoto.smugmug.com/photos/301262770_g57hz-XL-1.jpg

I was browsing MM today and found this:

http://www.modelmayhem.com/pic.php?pid=9869554

Come on! Seriously?? I browse MM all the time looking for ideas and concepts but I've never copied anything as closely as this.. sheesh...

I still think mine is better :p

[bsaber]

You know you're doing something right when others start to blatantly copy your stuff :D

But seriously, that is almost like a direct copy. But your images are way better.

[forsakenme720]

I agree, that's a direct copy. And I'm not just saying this cause you're a POTN'er, but yours is a million billion gazillion times better. That other one is complete crap!

[cdifoto]

Sad.

[big_apple_ken]

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Don't worry bro. Their version sucked compared to yours. Can't believe you banged out all the nice photos in 20 minutes.

[Livinthalife]

I agree yours are better. At least they didn't straight copy and paste your images though.... Still doesn't seem right. BTW great idea, my wife is like 5' and Japanese...I promise to use different poses! :)

[Kagemaru]

Ya know I can understand using pics as inspiration but blatantly copying every detail is just sinful LOL!

[M Powered]

Post a rant in the photography forum and sit back and watch the fireworks. Last time someone used my stuff on their page I posted a thread and within minutes, his entire TAG section was filled with hate tags. ROFL

[Kagemaru]

Am I allowed to post a link like that on there?

[Anke]

Great series, I'm sure you should feel flattered, at least they didn't steal your actual image. Yours are better anyway.

Nice shots regardless :)

[MattMoore]

Nice shots, your's are far and away superior.

May I ask what type of lighting setup and PP you used? Very Dave Hill-esque (I apologize if this offends you, some ppl don't like Dave Hill).

And no, I'm not going to copy you; I like the effect/look.

Thanks!

[nuffi]

Ya know I can understand using pics as inspiration but blatantly copying every detail is just sinful LOL!


Sort of. In this case it is just a bit lame. They're shots are not tuned in to the concept very well, and so their execution is fail.

It *might* also be possible that they came up with a similar concept on their own. My first semester of photography (one of 7 subjects taht year, so it wasn't like I had a lot of time for it back then) I did this shoot of hands and feet and bottom. I thought it was epic!! About a year later I got a postcard from one of my better tog mates... Almost identical image on a postcard! Damn that man ray fellow!!

I seriously had never seen it. I am still happy with my shot, but it meant I had to wait a little longer for something that I could add to the school exhibit.

I share this anecdote in the hopes that it helps you feel better. :smile:

[Kagemaru]

No definitely not coincidence, there are just too many similarities. Besides, it looks like the model pulled it from her profile after a friend of mine commented on it, that says a lot.

[bishop13]

Hmmmm...."No Pic"?

[HSK]

Looks like someone pulled the plug, or flushed the toilet.

[Livinthalife]

maybe both ^^

[Kagemaru]

Yeah the model removed the picture but I think it's still on the photographers website.

http://jesusesquivel.weebly.com/advertising.html

[M Powered]

Concept may be copied but execution is fail on his part. His model looks like a 20 year tobacco addict. To pull off the innocent look, the model has to be young and fresh.

If he got a model that was young and fresh with better lighting, then you'd be done LOL

[charlesu]

Welcome to the club of copied images. I have had my images stolen outright. One guy even eliminated my copyright notice and put them up for sale on his site. Others have just copied the ideas. I remember doing the Adam and Eve shot (with a snake and apple) and posting it on OMP. Within a month there must have been 20 copies on OMP. Most of them sucked but it is one of the reasons I don't always post my best work online.

[rdompor]

Found it! hahahahaha. Does this make me evil?
http://flickr.com/photos/esquivelphoto/3119479732/

[Karl Johnston]

Ahh i feel your pain..at least your concept was stolen, but not your whole images. I just recently had my images ripped, myself, an entire series by a gov't organisation :( if I wanted to chase them down I could... but the effort.. and the legal fees.. just isn't worth it for those particular images. It is flattering, though ;) I was listed as having "an involvement" in the project when their idea/concept and control of the images were copywritten and owned by THEM.. of course is violating but there's a limit to how far you can chase anything, especially for the cost to you and the enemies you make from it. Hell in my case even though the scope was much larger, i'm still flattered. At least were good enough, eh?

I see the guy has the pic removed, that's nice of him.

[turbo212003]

Love the comments on flickr. Your version is much better.


Seriously tho,

it's been done before....

http://flickr.com/photos/aaronthompson/2848892202/


Credits go to user: aamith on flickr

[forsakenme720]

Love the comments on flickr. Your version is much better.


Seriously tho,

it's been done before....

http://flickr.com/photos/aaronthompson/2848892202/


Credits go to user: aamith on flickr

Um, yeah, that's not QUITE the same, lol.

[turbo212003]

Um, yeah, that's not QUITE the same, lol.

Joke;)

[shooterman]

Love the comments on flickr. Your version is much better.


Seriously tho,

it's been done before....

http://flickr.com/photos/aaronthompson/2848892202/


Credits go to user: aamith on flickr
That pic was taken on Sept 11, 2008, so "aamith" copied Dave too. ;)

[jedi1354]

your photo is much better. in fact i really like the photos they fit more with the models looks than the copied one.

[Deckham]

. the shoot was totally unplanned, at the last minute I stopped...

Ahm - your friend walks around with nothing under her top like that habitually?

[Kagemaru]

Ahm - your friend walks around with nothing under her top like that habitually?

Only when she's around me.

[Livinthalife]

I need friends like that..... :)

[bsaber]

I've had an image of mine copied by a model turned photographer. I found it flattering but it was a blatant copy like what happened here. It wasn't that great of a pic so I didn't bother to say or do anything about it. Then a few months later another model had a pic that was basically an exact copy. Again I didn't care enough to do anything. Still flattering though :)

[Stickman]

Come on! Seriously?? I browse MM all the time looking for ideas and concepts but I've never copied anything as closely as this.. sheesh...

I still think mine is better :p


I tend not to work with models, but in a different industry, and have had several times where other companies have taken a picture of mine, copied everything down to the last detail, and inserted their product. I don't mean close, or based on a similar theme, I mean exact down to arranging twigs the same in an image.

My thoughts are that it takes a loser with a lack of imagination to do an exact copy, and then to post it or use it.

[alex2131]

Kagemaru, yours are definitely better photos, the blond have a cute face but her legs veins are horrendous... ok maybe not that bad but me don't likeee.

Now in a case like this who's fault is it? The model or the photographer? or both? Could it be that the photographer didn't knew the existence of this and it was a total idea of the model or not?

Ehh, JIC no I don't know the photographer, I'm just asking LOL
I ask cause one day in a conversation with a model student she was mentioning about a shooting she wanted and also mentioned some poses (she saw on the web) she wanted. While I didn't get to do the job, I'm curious if something like this case could had happened to me.
What you think?

[andrew748]

Come on! Seriously?? I browse MM all the time looking for ideas and concepts but I've never copied anything as closely as this.. sheesh...

:p

deal with it, you copy and twist to make your own they copy and get it wrong, be flattered aka what goes around comes around :p

do you see what i did there you copy they copy, goes around.........

i'm a geniarse :$

[TomTomTuning]

Wow its almost like they printed your picture and tried to do everything the same.. (as far as the model goes)...

Hmmm.. i dont know how id feel...

But dude i love your shots, those are GREAT!!!

[H2Ohta]

Your photos and model are way better. I MEAN WAAAAAYYYYYY BETTER!!!!!!!!

[gdelena]

Your shots are fantastic. Other duder is a hack. Roll with the punches.

[jgoodstein]

My ¢2. I hope I'm not coming of like a jerk, because that's not my intention, my intention is to open conversation about this topic as many of us are guilty of it, or victims of it, in some way or another.

What determines copy and what determines inspiration? If no one can ever take a picture of a girl holding a big gulp ever again , well that's ridiculous. If they copy nearly pixel for pixel.. then I understand a bit more. Copying or editing some one else's images is outright evil.

If the first person to shoot gets rights to the pose/lighting.. there would be a lot less photographers. In the OP and comparison I feel the mimic was a poor copy, and a blatant near pixel-4-pixel attempt at a duplicate, but where do you draw the line? I took a portrait of a family on a couch all wearing sunglasses, can no one else do the same now or is it a sad ripoff? What if they did a better version of it then me?

I'm sorry that they took a bad picture to try and copy your good picture, but i don't understand any reason for aggression towards the model in the 2nd (perhaps the photographer maybe a little), It could be handled through better means then a bunch of POTN'ers swarming the girls or the Tog's website.


BTW the originals are great !!!!

[bwolford]

First let me say I'm absolutely sure Kagemaru's is the original, but what's the evidence? Couldn't the photog chime in here, based on the statements made so far that while Kagemaru's is superior technically, his was shot first?

Second, is there any legal case against this blatant copy? I guess there is no copyright on creativity. Perhaps the other photog is claiming parody, and therefore protected speech, because his is such a joke compared to the original...

[andrew748]

i don't get this

kagemaru is the attention whore who hated you all for commenting on his work

now we are queuing up to dish out hand jobs???

ok i'll play.........

wow dude you were totally ripped off, did you piss them off too?

i like your work but your attitude is still makes me want to stamp on puppies :p

[cskn0125]

i don't get this

kagemaru is the attention whore who hated you all for commenting on his work

now we are queuing up to dish out hand jobs???

ok i'll play.........

wow dude you were totally ripped off, did you piss them off too?

i like your work but your attitude is still makes me want to stamp on puppies :p


bw!

Sounds like you and him should have a battle to the death.

no samurais.

[Kagemaru]

First let me say I'm absolutely sure Kagemaru's is the original, but what's the evidence? Couldn't the photog chime in here, based on the statements made so far that while Kagemaru's is superior technically, his was shot first?

Second, is there any legal case against this blatant copy? I guess there is no copyright on creativity. Perhaps the other photog is claiming parody, and therefore protected speech, because his is such a joke compared to the original...


The evidence is that the model apologized to me about it through Model Mayhem. She even responded to one of my castings :confused:

[inthedeck]

i don't get this

kagemaru is the attention whore who hated you all for commenting on his work

now we are queuing up to dish out hand jobs???

ok i'll play.........

wow dude you were totally ripped off, did you piss them off too?

i like your work but your attitude is still makes me want to stamp on puppies :p

Classic. :lol:

Sucks to hear, Dave...but, at least she apologized.