honest opinions needed please
 

Hi yt, yesterday I was emailed by a woman who said that I had a animated yorkie that belong to her and threatened to sue me if I don't remove it so I told her I didn't steal any images I got it from a free public image sight so I asked was she the artist because I would remove it and she said no but she animated the image so I said well you don't own it so she threatened to ruin my reputation if I did not remove the image ,she also went to my guestbook and wrote I was a thief and had no ethics and my customers should beware so now I'm pissed I simply said if she was the artist I would take it down but because she is not I would not be bullied with threats so anyway I designed my website over and took off all images that she said was on my site and she told me who they belong to but I did not take the animated image off because again she is not the artist she just claims she animated so it belongs to her ok so opinions needed should I remove it or keep it and keep in mind. She said she saw it on the free site so she know I got it off but she went through some weird measures today that could have cost my puppy a home with the bad reviews she kept posting it is lucky I won't be breeding for a while but the point is if I had babies to place she tried to ruin my reputation over 2 images and then in the end told me I could have the image but it cost 200 for her to design for me per image but again she is not the creator of this image she said she made his eyes close so it is hers what you think pleas be honest I an open and want the truth regardless if I like it or not .....thanks

I explained it like this if brittney spears have a image and another person takes the image and make it glitter this is not there copyright brittney still would own the image and if its on a free public image sight its up for grabs unless britney says take it off not the person who made it glitter let me know if you beg to differ

Sorry you're going through that. I"m no lawyer so I'm not sure what is legally correct. Did she get permission from the "artist" before she altered it? Probably not so how can she do that to you? Again, I'm not sure whether she's has a legal right or if she's just blowing smoke.

Hopefully someone can come along and give you some advice.

And tell her you can do the same to her, harrassment & slander...

I agree with this post. If you have a lawyer you can always call and ask. I know people try to bully all the time but you also need to make sure you are correct, I hope this gets worked out really soon.

i can't give legal advice, but i can give $itch advice!

i would have said, "no problem. i just found another image i like a lot better anyway, and i spoke to the person who designed it and they are happy to let me use it. i only used the image which you say is yours because it was the only one i could find at the time that was free - and i was in a hurry. since you've informed me that it's not free - i will be taking it down immediately. it's really not that big of a deal."

really - it's not worth fighting to keep a picture up, when i'm sure there ARE other pics you CAN use for free. she is probably hoping you will offer to pay her, anyway. let her know you don't value the image all that much since she came at you with that approach!

i can't give legal advice, but i can give $itch advice!

i would have said, "no problem. i just found another image i like a lot better anyway, and i spoke to the person who designed it and they are happy to let me use it. i only used the image which you say is yours because it was the only one i could find at the time that was free - and i was in a hurry. since you've informed me that it's not free - i will be taking it down immediately. it's really not that big of a deal."

really - it's not worth fighting to keep a picture up, when i'm sure there ARE other pics you CAN use for free. she is probably hoping you will offer to pay her, anyway. let her know you don't value the image all that much since she came at you with that approach!

I would ask for proof. If it came from a free site then it must be free. Tell her if she can send you proof it's hers you will remove it otherwise tell her if she doesn't have proof and she keeps harassing you , you will sue for slander. She can't just claim it's hers and not be able show proof. Otherwise anyone could just get on a free site and do the same thing she's doing.

Thanks for the advice I really want to be fair that's why I am asking I am a little soar at how this was addressed and how she lied and said her lawyer was going to call me and then latet she said her lawyer didnot call because he don't handle this kind of matter it just makes me wonder what else she lied about I mean it is clear to me that she is a web designer no doubt but it doesn't prove she owns the image she even said she copied the image with the artist permission so I said tell the artist to contact me and I would delete it but I never heard from the artist or the lawyer and she even said when she first start designing she got free images too so what makes her better than me just because people pay her 200 dollars for the same image that is on the free public image site that does not belong to her but because she designed a site it makes it hers I know a lot of breeders and we all got yorkie images that are similar she said her customer called her and said I have the same image so now I have to change mine when I'm thinking why can't she change her image she is the web designer she should be able to draw a yorkie from scratch for 200 a image she copying off the free sight also thanks for all responses even if you don't agree please comment thanks so much I am going to base my decision off this thread unless of course the "lawyer" calls by all means I wouldn't hesitate then but she already admitted the lawyer thing was a lie

as i said in my other post - it all comes down to this....

is the image that great that it's worth fighting for?

don't give her the time/satisfaction that you are putting into it if it isn't.

if the image IS worth a lot of trouble, then it must be worth paying for.

otherwise, i say find another image - tell her that hers wasn't all that anyway - and be done.

No Way. How do you know she's for real, or that she will not do it to you again when you change the pic, or that she's not doing this all over the place. And if she's not for real then you are probably not the only person she's pulling this on. If it really is hers then it shouldn't be hard for her to prove it.

I truly value your opinion but why should I pay a random person 200 dollars just because we both have a image that is not mine or hers the image was not copyright and usually if its a pro blem the owner of the image will contact you and tell you to remove it not some random web person who has the image also if its not that important to fight but. Should I let her bully me when she has shown no proof and admitted to lying about the lawyer

Does she own the site you got the pic from ? if not tell her she's going after the wrong person. She needs to go after the site owner. If she wins the court will make the site owner remove it . I am sure you are not the only one to use this pic from a free site.

here is the scenerio its a site called photo bucket it has free images graphics and background all free fun stuff for amateurs to create websites me the amateur found a picture put it on my site she the professional did the same thing but made money for doing it so now she wants me the amateur to remove this picture because now her client is like anybody can get this image so now she is emailing me saying someone paid me for that image so I'm telling her its free so what you want me to do she said take it down I said are you the artist she said no.......?

Ok, then go back to this:thumbup:

After all 50emails and threats and naughty reviews on my website suggesting to my potential puppy buyers that I was a thief and not to buy a puppy from me because I won't remove a image means I'm a unethical breeder I wouldn't be surprised if she emailed my customers, of course that woulnt matter because all they care about is that I sold them a healthy pet that they are totally in love with she also said using "her" image is getting me customers..... what !!!lol since when do customers go to websites and say hey look at that animated yorkie picture I am going to buy a yorkie from her,it was very hard to sale my babies so maybe her "image" might have lost me customers I do my best to maintain my image as being a reputable breeder but if every person who comes along and threaten to ruin my reputation if I don't do what they want then what ? I never thought someone would ever go as far as to ruin someones reputation over a image that neither one of us own. goodnight everyone who knows maybe all this and the image will all go away tomorrow

To ruin your reputation over an animated picture is more than ridiculous to me. :confused: You need to understand there are people in this world who are completely nuts. All she had to do was email you and tell you she created it and to take it down and you should comply .
Why go through all this crap and nonsense for an animated picture? You probably can create your own. If someone threatened me with a lawyer over a picture I mean an animated one I would probably die laughing. Take the picture down and tell her to go sue Photo-Bucket.
To me it's not worth all this drama. I could see if it was a real picture of her dogs or puppies, but an animated one. GEEz , people need a life ! :rolleyes:

I collect graphics from the web to make things for my little nephews and I have learned that the people who "make" them are very possessive and not worth battling. As you pointed out, the original artwork is someone else's. The person who animated the piece owes the original artist.

I would remove the animated Yorkie from your website and hope that the person is satisfied and goes away. Good luck!

:thumbup: I would too - there's plenty of things you could put on your site without this kind of headache

I have tons of clipart and always tell people who ask for it that I don't know if it's copyrighted and use it at THEIR dicretion - personally I don't use it and have no idea why I have it now (can't remember) but if it's signed - I don't snag

Not that this is the same exactly, but it reminds me of a court case I saw on Judge Judy or People's court one time.
This lady was suing this bar because he took a photo of her off a free photo site and used it in a flyer for his business.
I can't remember all the details, but I know the bar lost and had to pay her because she said he can't use her photo to promote or sell his business without her permission.
I know this is an animated thing, but it made me think of it.
Personally, I would remove it. There are so many graphics out there, why deal with the headache!

Really ? I have a website (www.designsByVillette.com) and many of my graphics I use for the Custom Labels I do for you all are from the net -

some I've 'changed' for personal reasons but I didn't make them - and they're plastered on the net (not that anyone looks at my website lol) but they are there and I use them when I do Custom Address Labels for people using their own pets.

the PETS on my labels are all from people who order and I use their personal photos - but the graphics are part of the designing of the labels

they were all from free sites - I don't use copyrighted stuff - you can normally see it right on the graphic or the site will say you need permission to use but many out there have graphics that are free to anyone

Pay me 200.00 or I will ruin your reputation? Sounds like extortion.

Exactly ! And if she doesn't own it then she's breaking the law Not You.

I mean this was an actual photo of a person and it was in flyers that were distributed for a bar/club, so I don't know if that made a difference. I still was somewhat surprised since the photos were on a site like that, but she won.

Even if you get images from the "free sites" you have to look at the licensing terms. Some allow you to use them for personal use only, and others allow you to buy the license (different kinds for different things) if you want to use them for commercial purposes.

So if the artist who created the animation had the license to use the original image to create the animation, then she may be able to claim a copyright in that animation and therefore tell you that you are infringing on her copyright.

I'd take it down and move on - you should be using your own images or buying licenses anyway if you are running a website for commercial purposes.