I have gotten several emails and messages today mentioning eBay sellers who are using Lamley photos of the RLC COPO Camaro for their listings. And wow, there are quite a few of them.
Does it frustrate me? Absolutely. Is it technically illegal? Probably, even without a specific copyright, although I am not an expert in intellectual property. I do own the photos based on the sole fact that I took them, but I can’t control where they go, or where a seller might find it.
Folks have told me to watermark my photos, but I choose not to. I like the purity of the photo when it is just the subject and the background, and I think most of our readers know a Lamley photo when they see it. But that does put me at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to others using my photos for sales. And just to be clear, I am talking about sales or specific promotions only. If you want to save the photos for your own use, or for the enjoyment of the hobby, I don’t have a problem with that.
So, here is the unofficial policy on the use of Lamley photos in ebay listings:
- I ask that you don’t, but I don’t have the time to stop you if you do. At least give Lamley the photo credit in your listing.
- If you know someone who is using my photos, especially for RLC “presales”, kindly ask them not to. If they tell you to go to hell, as many told me today, let it go. It isn’t worth it.
Just wondering how did you got the COPO and Corvette cars before the official sale period? I don't think these were part of the sub plan.
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I still wanna know what this guy is doing:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/acidivanrussia/m.html?item=301563195397&hash=item4636913005&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562
I didn't use your photos for the 240z rlc but I did see quite a few on eBay. I wonder if you could talk to eBay about your photos being used. Technically once you take the photo it is copyrighted automatically. Once on the internet it is in the publicly available but not on the public domain. You could fight it but in the end I doubt it would be worth it.
Just take it as a compliment, your pics are the greatest.
I saw a photo of mine in an advert once.
I mailed the guy that I liked the picture and the stone tabel the model was lying on.
The picture was removed in silence 🙂
eBay has a pretty explicit policy that prohibits using a photo owned by someone else without their permission. The owner of the photo just has to report which listing is using their photo without permission and the listing is supposed to be removed. It looks like it's a fairly simple process, I think it would absolutely be worth it seeing as there are only a dozen or so up right now with his photos. I'm not sure how long it takes them to follow up on the reports, though.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/image-text.html
Holy $%#^!!! At $120.65 each, shipping included, there's a total of just over $27,000 that they've brought in. Something is not what it seems. Wanna go 50-50 to buy one and see what actually shows up? I haven't been investigated by the FBI in a while….
That goes to show you how lazy some people can be.
I never trust anybody who uses pictures from another source in order to sell things online.