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| Officers Katie & Waffles |
OFFICER KATIE: Hi everyone, Officer Katie here. Last night on Facebook, one of our dear friends and readers sent us a message. Seems they saw another Facebook page passing off a photo of me and Orange Crush here as their own.
OFFICER WAFFLES: Boss, that's not cool, right?
OFFICER KATIE: No, Waffles. It it's not only not cool, it's not LEGAL.
OFFICER WAFFLES: Um Boss, which picture was it? I hope we were wearing our furs!
OFFICER KATIE: Well thank Cod Waffles, we were both fully furred. In fact, it's this very photo of you and me walking. It was just taken over the weekend and appeared for the first time Sunday on our Badass Cats blog post.
Like we always do, we posted a teaser and blog link on our Facebook page and included the photo. We love it when people enjoy our photos and share them. That's how many people find our blog. We also like to share other page's photos and always credit or tag where the photo came from.
What was particularly shocking in this case is that our photo was posted on another Facebook page as if it was their own. In fact, our copyright watermark was even REMOVED.
OFFICER WAFFLES: Boss, that's almost as bad as being naked!
And if anyone should know better, it's them. They have almost a half million likes and do virtually nothing but post cat photos.
OFFICER WAFFLES: Boss! On their page over 800 other people shared our photo! ...the one WITHOUT the watery mark. And like 9,000 people liked the picture!
OFFICER KATIE: Yup. Imagine how nice it would have been to have had some of those people visit our page and meet us.
OFFICER WAFFLES: That stinks, Boss. What can we do?
OFFICER KATIE: Well, we'll see if we hear back from the page owners. In the meantime, do you know what's REALLY cool?
OFFICER WAFFLES: Our hats?
OFFICER KATIE: No, Waffles. Our FRIENDS. They've come rushing to our defense and have been leaving lots and lots of comments on our stolen photo. We work really hard to create original photography that we're proud of and it's discouraging to see it stolen like this.
Update:
Just before we were about to publish this blog post, we heard back from the page owners:
"Picture taken down . Picture has been found on the net ( google) And no we don't take the watermark of . You can see that on our page we have more pictures with watermarks on ."
Our Reply:
"Thank you for removing it. I'd love to know you you found it on Google since it was just published for the first time yesterday. I was unable to find it through Google searches earlier this evening. As a fellow Facebook page owner and a photographer, I love having my images shared. But it's not fun when the credit is removed. I'm not accusing, and not saying you did...just expressing how frustrating it is. Thanks again."
Making the world a better place, one cat photo at a time.
Yeah! We are glad it's down. And I wonder if they will look into how that happened? There were people tagged on their site on your photo so I sort of wonder if they were the ones who grabbed it?
ReplyDeleteGood work! Glad it was taken down. Would have been so nice had they just shared your original with watermark and brought in new fans! Also, glad they didn't get nasty in reply or anything. ~Rascal and Rocco
ReplyDeleteSo Not Cool.
ReplyDeleteYou two look pretty good as officers of the law, though. We feel safer already!
XOXO
That's happened to me before with my drawings. I'm very grateful when people let me know they've seen something. Sooo glad this was caught quickly. Hopefully they're on notice now that Homey don't play dat!!
ReplyDeleteWow. We are impressed with how well and how fast you guys handled that. How can you tell where your image has been used? That seems to be a growing concern.
ReplyDeleteYou guys did super good!
We are proud of you :-)
The quick reaction of the cat blogosphere and of your friends is great ! And we're impressed with how fast you reacted yourself with the owner of the FB page and on your blog ! Just to say, you're both very impressive as cops ! Purrs
ReplyDeleteI think you kitties handled it very well, with velvet paws in iron gloves and all!
ReplyDeleteSta in the airport lounge at Schiphol Airport reading this with amazement and disbelief!!! Glad the people too, it down. Well, you wouldn't MIND if they showed it WITH the courtesy of an acknowledgement!!
ReplyDeleteMarjorie (and Harvey in NZ)
Aaggh SAT
ReplyDeleteY'all did a great job! Our uncle's a police detective. Maybe you could work with him sometime?!?!?!?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you guys were able to get some response! That was ultra-not nice of whoever did that to you. I hope that they didn't get any more of your photos.
ReplyDeleteGlad they took it down and more importantly they contacted you. Hope we all got under their skin a little .
ReplyDeleteWe're glad that they took the photo down....it will be interesting to see if you can trace it back to whoever took it in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThe Florida Furkids
We're glad to see that they responded and took it down, even if their response sounded a bit fishy.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Waffles, your hat is pretty cool.
My human is so clueless, she wouldn't even realise if someone had stolen a picture of me!! Glad it was sorted :)
ReplyDeleteWe gotta stick together! Stealing stuff and not giving credit is not cool. We're glad they took it down.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that people are like this. It's so frustrating! I'd be frustrated if someone stole my photos, and I know I don't put nearly the time and effort into mine as you do yours. Glad they removed the photo, at least.
ReplyDeleteGlad you took the "high road" in handling this delicate situation. As the officer would say "just the facts ma'am...."
ReplyDeleteLooking really badass today. Glad you got this situation sorted out so well and quickly. I'm always amazed that people think photographs and artwork shown on the net are available for their use.
ReplyDeleteGood job!
xxoo
Maggie
That's so uncool!! I had Roo photos used to sell tickets to Australia..i am still waiting for a bus load of Spanish tourists to rock up my driveway...my pics,my roos on my property..just rude!!! hope you can get it sorted out permanently! hugs Fozziemum
ReplyDeletewell done - hopefully they will learn something (or not....) it is sad that we have to bend over backwards to protect things that belong to us
ReplyDeleteThat WAS rude. But good job officers, I'm sure they learned their lesson. And Mr. Waffles...you sure are sexy in that 'uniform'.
ReplyDeleteWell, it would have been nicer if they'd reposted it with the watermark and offered a public apology and correction on their page.. but that's better than nothing I guess.
ReplyDeleteLove the officer outfits!
So glad you got everything taken care of :)
ReplyDeleteOMD!!!! Again!
ReplyDeleteI mean, who can blame someone for wanting to claim you PAWSOME kitties for their own, but this is NOT cool!!!! Until I read your edit that these people have replied to you, I was headed straight to FB to check this out, and leave a comment of my own!!!
I am glad you are getting it resolved, although to me it seems it was them who removed your watermark, it was a brand new pic, and you couldn't even find it on google, so that says a lot.
ANyways, have yourselves a good day guys!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
We are just now reading about this or we would have hissed at them for you.
ReplyDeleteIt is so uncool when people try to "steal" us. Glad the matter was resolved.
Good for you! I get very upset when I see places using someone's photos without credit or copying them from the web and putting them in an email with no credit/link. That is stealing!
ReplyDeleteGlad it is straightened out we are getting concerned now with all of the Pin popups on the blogs now. I hope you'll help us on how to tag our photos so that we can track it like you did at BlogPaws. The Lady
ReplyDeleteI am glad it has been fixed. You deserve credit for your great photos!
ReplyDeleteSo glad it's resolved. We love and appreciate all the love and hard work you put into your blog as well as being such a wonderful advocate for cats everywhere!
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started blogging I didn’t know any better and used google images but now I do. All FB pics have an option to download them. They say that once you publish something on the web, it’s automatically copywrited, but it’s a shame that Katie and Waff have to be there own enforcers. another fine job by the Badass Cats.
ReplyDeleteGlad they toke it down. Love sharing your photos and posts.
ReplyDeleteSue B
Oh dear! We know that is something that happens a lot. We hope you will check your photos in reverse search and make sure that no one else is posting them as you. Your Glorgirly is very good with photography & we can understand why "bad" ppl would want to ahhhh "borrow" your work.
ReplyDeleteGlad it's been resolved.
Katie you definitely wear the hat better than the OC...and we are bummed that happened. We still need to learn HOW to watermark...
ReplyDeleteIt is not cool when people steal others' images and work. :-(
ReplyDeleteas much as I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt that they didn't remove it, I have to say it is in their best interest to say they have no idea how it happened.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it is resolved. I hope they take the high road here and share the image again this time with the water mark and credit along with an apology.. I know I would..
you go girl!!! You know that WE left a comment for those scoundrels early on! Wonder if they will share this blog post? MOL!
ReplyDeleteThey are cat burglars! I'm glad the situation was resolved purr-fectly. You two look sensational in your cat cop hats!
ReplyDeleteclamp 'em in irons I say!xx Speedy
ReplyDeleteWell, you two should know that I love your hats. I don't like humans who steal other peoples work though. I say banish them to the bottom of the litter box!
ReplyDeleteGood job Officers & Glogirly..Keep up the good work..
ReplyDeleteBefore we got to the end of your post, we went racing over to their page to harass them, only to see it was gone. THEN we read the end of your post. Whew! Good work. We don't even watermark our stuff - don't know how.
ReplyDeleteHope they learned their lesson.
That's so annoyin - my momma has had her nail polish photos stolen and used to sell polish on eBay.
ReplyDeleteWell it's a great photo, but you should get credit for it for sure!
ReplyDeleteGood job Katie & Waffles! We are impressed with your Glogirly's calm and polite request...our bean would have been spitting mad, MOL
ReplyDeleteSasha, Sami, & Saku
Yay for you winning the war with them. Keep track of them, you are bad ass cat cops.
ReplyDeleteKatie, Waffles, Glowgrly, Wes feels your pain. Mommy has seen some of her drawing appear on all kinds of things from China...(big sigh) and she has been falsely accused of stealing her own art by peoples who has taken her designs. It is a tough world out there.
ReplyDeleteKisses
Nellie
Wow. Scary. But you guys can stroll my beat anytime!
ReplyDeleteWe have read about this happening, and we were wondering about doing a watermark across the center of the photos like some bloggers and photographers do, but that really ruins the photo in our mind. But we know by placing it in the corner of a photo that it can easily be removed by recropping. We are really sorry this happened to you. Your photos are memorable and always excellent so we understand the temptation, but it is so wrong. Glad your furiends are looking out for you and Waffles and Katie are on the case. XO, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
ReplyDeleteNOT funny when people steel your photo´s and take away your water stamp :(
ReplyDeleteMaybe I shall check out that page too , when FB is working again ?!
XOXO
That stinks that your photo mark was removed mysteriously.
ReplyDeleteYou know what is really frightening, watermark or not, all our pictures are ALL over the place. As much as mom tries to control it
ReplyDeleteLily & Edward
We are so glad to know that this was resolved. Now you three know how Alec Baldwin feels, right? The paparrazi, the denial, the police investigations, complete with yellow tape....it's the price you pay for fame (and super photography!)We'll always keep our eyes out for mis-use of your images! Peace...
ReplyDeleteHOOAH! Would you mind if I linked your story to my FB page: www.facebook.com/MyPhotoOnline ? I'm glad you caught this quick, and that they took it down, but sheesh...
ReplyDelete