Stolen! What would you do?
 

I just discovered that someone has illegally stolen a photo from my website and is selling it on eBay. The picture was taken in 1999, I think, at Williams Grove of Kasey Kahne in the Zemco #1.
What would you do about it?

http://cgi.ebay.com/KASEY-KAHNE-RARE...3286.m14.l1318

Above is the eBay link and below is the photo from my website.

http://www.pbase.com/consoli/image/93458630.jpg

Re: Stolen! What would you do?
 

Al,
e-mail the the seller & give him a choice to remove the auction or you will take action.he can end the auction early with a couple clicks on the keyboard.still has 7 hours to do so.

Re: Stolen! What would you do?
 

Looks like your name is gone from the pic so......not much u can do about it. I'd say from now on have your name close to the car in the pic.

Re: Stolen! What would you do?
 

If I was going to steal anyone's pictures, it would be yours, AL! You do some of the best work in that field that I've ever seen.

Re: Stolen! What would you do?
 

Here's what I would do....... Not sure if it is the exact corrcet procedure though.

• bid on the pic (with no intention of buying) it to make sure nobody else wins it.
• email eBay to let them know about the fraud.
• By winning the auction, you'll have access to the sellers name/address. Send him a cease and desist letter (preferably from a lawyer).

I guess it depends on how seriously you want to protect your copyright rights to your work.

Re: Stolen! What would you do?
 

Al,
Do you see anymore of your pic's on list list?

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZretired*from*nitro


Plus it looks like he sold one already..

http://cgi.ebay.com/KASEY-KAHNE-RARE...QQcmdZViewItem

Re: Stolen! What would you do?
 

I posted an alert to eBay, via my eBay account, that this scumbag is violating Copyright laws in his auction(s). Probably too late to stop him on your photo, but I'll be on eBay's a$$ until they take action on this matter. Did you notice that he trimmed the bottom of your photo just enough to remove your copyright imprint?

Re: Stolen! What would you do?
 

Dano, that's a good idea but, If Al uses eBay or intends to, bidding on and winning items and not actually paying for them can get you in trouble with eBay and diminish your reputation as a buyer and seller. I would contact eBay first and let them know what you're doing. They might, then, go along with it and not penalize you.

Re: Stolen! What would you do?
 

I'm not saying that this is the case, but it is possible that the seller received the photo as a gift from someone else that pirated it, and he's selling it without knowing that.

Re: Stolen! What would you do?
 

I forgot to mention that if you follow the above procedure, I would not contact the seller until after you win the auction. Also, if you're able to use an eBay account that doesn't identify you, so much the better....... Or you could temporarily change your info.

I used a very similar process to recover a stolen physical item, except because it was a physical item, I involved the local autorities after I won the auction.