The Image Stealer!

So, as I mentioned in my last post, someone stole one of my images. I received a very helpful email last Monday evening asking me if I was aware that someone was using one of my images on an Etsy/Folksy-type craft site called Zazzle. No, I blummin' well wasn't! Not only that, but the person who had taken my image had stolen the idea for their item from Etsy seller boygirlparty, too. With a lot of Twittering, emailing, and flagging it up on forums and the like, the two of us, along with lots of other people who complained to Zazzle about the blatant copyright infringement, managed to get the shop shut down. Hurrah!

Here is my original Octopus image:



And here is a screenshot of the shop before it got pulled down:



You can see the Octopus on my blog waaaay back in 2006 when I first came up with it here and boygirlparty's original To Do List here.

The bloody cheek of it! We both sent the shop owner emails explaining why what they did was wrong. They're only 14, but they should know better. They do now, anyway. Mwah ha ha!

The sad thing is that the person who alerted me to it in the first place told me that there's a lot of that kind of thing going on on Zazzle. It seems to be somewhere where sellers think they can get away with anything, really. Avoid it if you can, but I must add that I was very impressed with their prompt responses to our complaints and that they removed the offending items within three hours. The power of the internet!