Copyrighted photo thief - Dr. Tomato - Page 4

**Mischka** · August 28, 2010

It appears that there's someone else claiming trademark for the name "Dr. Tomato" to promote their business... that's a whole other mess unto itself.

http://healthyhomeharvest.com/home/dr-tomato/

Tania · August 28, 2010

ouch. I see both businesses started at about the same time (2009)? So we have two different Dr. Tomato folks out there.

Perhaps we need to be a bit more specific from now on which one we are discussing here - I believe the official company name of this Dr. Tomato is 'Dr Tomato Seed Company'.

All the negative talk about one Dr. Tomato may negatively reflect on the other... Ouch.

Tania

doublehelix · August 28, 2010

Thanks very much for the affirming words Remy. I look forward to purchasing from you and Tatiana. You both seem like great people to do business with.

I have another suggestion about photos. I use Paint Shop Pro for photo editing and I was playing around with it last night and might have found a way to keep this from happening again. You can add a WATERMARK to your pictures. It's really easy and doesn't take long to do. In Paint Shop you just load an image. Then from the top menu you select 'image' and a drop down will appear and you simply select 'watermarking'. You can use your company logo as a watermark or create a text watermark. You can also adjust the transparency. Once you get used to the process it only takes a minute to watermark a photo. The most effective watermarks are the ones that are slightly transparent and have your website address as the overlay image. Let me know if I can help in any way. Thanks.

Tania · August 28, 2010

original,

I am very sorry I may have over-reacted on your original post here (I think I did over-react, given my emotional state at that time), and I would like to officially apologize to you.

Remy has a really nice way of writing and putting things into a right perspective, and I truly admire her for that. I was steaming over the fact that someone stole her pictures that she worked so hard on, and she has the most competitive seed prices in the world, and her Seed Shop is her true passion, not a 'make-a-profit' thing! She has a way of making people happy, and it is so great to watch that in action

Tatiana

amideutch · August 28, 2010

Here's a picture I added a watermark to using Picasa. Ami

RinTinTin · August 29, 2010

At least the other one isn't basing the site on the name.
If any of you have a photo of "Aunt Ruby" tomato it is still there.

Tania · August 29, 2010

I looked at Dr Tomato website just a few minutes ago, and all the TOMATObase pictures are removed.

Remy, I think the picture for 'Early Glee' is yours and it is still there - please check it out, in case I am mistaken. Your Burracker's Favorite picture is now removed.

Top 5 banner was also removed. Actually the home page is now looking much cleaner and nicer.

Baker Creek, SSE, Tomatofest, and TGS pictures are still there.

Tania

remy · August 29, 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tania

original,

I am very sorry I may have over-reacted on your original post here (I think I did over-react, given my emotional state at that time), and I would like to officially apologize to you.

Remy has a really nice way of writing and putting things into a right perspective, and I truly admire her for that. I was steaming over the fact that someone stole her pictures that she worked so hard on, and she has the most competitive seed prices in the world, and her Seed Shop is her true passion, not a 'make-a-profit' thing! She has a way of making people happy, and it is so great to watch that in action

Tatiana

You are much too kind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by original

Thanks very much for the affirming words Remy. I look forward to purchasing from you and Tatiana. You both seem like great people to do business with.

I have another suggestion about photos. I use Paint Shop Pro for photo editing and I was playing around with it last night and might have found a way to keep this from happening again. You can add a WATERMARK to your pictures. It's really easy and doesn't take long to do. In Paint Shop you just load an image. Then from the top menu you select 'image' and a drop down will appear and you simply select 'watermarking'. You can use your company logo as a watermark or create a text watermark. You can also adjust the transparency. Once you get used to the process it only takes a minute to watermark a photo. The most effective watermarks are the ones that are slightly transparent and have your website address as the overlay image. Let me know if I can help in any way. Thanks.

Thank you. I'll have to check out the paint shop pro. Neither of my photo editing programs on my computer can do that.
Remy

dustdevil · August 29, 2010

The best way to protect your logo is to make it a registered trademark or registered servicemark with the U.S. Patent Office. The process takes about a year.

Ami, that watermark doesn't cut it. The best way is to make it very light and run it across the tomatoes. Otherwise, it can easily be cropped out and used elsewhere.

Now that a friendly email isn't getting any action, the next step is to have a lawyer send a letter threatening prosecution if the images aren't removed. Usually this gets action without any further need to go to court. I suggest joint action.

dustdevil · August 29, 2010

Remy, create a .png watermark and adjust the transparency level to an acceptable level. Use the "place" feature to put it where you want on the photo. If you need help, I'll create a watermark for you in Photoshop for free. PM me if interested.

Stepheninky · August 29, 2010

Here is a website that is free and will let you upload up to 10 images at a time and then will water mark them and zip the file for easy download. I just used the defaults but you can place any text any color and font you wish.

A bonus is that it does not rename your photo so you could copy your images folder from your website to your computer then replace those with the watermarked images then just re upload it to the web server and all your pics will be water marked.

http://watermark-images.com/Default.aspx

Wi-sunflower · August 30, 2010

Actually that watermark is no good either as it could easily be cropped out.

If you have PSP, you can find many tutorials on making a watermark if you search - psp tut watermark.

I just used the first tut that showed up here. http://moonsdesigns.com/tutorials/watermark.html

It's for an older version of PSP but it worked OK for my version 9 except I couldn't seem to get it to export at all. So I just saved it as a PNG. Then you copy that image and paste as a new layer on your pic. The best info in the tut is to make that new layer "soft light". That makes it transparent and the colors of your image show thru the watermark. Then use the move tool to where ever you want it. It's best to have it right on top of the main part of your pic so it can't be cropped out without ruining the pic.

Here is what I made. One is the watermark. The other is on top of my pic of Black and Brown Boar.

Carol

DuckCreekFarms · August 30, 2010

Below is a link to a tomato (Sioux). It is from Google. Isn't that a copyright violation since they are (probably) linking to another site somewhere? Why don't people go after the billion dollar mega company for copy right infringements?

What if a person linked to this picture? Wouldn't it actually be Google that is doing the copy right infringements?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41oFLrHmaKL.jpg

here is an interesting perspective. http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

freelancer79d · August 30, 2010

But that water mark can be edited out very easily (guess that has been said already). You need to add one with a translucent trade mark across the pic, like this one... it was done in MS paint.

Quote:

Originally Posted by amideutch

Here's a picture I added a watermark to using Picasa. Ami

Wi-sunflower · August 30, 2010

That link actually looks like Amazon is the violator.

If you search Google images for sioux tomato, the first page brings up that same pic 3 times on 3 dif sites, one of which is TGS. Who owns the original is ??? If you click any of those images Google will take you to the web page it's found on with this line "Image may be subject to copyright".

So while Google makes it easier for someone to find an image they may want to use as their own, they do inform the user of a possible copyright issue. It's also not clear from that pic if it's a seed company's stock pic that has been distributed to their customers or if it's someone's personal pic.

Carol

August 28, 2010	#46
Mischka Tomatoville® Administrator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: The Bay State Posts: 3,207	It appears that there's someone else claiming trademark for the name "Dr. Tomato" to promote their business... that's a whole other mess unto itself. http://healthyhomeharvest.com/home/dr-tomato/ __________________ Mischka One last word of farewell, Dear Master and Mistress. Whenever you visit my grave, say to yourselves with regret but also with happiness in your hearts at the remembrance of my long happy life with you: "Here lies one who loved us and whom we loved." No matter how deep my sleep I shall hear you, and not all the power of death can keep my spirit from wagging a grateful tail.

August 28, 2010	#47
Tania Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anmore, BC, Canada Posts: 3,970	ouch. I see both businesses started at about the same time (2009)? So we have two different Dr. Tomato folks out there. Perhaps we need to be a bit more specific from now on which one we are discussing here - I believe the official company name of this Dr. Tomato is 'Dr Tomato Seed Company'. All the negative talk about one Dr. Tomato may negatively reflect on the other... Ouch. Tania __________________ Tatiana's TOMATObase

August 28, 2010	#49
Tania Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anmore, BC, Canada Posts: 3,970	original, I am very sorry I may have over-reacted on your original post here (I think I did over-react, given my emotional state at that time), and I would like to officially apologize to you. Remy has a really nice way of writing and putting things into a right perspective, and I truly admire her for that. I was steaming over the fact that someone stole her pictures that she worked so hard on, and she has the most competitive seed prices in the world, and her Seed Shop is her true passion, not a 'make-a-profit' thing! She has a way of making people happy, and it is so great to watch that in action Tatiana __________________ Tatiana's TOMATObase

August 29, 2010	#52
Tania Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anmore, BC, Canada Posts: 3,970	I looked at Dr Tomato website just a few minutes ago, and all the TOMATObase pictures are removed. Remy, I think the picture for 'Early Glee' is yours and it is still there - please check it out, in case I am mistaken. Your Burracker's Favorite picture is now removed. Top 5 banner was also removed. Actually the home page is now looking much cleaner and nicer. Baker Creek, SSE, Tomatofest, and TGS pictures are still there. Tania __________________ Tatiana's TOMATObase

August 30, 2010	#58
DuckCreekFarms Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Mounds, Oklahoma Posts: 257	Below is a link to a tomato (Sioux). It is from Google. Isn't that a copyright violation since they are (probably) linking to another site somewhere? Why don't people go after the billion dollar mega company for copy right infringements? What if a person linked to this picture? Wouldn't it actually be Google that is doing the copy right infringements? http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41oFLrHmaKL.jpg here is an interesting perspective. http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html __________________ DuckCreekFarms.Com

August 28, 2010	#48
doublehelix Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Central Arkansas Posts: 190	Thanks very much for the affirming words Remy. I look forward to purchasing from you and Tatiana. You both seem like great people to do business with. I have another suggestion about photos. I use Paint Shop Pro for photo editing and I was playing around with it last night and might have found a way to keep this from happening again. You can add a WATERMARK to your pictures. It's really easy and doesn't take long to do. In Paint Shop you just load an image. Then from the top menu you select 'image' and a drop down will appear and you simply select 'watermarking'. You can use your company logo as a watermark or create a text watermark. You can also adjust the transparency. Once you get used to the process it only takes a minute to watermark a photo. The most effective watermarks are the ones that are slightly transparent and have your website address as the overlay image. Let me know if I can help in any way. Thanks.

August 29, 2010	#51
RinTinTin Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Seattle Posts: 581	At least the other one isn't basing the site on the name. If any of you have a photo of "Aunt Ruby" tomato it is still there.

August 29, 2010	#54
dustdevil Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: WI, USA Zone4 Posts: 1,887	The best way to protect your logo is to make it a registered trademark or registered servicemark with the U.S. Patent Office. The process takes about a year. Ami, that watermark doesn't cut it. The best way is to make it very light and run it across the tomatoes. Otherwise, it can easily be cropped out and used elsewhere. Now that a friendly email isn't getting any action, the next step is to have a lawyer send a letter threatening prosecution if the images aren't removed. Usually this gets action without any further need to go to court. I suggest joint action.

August 30, 2010	#60
Wi-sunflower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 2,591	That link actually looks like Amazon is the violator. If you search Google images for sioux tomato, the first page brings up that same pic 3 times on 3 dif sites, one of which is TGS. Who owns the original is ??? If you click any of those images Google will take you to the web page it's found on with this line "Image may be subject to copyright". So while Google makes it easier for someone to find an image they may want to use as their own, they do inform the user of a possible copyright issue. It's also not clear from that pic if it's a seed company's stock pic that has been distributed to their customers or if it's someone's personal pic. Carol