DEALING WITH COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT...

Never thought I'd be on the receiving end of this one, even though I've been dealing with graphics for close to 10 years, and creating tags and scrap pages for over a year. However, it happened yesterday and my blood-pressure nearly erupted all over the place.

It was a quiet morning, I was trying to upload a scrap page to one of my galleries, and leaving comments on several that had just been posted by several friends...when something familiar caught my eye. I looked once, twice, three times and nearly had a conniption fit!! SOMEONE HAD STOLEN MY PAGE AND MADE OUT LIKE SHE HAD DESIGNED IT!! Oh no no no no no!! When I read over the several comments of praise for her layout, that was it!! I wasn't about to stand quietly by and let someone take the praise for something she DID NOT CREATE!!


(My original page followed by her use of my page!)

KIT: Rodeo
KIT DESIGNER: Pyna
LAYOUT DESIGNER: AlabamaStoneThrower Creations©
TITLE OF PAGE: Giddyup
CREATED: March 16, 2007
FONT - GE Old West Caps
PROGRAM: PSP9
(tweaked by adding shadows & glass effects)

I tried to handle myself in a professional and proper manner, by leaving her a comment explaining the credits of how I MADE THAT PAGE, and then sent her a private message letting her know I never gave anyone permission to use my personal creations. It was made from a free kit from a scrap designer, and that I would be happy to give her the link to the kit, but that she couldn't use my page.

When she didn't respond, I immediately contacted the site administrator, but unfortunately that was like talking to a small child that doesn't pay attention well. They thought this woman was using my kit, though I'd given plenty of description of where the kit came from and that the LAYOUT ONLY was MY CREATION. I'd spent 3 days on designing that page using numerous filters, shadows, and cool effects. By the time I was finished, only a few things remained as original pieces from the kit. BUT, the kit still remains as property of the designer.

As mentioned, I worked for 3 days, so recognized my work. This woman just had the audacity to blantly place her photo over the top of my page, and claim it as her own!! Finally, after hours of trying to explain to the site admin of my problem since the woman wouldn't respond, she sent me another pm telling me she loved my creations so much that she decided to use my page because it was perfect for the photo. Again, I remained calm, and professional, and explained to her the etiquette of scrapbooking. I was fine if she had scraplifted my page (meaning she could reproduce the page as close to possible on her own) but that she DID NOT have my permission to use the exact page.

After several hours of waiting for her to correct it, she sends me one last pm saying that she was sorry for breaking the rules, and glad that I explained them to her, and that she wouldn't do it again, and would immediately give me credit for the layout. UHMMM...I had to take several hours to calm down. I LOST IT!! Due to my anger boiling over, and my bloodpressure skyrocketing, I waited before replying. Actually, I'm still waiting. I'm afraid if I reply to her while still having this much anger, I'll end up saying something I will regret later, and will end up having to ask for repentance!!

I'll be honest, what I really want to do is throw things, and curse, and rip out her freaking hair for being so stupid and not caring that she stole something that wasn't hers...let me tell ya why!! THIS WOMAN IS A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER AND KNOWS ALL ABOUT COPYRIGHT LAWS!! Yet she chose to ignore the rules...but I can guaranty if someone tried to pass off one of her photos as their own she'd be throwing tantrums, and law suits.

*deep breathing*

Needless to say, you can tell, I'm still not a happy woman. It looks as though I'm no where near calm enough to deal with her at the moment, so will take a break while I try to write something that won't sound threatening...*rolls eyes*