Photos being stolen!!

Anyone who has visited the doctorwhotoys site will have seen the pictures that I have contributed.

This site is fan run and a labor of love for those of us that have the honor of contributing to it. In fact I heard that some of the staff at CO actually take a look at it!!

Unfortunately, I just saw this morning that a retail site here in the United States is stealing the photos from the site and using them on theirs!

I am not going to say what site it is, but I am going to say this as an open letter to anyone that is a retailer.... The copyright on the photos on the doctorwhotoys.net site are held by the site administartor and myself! They are not to be used without written permission!
I give the site permission to display them in any way they feel will serve the visitors. This is NOT permission for a retailer to use them without permission.

Just like they make a living selling the toys, I hope to make a living with my photography. I sure as heck am NOT Ansel Adams, besides I really dont like black and white photos.

I do not get the figures that I photograph for free or at any discount. I pay full price and when I am finished with them I sell them off, I prefer to keep a sealed set. And I can assure everyone I am losing money at this.

But I love Doctor Who, I have watched it for nearly 30 years now! And as I have no illusions of ever being able to write, direct, or appear in an episode of the program, I consider this to be my way of being a part of it. I also love my photography, so when someone else, steals my work I am upset.

If I use a quote by someone else, I give them credit, if I use a picture that someone has put on a public forum, I make sure that individual is recognized. Or I ask permission to show it.

What will happen now is one of two things, you will see ugly watermarks on the top of any pictures I contribute, or you will not see any pictures at all from me. I know I am not the only one with a camera, but apparently enough people actually look forward to my pictures, they say that I use "a simplicity of style to bring out the best". They are only toys after all. But toys or Clare Forlani in the nude, they are MY work.

And yes, I am considering going after this retailer. They did not ask for permission to use my photos.

And it is NOT WhoNA.

I feel your pain. Being a web developer/artist/photographer myself, it's happened to me before (and will probably happen again).

I really doubt this forum had anything to do with it - the site and its picture are MUCH easier to find through google than hunting through posts here. (Number one result for "Doctor Who Toys" is an awesome google result though - congrats!)

You should probably make sure that the site has a policy/copyright notice somewhere providing terms of use and contact info for those who wish to use your pics. That being said, even without a notice they can't just steal your photos. Send them an email and ask that they remove them or work out a deal.

PM me more details and I might be able to help.

Marcus does indeed have a notice in regards to that. That is why he stopped watermarking the photos, people were complaining.

Thanks to Alien Entertainment that will have to change, at least as far as any photos I provide are concerned.

I have no problems letting sites use them in place of the CO provided ones, So innacurate in many cases, but an acknowledgement is appreciated, and not even money just a simple statement.