Photography Scam in NZ

vonnagy

have kiwi, will travel...
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Just an update

As few folks here know already, I've had a photograph of mine that was painted without my permission and sold for about $700 NZD. Unfortunately, this has happened at an inopportune time in my life, in short I was too busy to follow up on this; I had other very important things in my life going on at the time.

Good news, there were some very vigilant people at Scam Busters New Zealand who really helped me out. This is an email I got from one of the members today:

scambusters.co.nz said:
Hi Mark

I emailed you sometime ago regarding your Rangitoto photo being painted and sold.
Since then many more copyright issues have come to light and have been investigated by scambusters.

www.scambusters.co.nz

Trademe have also disabled peter Vinks name and two others who we believe are the same person.

We at scambusters have quite a lot of evidence regarding this fraud which has been growing bigger all the time.

There is a forum on scambusters where the copyrights so far are being displayed and we would like to have your permission to display your Rangitoto photo.

The site address is http://scambusters.co.nz/forum/viewforum.php?f=16 if you would like to check it out.

Trade Me are providing copyright holders with information should they wish to pursue legal action through Disputes Tribunal or wherever. You can write to them at [email protected]

For your information this scam has also been in most of the main newspapers and also on closeup tv1.

We would appreciate being able to use your photo onsite and of course your name would be displayed as the photographer.

Thankyou for your time

Below is the oil painting that was used and my photograph below it:
10195699_full.jpg

IMG_6353.jpg


The good news is though I am not sure if it was from this, I sold a couple of photographs the past week. So mabes the exposure is helping me out :mrgreen:

I am curious if an you had anything similar happen?
 
Hi Mark,
soooo good to see you here on TPF again, so we know that you are still alive and kickin'.

Please help me out with my limited English here, for I don't know what "scam" really means, even after I've been to Scambuster's site. Is it offering goods for the online auction that don't exist? Or offering goods that were sort of "stolen", which I imagine may happen easily with photography displayed in the internet?

Since I have never so far tried to sell any of my photos in any way, what happened to you cannot have happened to me. Only has one of my photos been painted in oil - yes, that has "happened" to me. It was my father-in-law who painted it and it is now hanging on the wall in our lounge. So no copyright problems there...
 
sorry! i typed that very quickly and forgot to include some of the details!

scam = fraud. This gentleman made an oil painting from my photography and never asked for permission. He sold the paint for $755 NZD and claimed it was painted from his own photograph.
 
Oh! :shock:

I thought you had made the 700 NZD! He did? From your photo? Now that is not amusing!!!!!

Very good to see that there are people out there who have an eye on such things!
Would you like to see my father-in-law's work on my photo (which he will always claim was my photo originally, mind!?
 
holy crap! thanks for explanation Mark because I understood it as LaFoto did! I thought YOU did $700!!! OMG! But I'm happy that somebody wanted to tell the true about the origin of the painting. And what will they do with the guy who painted this?
 
sorry for the unclear post (i was very tired)! i made a couple changes so hopefuly its more clear now. The guy who painted this has been banned from selling his 'artwork' from the auction site. Yes i am quite fortunate that people were checking out the paintings.
 
LaFoto said:
Oh! :shock:

I thought you had made the 700 NZD! He did? From your photo? Now that is not amusing!!!!!

Very good to see that there are people out there who have an eye on such things!
Would you like to see my father-in-law's work on my photo (which he will always claim was my photo originally, mind!?

would love to see you father in laws work :)
 
Ohhh That is sooo dodgy!!! (but a little bit flattering for you I guess if you're looking for a silver lining). And good work on getting some more customers out of it - that's great!!
 
I'm glad things worked out for you! It's good to know that people at the site were willing to help out and as a bonus you got to sell your photos!
 
So I take it you haven't actually been able to get your hands on the thief? Remember kick him once for me too!!! freakin art pirates!!!
 
I'm not sure of the laws in your country but here you could file a civil suit against him for compensation. He would have to pay you your court costs, the $700NZD as well as penalties and interest. Can you identifiy the individual involved? If so you might have recourse through the courts.

The best way to stop these individuals is to hit them where it hurts. In the wallet!!
 
Wow....nice painting! Oh excuse me..... :mrgreen:

You already know my thoughts on this. I'm glad these guys are following through for you, and you're getting some satisfaction. :thumbup:

Congrats on selling the new photos, too! That is great news, and well deserved. :hug::

We miss you!!
 

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