Info Floridaherps.com Copyright infringement - I found my photo their website

[ForkedTung]

Hm wonder if any of you ever speed ? Last I checked it is against the LAW but I would bet a million every last one of you has. Kinda funny everyone throwing mud. Anyhows I agree if you use a photo and the photographer ask you too remove it you should and that should be the end of it and if it is copy written you must have permission or pay for it's use.

I bet if you had thousands of dollars invested in photography equipment, years spent perfecting your art and were a professional you wouldn't find it so "funny". But it doesn't affect you personally so why should you care right.

zero0grav,

While you may view copyright infringement on the same level as laws such as speeding or jaywalking, that does not mean they are on the same level legally. I've never seen anyone fined up to $100,000 plus damages and legal fees in the US for speeding but that is what you can potentially lose for every instance of copyright infringement. Now, going along with your comparison, however, if someone chooses to speed (and thus break the law), when they are caught, they get taken to court and fined. If breaking traffic laws is a recurring trend and they get caught over and over again, in many states, they lose their license and are no longer allowed to drive. In this case, the copyright infringer is getting off easy if all he has to do is remove the images from his site.

Also, every photograph is protected by copyright from the second it is taken, so you need to have permission or pay for the use of every photograph unless the source explicitly states that you don't.

Chris

An excellent response to a truly pathetic analogy.

 

[BeardedDragonStore]

Heh after seeing that kind of 'tude... I won't be buying from these guys anytime soon. Pathetic.

 

[Chris Anderson]

The owner of Florida Herpetology, Inc., which runs Floridaherps.com, recently came forward and posted in response to another thread about his business. In this post (quoted below), he attempted to explain the situation regarding this thread. In doing so he claimed "We did reply to all 3 of the people in that thread directly and worked everything out" and challenged us to " Feel free to ask the people in that thread if we handled that quickly and professionally."

As one of the people in this thread who had a copyright infringement issue with Floridaherps.com, I would like to clarify that I NEVER received any response from anyone at Floridaherps.com regarding my complaint. The photos were immediately removed from their website and Facebook pages after I brought them to their attention, but I never was contacted and no apology of any kind was ever given. The lack of apology or even acknowledgement is hardly what I would call professionally handling this situation.

Out of curiosity, did any of the other individuals from this thread ever directed contacted in a professional manner?

Chris

Good Day Everyone,

My name is Bill Thompson, CEO Florida Herpetology, Inc.

I will try to keep as short as possible…

- The OP of this thread is not nor has never been a customer of my company. That is why we did not reply.

- Kellie Taylor is/was a customer of ours. I think Nick’s email explained her issue just fine. We offered her a free replacement and she refused. What else can I say? I will point out that we have never replied to anyone using all CAPS. That is silly & there is no evidence of that – just another lie in a series of lies.

- Jennifer & Quan Bell are longtime local customers and I would go so far as to call them my friends. I did ask Jennifer to please stop posting on our behalf because I thought she was doing more harm than good. If she would have left this thread alone it would have faded away for being complete & total garbage. I had to call Quan and ask his to please have his wife stop posting. I do appreciate your enthusiasm Jennifer but if we feel the need to respond we will.

- Regarding the past thread… Lillian was (she died in June) my mother & reacted to that OP about as bad as a company can. That was my mom’s last week working here and she was having a really hard time turning over a group of companies to her son after she controlled everything for almost 16 years. I am sincerely sorry that had to be the BOI’s first experience with our business. We did reply to all 3 of the people in that thread directly and worked everything out. Sorry we didn’t do that publicly. Feel free to ask the people in that thread if we handled that quickly and professionally. I think copyright laws are very serious and sure do not want anyone to think otherwise simply because we chose to deal with our business issue as professionals by directly communicating with the nice people that had a real reason to be upset.

- If a real customer of our company ever comes here with a valid claim including evidence of us doing something “wrong” - I will personally come here and respond. We’ve been selling to the public for over three years. The fact that this is the first bad guy thread in 3+ years I think speaks for itself – especially when you realize this OP is full of it and everyone here knew it from the start.

- I will not be commenting further here, but if anyone wishes to discuss this or any matter please feel free to email me at [email protected] or call (800) 975-5880. My cell phone is (941) 448-5438. I will take as much time as needed to go over anything with anyone. I will not however continue to keep this thread alive.

Thank you,
Bill Thompson
Florida Herpetology, Inc.
3809 Lorraine Road
Lakewood Ranch, FL 34211
(800) 975-5880 – 10am to 6pm EST Mon-Sat.
(866) 261-3820 – FAX
(800) 844-5203 – Wholesale accounts
www.FloridaHerps.com
www.SuncoastReptiles.com
www.SuncoastReptileRescue.org
www.ReptiLabs.com
www.FloridaAquaria.com (Under Construction & Coming Soon)

 

[figg2112]

The owner of Florida Herpetology, Inc., which runs Floridaherps.com, recently came forward and posted in response to another thread about his business. In this post (quoted below), he attempted to explain the situation regarding this thread. In doing so he claimed "We did reply to all 3 of the people in that thread directly and worked everything out" and challenged us to " Feel free to ask the people in that thread if we handled that quickly and professionally."

As one of the people in this thread who had a copyright infringement issue with Floridaherps.com, I would like to clarify that I NEVER received any response from anyone at Floridaherps.com regarding my complaint. The photos were immediately removed from their website and Facebook pages after I brought them to their attention, but I never was contacted and no apology of any kind was ever given. The lack of apology or even acknowledgement is hardly what I would call professionally handling this situation.

Out of curiosity, did any of the other individuals from this thread ever directed contacted in a professional manner?

Chris

I never received any other emails from them after the ones I have already posted on here..

It is was not what I would consider "worked out" in a quick and professional manner

 

[Slashmaster]

The next time you see them, or anyone else, attempting to use your copyrighted material I'd suggest a more direct route. You'd want to submit a DMCA Takedown Notice to the host of the website.

To do that, you send an e-mail (the abuse staff, usually) to the host with the following information:

a) identify the copyrighted work that has been infringed
b) identify what and where it is being infringed on the other person's website
c) include your contact information
d) state you're complaining in "good faith"
e) state "under penalty of perjury, the information contained within this notice is accurate"
and finally d) state you can proceed because you are either the copyright owner or the owner's agent


You can find the host of a website by searching their url in the WHOIS database. Here is the link to that database: http://www.whois.net/

By using this reference you'll find that the host of Floridaherps.com is: BIGCOMMERCE.COM

I am viewing their Terms of Service now.

"In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, BigCommerce has adopted a policy that provides for termination of websites hosted by BigCommerce that are found to infringe on copyrights of third parties."
https://www.bigcommerce.com/terms.php

"We can be reached via e-mail at [email protected] or you can reach us by telephone at 1-888-699-8911."


If you find your intellectual property on their site again, now you can submit a complaint with their host and get their site shut down.

 

[hypocamaro]

You guys are the reason why I do not partake in this website! Really guys and gals... is it even necessary to correct people when they have misspelled a word on their website??? Is it that big of a deal??!!! Are you guys that bored????!!! Quite being so dang butthurt and relax!! Most of you are so worried about being screwed over, or so involved with the thought of being screwed over, that you forgot why we all initially got in this hobby. I remember when you used to buy reptiles because they are AWESOME, not for investment purposes, back when people went herping and fieldtripping!! GROW UP GUYS!!


Mellers or Muellers are both correct and if one was wrong WTF does it matter.
Someone found a picture of your kickazz chameleon and used it on their website, my thoughts would be, man, my lizard is so badazz looking and kewl they want to use it on their website... ROCK ON!!!

John Smith yes this is my real name.

 

[Lucille]

Look!! It's another brand new spear carrier

 

[Chris Anderson]

Someone found a picture of your kickazz chameleon and used it on their website, my thoughts would be, man, my lizard is so badazz looking and kewl they want to use it on their website... ROCK ON!!!

John Smith yes this is my real name.

I've already replied to the stupidity in you're post before, so I'm just going to quote it:

Thats probably because you've never taken a photo worth anyone stealing. Similarly, a lot of people wouldn't understand why some of us would be upset if we saw or heard of someone killing a snake, just because it was a snake. If you've never invested your interests or efforts into something, you probably wouldn't understand why others who have don't appreciate it when people steal, kill or abuse their work and interest. If you spent hundreds and even thousands of dollars on your camera, lenses, strobes, memory storage and photo editing software and then devoted endless hours and who knows what resources to getting photos you were proud of only to have someone take your work without your permission so that they could make money off it, you wouldn't find it to be a compliment. Its theft. When a publisher contacts me and requests to use my photographs in a book with proper credit and compensation for its use, that is a compliment.

Chris

 

[HerpVenue]

You guys are the reason why I do not partake in this website! Really guys and gals... is it even necessary to correct people when they have misspelled a word on their website??? Is it that big of a deal??!!! Are you guys that bored????!!! Quite being so dang butthurt and relax!! Most of you are so worried about being screwed over, or so involved with the thought of being screwed over, that you forgot why we all initially got in this hobby. I remember when you used to buy reptiles because they are AWESOME, not for investment purposes, back when people went herping and fieldtripping!! GROW UP GUYS!!


Mellers or Muellers are both correct and if one was wrong WTF does it matter.
Someone found a picture of your kickazz chameleon and used it on their website, my thoughts would be, man, my lizard is so badazz looking and kewl they want to use it on their website... ROCK ON!!!

John Smith yes this is my real name.

Don't worry about this guy making fun of you all because you are "bored".
He is in another thread just "bumping" it multiple times. I guess he is bored as well

 

[Snake-Queen]

Don't worry about this guy making fun of you all because you are "bored".
He is in another thread just "bumping" it multiple times. I guess he is bored as well

 

[ed hummel]

Hm wonder if any of you ever speed ? Last I checked it is against the LAW but I would bet a million every last one of you has. Kinda funny everyone throwing mud. Anyhows I agree if you use a photo and the photographer ask you too remove it you should and that should be the end of it and if it is copy written you must have permission or pay for it's use.

lmao

and what happens when you get caught speeding? and then what happens when you get caught speeding in a STOLEN car... cmon are you for real?

 

[EvilLost]

@zero0grav: your example is entirely off point....

aside from Ed Hummel's valid points, there is also the fact that speeding is a CRIMINAL offense designed for the safety of the public. Copyright is a CIVIL offense, whereby the infringer is directly harming another individual; it has nothing to do with the public.


There is no "if it is copyrighted". Everything is AUTOMATICALLY copyrighted. There are some specific exceptions/requirements in terms of REGISTRATION of a copyright, but ALL copyrightable works are granted primary copyright protection when they are created. It is not like a trademark which requires a use, nor like patent which requires filing (well, as of the patent reform act).

 

[Lucille]

there is also the fact that speeding is a CRIMINAL offense designed for the safety of the public. Copyright is a CIVIL offense, whereby the infringer is directly harming another individual; it has nothing to do with the public.

http://www.cybercrime.gov/ipmanual/02ipma.pdf

 

[Tdcox2]

Florida herps not a real business

I'm a 39 year old male that has NEVER posted on any thread ever but had to after researching this company.
My story isn't as bad as original posting customer and hopefully it won't be.
I purchased a adolescent Russian Tortoise from them and I should have known better when I was given the "local breeders" phone number via text message. If you call 800 number you'll see.

Was told they closed Lakewood Ranch location and "Nick" has one and after a couple emails and address I was there that same evening.
Super nice guy and very helpful.
I tried reaching back out to the main number again a couple days ago to be placed on waiting list for another one early next year when they become available (March / April was told by Nick).
After no answer to 2 emails, no answer at main number and no response from texts I decided to call Nick's number (I happen to save in my phone) and when a small boy picked up I figured it was his son he told me about and I asked for Nick. I hear him say "someone's on the phone asking for Nick" click.

2 attempts later today I woke up and learned how to add math. Should have been smarter and after searching online and BBB ect. No way this company is legit and I will email a copy of receipt showing what a fly by night organization this really is/was since they are probably out of business. I am glad I stumbled across this site and since these other posting are so old no one will probably read this until its too late and hopefully it'll help someone beforehand.
If I'm wrong an they are all on vacation and Nick isn't employed there and I'm totally off base I will retract my opinion "if" I'm contacted.
TD

 

[ronritzer]

Is this even about Florida Herpetology? Im having a hard time following what you are saying.
http://www.bbb.org/west-florida/bus...ida-herpetology-in-lakewood-ranch-fl-90056974