This morning I woke up to this message:

Dear Leo Blanchette,

Shutterstock, Inc. ("Shutterstock") has discovered that an image or images in your portfolio appears to have elements that are copies of another individual or entity's work and, therefore, belong to that individual or entity.

The original image is believed to be a clipart illustration from Microsoft Office '95.

Your image(s) are attached to this email.

Currently, we have suspended your Shutterstock account. Prior to taking any further steps, we are inviting you to respond to this claim.

At the minimum, please let us know:

a) where, when and by whom the image(s) in question was created;

b) how you obtained the idea for the image; and

c) what program, if any, was used to generate or modify the image(s)

If it turns out that the claim is without merit we will not take any further action and your account will remain active.

Please respond to this email within three (3) days. If you fail to respond by said date with the information we outline above, your Shutterstock.com submitter account may be closed.

Regards,


Shutterstock Compliance

ref:_00D301GgSC._500a019nzlI:ref

See attached image (you might have to log in to see it)

Oddly enough, the image that was claimed to have been lifted (or copied?) was not included. Google searches do not reveal anything similar. So I'm in the dark as to what they are talking about. Its just a claim that it's copied without any reference to the supposedly copied work.

I'm not against the idea that little faceless humanoids might chance to look like other faceless humanoids in the clipart world, but this is one of my oldest images, derived from the orange people, which have always had a fairly solid / unique place in the micro world.

What image are they referring to? Certainly the pen is my own work, and the red woman was just recolored from the orange version.

I can almost assume that this was probably a mistake by an overly-automated process or perhaps a trigger-happy employee? Maybe a competitor trying to make trouble? Anyone else been through this? I'd hate to lose this account for nothing.

I guess you just have to answer their questions and hope that satisfies them.....not sure what anyone here can say.
"b) how you obtained the idea for the image" is a funny one I guess there is a line between near copy and "inspired by". There are very few completely original images imho.

I can't believe they only give people 3 days before closing an account.  There are many times when I don't go on the internet for 3 days and I could lose my account over something that is a mistake.  How can that be fair to contributors?

Leo, you said "Certainly the pen is my own work, and the red woman was just recolored from the orange version."  So are you also certain the orange version of the woman is your own work?  If that is the case, you just need to explain it to them.  Hopefully this is just a case of it being such a common thing to illustrate that it's almost impossible not to have some similarities.

I guess you just have to answer their questions and hope that satisfies them.....not sure what anyone here can say.
"b) how you obtained the idea for the image" is a funny one I guess there is a line between near copy and "inspired by". There are very few completely original images imho.

We'll have to see. Other than "yes its my work, no I didn't copy it" there is nothing I can do. Without a reference image behind the accusation I'm just sort of left with a "defend yourself!" but no obvious reason, except there exists somewhere in microsoft clipart 1995 which is not actually presented. Its sort of like having accusations brought against you but with no proof and the accuser hides, but the judge insists that you defend yourself against a claim that is not entirely clear.

I'd like to know if any of you internet gurus (besides myself  ) could possibly find which image they are referring to. I've been ripped off many times and you can find my work for free all over the internet due to it's being stolen. I don't bother chasing anymore, but getting accused of stealing is a new thing for me (other than an obvious scam regarding a dragon I did). There is only so much a person can do in this business (or tolerate for that matter)

Answer their questions and show them your original files.

That I've done unfortunately its just a vector but all explanations have been given.

SS suck at this. They are the slowest to respond to legit infringements and often come up with bizarre rulings on non legit infringements.

One illustration is similar to a piece of clip art from a two decades old piece of software?  and they want to suspend a very long standing contributors account with a previously unblemished record? really?

Best of luck getting this sorted. I hope they take a good look at this and rethink. If Microsoft is putting on the thumbscrews they need to just delete the one illustration.

I'll let you know what results. Personally I've been watching artists like CubeBrush https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKtu_JtQCY0yryIy6zK4ZCg and have been turned on to a career outside microstock. The guy even worked at blizzard (I love their art) so this little issue is just a little nudge to start redirecting.

I'll get back in a few days. I must have sent them 5 responses through email and support. Hopefully it gets through.

Scary indeed, but things are ok now.

Here is response:

Dear Leo Blanchette,

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.  We take copyright infringement seriously and when there is a claim we take every measure to thoroughly investigate.  Based upon the agreement you consented to when becoming a contributor, we retain the sole discretion to suspend accounts that may have infringing content, until matters are resolved.

Uploading has been turned back on and your account has been reactivated.

Regards,

Shutterstock Compliance

If nothing else the iron fist on the matter really shows what can happen to an actual plagiarizer, so that is good. The same system would crush a pirate in a second if they had undeniably stolen my work, so for that I am thankful.

Mostly I was concerned I would become collateral damage by a giant system not tuned for the details, but the end result is that they did a proper inspection and recognized the legitimacy of my image.

That being said, and nothing against Shutterstock in particular - I NEED TO GET OUT OF THIS BUSINESS LOL

Lets be fair sounds like the did a good job on this the system worked though you were unfortunate to be singled out...someone jealous of your work I wonder?

I doubt anyone is jealous of my work. Problem is though (as you elude to) these systems which are sincerely intended to be legitimate are often weaponized by competitors just to cause damage. Even now I have to watch and see if my images will suffer a search decline due to their temporary deactivation.

Some years ago I knew a guy who received the same mail (exactly same wording). He was an illustrator too, a new contributor and from a poor country. He asked me for help. They revealed to him the file in question and I thought SS is crazy. The illustration was the same subject but both very different to each other and definitely not a copy. The account got suspended and he never got it back. For no reason IMHO.

I do try to stay out of MSG, so I'll close on this note:

If anyone can ever find the image in Microsoft Clipart '95 that is supposedly very similar (possibly identical to the point that a source file would be demanded) please post it here.

I'd like to see if any such image exists, at least for my own curiosity.

Thank you,

Leo

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on July 14, 2016, 17:23

I don't recall anyone complaining about this sort of thing recently

Shutterstock did a similar thing to sweetsixty last month (6/2). She/He posted about it here...

Topic: Shutterstock Termination

There was no real info there about the type of problem that prompted closure beyond one poster saying they thought that was use of public domain imagery without crediting it as such. If that's the case, that's a bit different from suspected plagiarism or copyright infringement.

I've had a semi similar experience once as well http://www.microstockgroup.com/shutterstock-com/weird-compaling-from-shutterstock-someone-else-is-claiming-my-images/
Person claimed I took their face and merged it with someone else's body. Thankfully for me I was both photog and the model so it was easy to fix.

If you are curious though ask them for the reference if they are claiming you copy.  Hopefully they provide it to you so you can compare.

Shutterstock's policy seems to be to suspend accounts upon receipt of any suggestion of infringement, even those that aren't based on much solid evidence. It's a bit frightening that seemingly anyone can get anyone else's account suspended with just an email and an accusation.

First time I hear about this - and frankly it's scaring me quite a bit! Is this only Shutterstock or are any other agencies known to handle suspected copyright infringements in a similar way?