Holy crap!
I did play with Tin Eye or something similar in the past , but never found anything. This time, Google found several instances of unauthorized use. The first one was used as the main illustration on the subject in Wikipedia: (
Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse). Clicking on the image contains another surprise: the image license is listed as:
"This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons... Commons is a freely licensed media file repository...You are free:
to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
to remix – to adapt the work..."What!? WTF!? I never gave my permission for this!?
It then continues:
"... This image, which was originally posted to Flickr, was reviewed on November 29, 2010 by the administrator or reviewer File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske), who confirmed that it was available on Flickr under the above license on that date..."Thanks Magnus, buddy! You are the man! My images on Flickr were clearly labeled (by Flickr), from day one, as:
"License: © All rights reserved by Slobodan Blagojevic" How our "friend" Magnus "confirmed" they are free, is beyond me. Furthermore, my files are available for download in all sizes, including the original, in spite of the fact that my Flickr Preferences are set, again from day one, to have original sizes downloadable only by me. Looks like I have not only Mr. Manske to "thank" for the steal, but Flickr as well.
What then follows is a wild-goose chase: clicking on Magnus' link, this is what he has to say:
"I (Magnus Manske), personally, do not (or rarely) upload pictures through this bot. It is part of my CommonsHelper and Flickr2Commons tools.
If some image with questionable copyright was uploaded, don't come to me. I (most likely) didn't upload it, and I don't know any more about it than you do. If it's evil, just nuke it...""Just nuke it"!? What is that supposed to mean!? I would rather "nuke" you, buddy! You set your bot's algorithm to pick images that are clearly designated as "all rights reserved".
Once it is free for all to use, no wander there are those who will: a
New England travel site (with nothing but an email address to contact, with no idea who is behind the site), where they attributed the image to "creative commons". And, yes, of course, another site appropriately named "
free pictures of everything on earth". Duh! As a special touch, on this site, they attributed it to our "dear friend" Magnus Manske!
And if this is not enough to curl up and cry, wait till you try to figure out how to delete your "free" pictures on Wikimedia (the apparent source of all this "free" distribution). Get ready to get a four-year college degree parsing through their terms and instructions.
Does anybody know how to deal with Wikimedia, and other creatures mentioned above?