Photos and the like.....

Morning ladies! First of all, a big thank you to all my fellow Vixens for all the awesome Orange Manis yesterday. You guys are truly rocking this challenge! My internet went down for a bit yesterday, so I didn't have a chance to comment on them all before I passed out from exhaustion, but you guys are killing it!

So, today I need to address an issue. I'm not happy to have to even think about it, nonetheless write about it, but it has to be done.

There is a marketplace website out there called Copious.com. It's really a cool shopping site, and they give all sorts of signup bonuses and credits, which is awesome. However, once I joined, I found a whole lot of sellers using my pictures. I cannot tell you how much that chaps my hiney. Of course, there were a helluva lot of stolen pics from other bloggers as well. I emailed the site asking about their policies, and they will remove any and all listings that are reported as having stolen photos. This is great, however I don't have the time to police every listing daily to make sure my photos are no longer being used. And so, I give you...

AN OPEN LETTER TO PEOPLE USING MY PHOTOS WITHOUT PERMISSION:

Dear people selling nail polish on the internet,

I'm happy you've found a way to make some extra cash. Really I am. And I'm flattered that you think my pics are good enough to sell nail polish. But I suggest you click the tab at the top of my page that says "Legal", because it applies to you.

You see, us bloggers? Those pics don't show up magically and post themselves. We put ALOT of work into making good quality pics for our readers. It's not as simple as one click and done. Let me enlighten you.

Here is my process:

1. Paint my nails. This isn't a slap-dash process. I try to paint my nails neatly, which means it takes time. Usually just painting one color and a top coat is a good half hour or so of my time.

2. Clean up. I like my lines to be as clean as possible. So I clean them up. This also, takes time.

3. Moisturize. Noone wants to see my dry hands and cuticles. So I slap on some cuticle oil. hand cream, etc. Then wait.

4. Take pics. This process takes the longest. I usually take anywhere between 100-200 shots of a single polish. Different angles, lighting, etc. It's not like I take one shot and I'm done. Oh no. Nowhere close.

5. Upload and edit: Once uploaded, I have to sort through all those shots and find the ones I like best. Once I have those, I load them into PS and crop and watermark them.

6. Then I write my post, edit it, preview it, edit again, and finally post it.


See? Not as simple as you thought, right?

Now. See that little mark on the bottom of my photos? The one with the © symbol? OK. That means that photo is my property, and you can't just take it and use it without my consent. When you take my photos without my permission, that's called Copyright Infringement, and it's actually punishable by law. Who knew!

Now, if you want to use one of my photos, just ask me. I'll more than likely say yes. But if you don't ask? I will go after you until that photos is removed. If you don't remove it, then I'll take any and every action possible against you. Really. I'm not kidding. This is not "just a picture". There is a person behind all those pics you take from the internet, and they worked very hard to make those for their readers. I can't speak for anyone else, but I didn't post all those pics so that you could sell a bottle of OPI.

Also, if I see you have used stolen photos, I will never buy from you. Ever. Even if you fix the problem. I have a fabulous memory for these things, and if I see your name attached to something, no matter how much I want it, I will never buy it from you.

So, why not ask permission? It takes just a few moments. Or you could take your own photos. Or use bottle shots like alot of sellers do. They work just as well. If we wanna see a swatch, we can google it. We'll see the same pics you stole, but you won't be labeled as a photo thief and an asshat.

So, in short, STOP STEALING MY PICS! I'm sure if you put as much effort into something as we do out photos, you might understand. Until then, rest assured that if you steal my pics I will hunt you down and kick you in the squishy bits.

Love,
Kimber