Importfan using my pictures to sell their products

[BOMEX180]

I was told before that they've been using my car to sell their knockoffs. Not cool, since my parts aren't knock offs and I never gave them permission to use my car to sell the products. I was to busy to email them before so I just emailed the right now about this. We'll see what happens. If they dont respond, I'll have Bomex USA take care of it since they use my car to promote their items.
Import Fan link (http://www.importfan.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=104_285_287&products_id=2997&zenid=22cde102c0c3d461e04044f84891f1b7)

[rancid240]

thats weak. Hopefully they take em down, but Im sure Bomex will do something about it.

[mr_240sx]

think about it this way, atleast they blocked of your plate number!! heheh

[Mervyn]

that sucks.. they should have their own picture of the bumper.

[TheSparo]

lol @ them using a pic w/ a brokem lip haha

[BOMEX180]

think about it this way, atleast they blocked of your plate number!! heheh

no I blocked it, the plate was already blocked/covered when they stole it.

[Mervyn]

lol @ them using a pic w/ a brokem lip haha

i just noticed that haha

[raen419]

dude, please tell me the duck tape the kit before they send it!!!

bomex, hope you get them for the pics.
hell, i hope they get fined....it's irritating as hell when companies, 1. false advertise, and 2. don't do things professionally.

[projectRDM]

I had a site steal pics of my car and use them, advertising shit that I didn't even have and charging people for access. Plus they left my plate uncovered.

After numerous emails attempts and threats I finally gave up because there's nothing that would hold up in court.

Good luck trying to get it handled.

[Ian]

how is there nothing that would hold up in court? especially in bomex180's case. It's false advertisement! Not only that, but they're using his car without his permission.

[Yoshi]

I had a site steal pics of my car and use them, advertising shit that I didn't even have and charging people for access. Plus they left my plate uncovered.

After numerous emails attempts and threats I finally gave up because there's nothing that would hold up in court.

Good luck trying to get it handled.

Nothing that woudl hold up in court?
It's your intellectual property, all you shoudl have to prove is that the car is yours and that the pix came from your camera.

Bomex180: go in guns blazing man. I know how importfan/gtp works, they're some shady ppl I'll never deal with them ever again if I can help it... but this isn't about me ranting, it's about u getting screwed.

Forget the email thing, go talk to a lawyer, get HIM to send them an eMail, otherwise you're just going to get blown off. A letter/eMail from your lawyer (snail mail is best for this) will go a LONG way in showing them you mean business. Don't let up, they're making money of your property. Would you let them setup shop in your front yard? This isn't any different really, they're making $ on something that belongs to you, you should have the right to either tell them to piss off, or give you a royalty fee, or both. But most of all, be persistant, that's the only way ANYTHING gets done where the law is concerned.

[95civicEX]

I noticed that the other day, couldn't remember which site you were on or your username...importfan is total crap and they deserve anything coming to them...good luck dealing with them.

[justinhustle]

unfortunately, even copyrighted pictures on the internet dont have too much protection

you can send them a cease and desist letter, but thats about it

try takin em to small claims court in a different county lol

[projectRDM]

Nothing that woudl hold up in court?
It's your intellectual property, all you shoudl have to prove is that the car is yours and that the pix came from your camera.



Well that was part of the problem. Someone took the pics at a meet down in Florida a few years ago, I never had a problem then because pics of my car where all over at meets, just like any other car. I should have requested then to have the plate covered but I didn't know about it.
The site that took them used them to advertise two things 'tinted tailight mod' and a single wiper mod, and worded it like they had created both. My car had painted tails and a Battle Club wiper adapter, so their wording was wrong in the first place, but then they were charging people $34.95 to access the site to find out to do these mods. My main problem was my car was being used to cheat someone out of $35 just to tell them to move the passenger side wiper arm halfway up on the windshield, making me look like a jackass ricer in the process because it was assumed that's what was done to my car. It wasn't, I had an actual replacement part desgned for that purpose. Same with the tails.
Since my plate was shown I figured I could at least get them on that, but even with a lawyer friend he wasn't able to find anything that could constitute a case because they had taken the pics from a third party, and although they were using them for their financial gain there was no proof they had made any money from them and because what they advertised to sell and what they actually sold were different things there was no basis to go on. Being out of state it would have taken more effort and money than I wanted to deal with just to get a cease and assist filed, and then there was no gaurantee it would do anything.

[Giant Robot]

I've had the same thing happened to me from Importfan. I just emailed everyone there including the webmaster telling them that i was in the same predicament you are in. I even had a watermark on the pics they still used it! They actually replied back to me within one business day and took down the pics immediately.

Just be generous about it and dont make any threats. Tell them straight up that they have YOUR pics and the product they are selling is not authentic...

[Yoshi]

Well that was part of the problem. Someone took the pics at a meet down in Florida a few years ago, I never had a problem then because pics of my car where all over at meets, just like any other car. I should have requested then to have the plate covered but I didn't know about it.
The site that took them used them to advertise two things 'tinted tailight mod' and a single wiper mod, and worded it like they had created both. My car had painted tails and a Battle Club wiper adapter, so their wording was wrong in the first place, but then they were charging people $34.95 to access the site to find out to do these mods. My main problem was my car was being used to cheat someone out of $35 just to tell them to move the passenger side wiper arm halfway up on the windshield, making me look like a jackass ricer in the process because it was assumed that's what was done to my car. It wasn't, I had an actual replacement part desgned for that purpose. Same with the tails.
Since my plate was shown I figured I could at least get them on that, but even with a lawyer friend he wasn't able to find anything that could constitute a case because they had taken the pics from a third party, and although they were using them for their financial gain there was no proof they had made any money from them and because what they advertised to sell and what they actually sold were different things there was no basis to go on. Being out of state it would have taken more effort and money than I wanted to deal with just to get a cease and assist filed, and then there was no gaurantee it would do anything.

DOH. That's so weak! Sorry to hear your car was used to dupe poor ricers... sounds like bomex has a much better shot at least.

[aznpoopy]

that's so fucked up...

if they don't remove it post it on all the 240 forums

i'll send an angry e-mail on your behalf; hopefully many other 240 owners will too and they'll get the message.

[Yoshi]

that's so fucked up...

if they don't remove it post it on all the 240 forums

i'll send an angry e-mail on your behalf; hopefully many other 240 owners will too and they'll get the message.

have u worked with those guys before?
They're not gonna give a shit. Nothing is going to happen unless there's some legal action taken.

[Gladman]

If you post video, pictures etc on a public board, you're pretty much surrendering any rights you might have to them. They didnt "steal" your pictures at all, and who really cares? You should be proud to have your car up on someones site like that.

[Gladman]

that's so fucked up...

if they don't remove it post it on all the 240 forums

i'll send an angry e-mail on your behalf; hopefully many other 240 owners will too and they'll get the message.

Your a fool, they have every right to do that.

[rancid240]

My car had painted tails and a Battle Club wiper adapter
:ughug: /msg length

[reefer1114]

thats some shady shit...good luck!

[Yoshi]

Your a fool, they have every right to do that.

Vancouver WA or Canada?
Nationwide, ANYTHING you post, online or otherwise, that is an image or video or sound byte, etc, is ALL intellectual property. Read up man. Just because someone posts pix on here (or anywhere) of their ride does NOT give someone else the right to use the image w/o the owners expressed permission. Why do you think the MPAA is pissed off at the P2P people? Didn't u see the huge lawsuit Cameron Diaz filed about the nude pix of her? There have been numerous other instances in the media just lately.

I don't understand how you can think that once something is put online, it's public domain?! If I grabbed all of playboy's inventory from playboy.com, then reposted them on my own site, you don't think they'd have their lawyers drawing up cease and desist orders the moment they found out? c'mon man...

Besides that, I think Bomex is mostly pissed because:
a) those are his property, period. That gives him exclusivity.
b) they're using his images to make $ for themselves, w/o consultation from him
c) they're misrepresenting products (gee, what a surprise) by saying that the REAL kit that he has is what they sell, when in actuality, if you've ever held some GTP stuff, its pretty damn far from an exact replica
d) people are going to think his car is in some way connected with importfan/GTP... maybe that wouldn't bother some people, but I wouldn't want my rep in any way related to them.

edit:
here's a link to some graphic designer legality stuffs
http://www.timestream.com/stuff/neatstuff/mmlaw.html

[TKOs14]

i had a company use my pictures in super street, import tuner and hci for there body kit section to sell the buddy club front bumper for the del sol..so i called up the company and talked to the manager of the shop and said im all about you useing my pics but since you didnt ask me and stole them how about a hookup for a carbon fiber hood.. guys like sorry we will stop useing your picture and then gave me a rediculous price on a hood... all i wanted was a hookup on price i hate when companys do this crap... good luck dude!! and if you ever see a bright orange del sol with a buddy club front in some old issues of any of those mags thats me... and i had NO clue till my buddies like yoooo you made mags hahaha basterds.. and the funny thing is importfan used to use my car for their site... but they gave me a kit for like 100 bucks and i told them they could..

[BOMEX180]

I emailed them but it kept bouncing back to me. I tried emailed to all the emails that on their website, it keeps bouncing back OR unless they're trying to send those emails to me.


I keep getting this message to all the email links from their website
Hi. This is the qmail-send program at mail.networksolutionsemail.com.
I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following
addresses.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.

<[email protected]>:
Sorry, no mailbox here by that name. vpopmail (#5.1.1)

[rancid240]

they dont have a tel number?

[mrmephistopheles]

Your a fool, they have every right to do that.

You're mistaken. Once something copyrighted is used for the purpose of advertisement or otherwise for profit by anyone other than the owner, without the owner's express permission - that's illegal.
Saving pics to one's HDD and looking at them is what they have every right to do. Posting said pics on the internet is kosher, too - so long as the poster makes no claim to the copyright and is willing to add the copyright information upon request.

[BOMEX180]

I Just emailed the BOMEX president/ceo about this matter. We'll see what happens...

[aznpoopy]

Your a fool, they have every right to do that.

#1 wtf is up wtih the personal attack. you're a jackass, go fuck yourself.

#2 when did i say it was illegal, i said it was fucked up

now go wash the sand out of your vagina

[HyperTek]

next time watermark your pics..

i forwarded this thread to someone.
I just dont like when someone uses others for thier own personal gains. They should post pics of thier actual product to show how good it is, that should be the selling point, not "how good it can look"... unfortinutly this is America, where big boobs and azz sell no mater how bad the grill looks..

[Mervyn]

Well at least this topic teaches a lesson to always block your license plate number before you show it online.

[trsilvias13]

find their address, mail them a bag of sh*t. then write a note with a picture of your car saything this is bullsh*t. take my pic down or give me royalites, or like some here hook up for something u might like. like a cf trunk, or something

[Gladman]

Posting unmarked photos all over internet forums under an alias like "Bomex240" is the equivilent to dropping cash on the ground and expecting no one to steal it, after all, its not theres and its illegal to take.

You have no one to be mad at but yourself, i dont remember you every asking no one to use your pictures in any way. Check your own panties, mine are clean.

The companie steals and sells replica body kits, dont expect them to care about your cause in any way.. how do you think Bomex felt when they saw them replicating the kit they spent hours on hours designing...

Ontop of that you are yielding your pictures over to Zilvia when you post them. You dont own this site and Zilvia has no obligation to protect your pictures. They werent taken off your home PC and they definately werent taken from your Digital Camera...

[TheSquidd]

I'm a professional photographer and this happens more than it should.

If you go the legal route, all you have to do is provide a higher res image than they can (and one without the license plate blocked out would help too) to show you are the originator of this image.

They are using your photography, not even the car, but your photography, to make PROFIT. Unless they have a photographic release from you as a photographer AND a release for your vehicle, they are commiting a CRIME. There's nothing else to be said, you can post images on the internet, just like you can put a picture on your wall. People can look all they want but when they take that picture off your wall and throw it in a magazine to sell product without getting written release from you, they are stealing. This would mean absoulutely nothing except its being used to sell product.

While I don't expect you should get any money out of this (they'll find a way out). They DO HAVE to take those pictures down. If they wish to continue using them they'll need a written release from you and you can demand compensation (though they probably wont give any.).

Anyway, just looking out for your rights. It seems us photographers have less and less everyday.

[mrmephistopheles]

You have no one to be mad at but yourself, i dont remember you every asking no one to use your pictures in any way.

That's the thing about the law. He doesn't have to ask people to not use it in advertisements. If they were using his pictures and they met most of the criteria for fair use, they'd be fine, but they're using his copyrighted material in order to sell a product without his permission.

Check this out:
http://thecreativeforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=191
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/news/newswire.php/news/reuters/2005/02/03/odd/modelgetsmillionsforcoffeemugshot.html

Same story, but each link has info the other doesn't. That guy got paid almost $16million because they used his likeness beyond what he'd contracted them to. You get that? They originally had PERMISSION to use his likeness. They PAID for the photographer to take the picture. However - since they used it beyond his contractual terms, they got taken to the cleaners.
The way the laws are set up, the INSTANT you snap the shutter of your digital camera, that image you just took is copyrighted by YOU. It's your job to maintain the original file and control its release to the outside world, but if someone uses your intellectual property (beyond fair use clauses) without your permission, they're breaking the law.
Say you're in a band and you cut a track. You post a 30 second clip on the web for people the get a feel for the track, and maybe think about paying for a download (or buying a CD). Then Mazda comes, finds the track, and lays it over a Miata commercial without crediting you or compensating you - hell without even CONTACTING you.
According to you, you have no reason to be upset.
Tell me - would you be?

I know *I* would.

[SochBAT]

WOOT! SUE EM FOR ALL THEIR ARE WORTH!!!!

Piracy is gay, dont' support it.

And i buy my CDs too!
+1 for Supporting the Cause!

[91CRXsiR]

they are located in socal so just drive there and talk to the webmaster geek and tell him to change the pic.. simple

[Gladman]

WOOT! SUE EM FOR ALL THEIR ARE WORTH!!!!

Piracy is gay, dont' support it.

And i buy my CDs too!
+1 for Supporting the Cause!

"All their worth" isnt worth his time.

I highly doubt a lawyer would want to pursue a case like this and i highly doubt any possible payout would be worth all the lawyer fees etc. I've seen this before, small time parts companies arent goin to pay you a cent. They'll probably just end up taking down the picture and using someone elses.

[Gladman]

Oh yeah, they also used this pic of your car...

http://www.importfan.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=104_285_287&products_id=2996&zenid=22cde102c0c3d461e04044f84891f1b7

[joobojesse]

*cough* public domain *cough*
... who cares... now your car in on its road to fame...

I just think it's funny that people are gonna buy this kit thinking it comes wiht fender flares

[mr_240sx]

*cough* public domain *cough*
... who cares... now your car in on its road to fame...

I just think it's funny that people are gonna buy this kit thinking it comes wiht fender flares
you mean it doesnt come with fender flares??? what a rip-off!!! heheheeheh :bowrofl:

[Gladman]

*cough* public domain *cough*
... who cares... now your car in on its road to fame...

I just think it's funny that people are gonna buy this kit thinking it comes wiht fender flares


I think its funny that they "stole" a picture and are advertising with a broken bumper.

[iwishiwas-all*]

bro my dads a photographer, if it is one of your pics you can charge somthing like 2-3k PER month of usage for their add, and multiply costs based on how many pics, trust me my dad did it to shell oil, worked great ha. umm I forgot the site, but i think its asmp.org or somthing, were it gives info on copyright infringment with pics

[iwishiwas-all*]

I'm a professional photographer and this happens more than it should.

If you go the legal route, all you have to do is provide a higher res image than they can (and one without the license plate blocked out would help too) to show you are the originator of this image.

They are using your photography, not even the car, but your photography, to make PROFIT. Unless they have a photographic release from you as a photographer AND a release for your vehicle, they are commiting a CRIME. There's nothing else to be said, you can post images on the internet, just like you can put a picture on your wall. People can look all they want but when they take that picture off your wall and throw it in a magazine to sell product without getting written release from you, they are stealing. This would mean absoulutely nothing except its being used to sell product.

While I don't expect you should get any money out of this (they'll find a way out). They DO HAVE to take those pictures down. If they wish to continue using them they'll need a written release from you and you can demand compensation (though they probably wont give any.).

Anyway, just looking out for your rights. It seems us photographers have less and less everyday.


oh he can trust me, PM me and ill give you my fathers email, were u can ask him how,

[SochBAT]

Woot for Copywrite Infringement, although im not sure if you copywrote it to yourself, its your property.

And importfan isn't so great with... anything.

You win, donate to Zilvia.

[180InProgress]

Hey Bomex180.... guess what, some dip**** company on Ebay is using your car's pics too:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BOMB-FULL-BODY-KIT-89-94-NISSAN-240SX-bumper_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38658QQitemZ7989 555349QQrdZ1
:wtf:

[TheSnail]

HAHAHA! Damn. Good thing all my 240's look like ass.

[SochBAT]

^^^ me TOO!!!
+1 for ass 240s!

[mr_240sx]

what are people thinking???? advertising there so called bodykits with a picture of a car that has a busted up front lip :wtf:

[infinitexsound]

ohh thats to fukn funny

[smellslikecurry]

a whole bunch of companies used to use my s14 before....i didnt care enough to bothe them...just think of it as a compliment...and let it go