p.3 #1 · Hey, Sunway: That's my photograph. Please stop the copyright infringement.
Guys - since I've worked with folks from China a fair bit, I can tell you this very often an issue of "didn't know" vs. an intent to steal. That is no excuse of course, but the question is what are they doing about it. No company is perfect - I say judge them on how they handle their mistakes. It sounds like the OP feels they are genuinely trying to make it right...
p.3 #2 · Hey, Sunway: That's my photograph. Please stop the copyright infringement.
M635_Guy wrote:
Guys - since I've worked with folks from China a fair bit, I can tell you this very often an issue of "didn't know" vs. an intent to steal. That is no excuse of course, but the question is what are they doing about it. No company is perfect - I say judge them on how they handle their mistakes. It sounds like the OP feels they are genuinely trying to make it right...
If you talk about the common people on the streets then I agree. But not the people running companies or working at the top. And Sunwayfoto is even a member here at FM and post here. You really don't belive there is an FM member and ballhead producer that never heard about copyright
p.3 #3 · Hey, Sunway: That's my photograph. Please stop the copyright infringement.
Obviously, I'm right at the top of the list of people who feel that this behavior is especially egregious from a company making photographic products. I was shocked to discover it.
Sunway's explanation is that it happened some time ago, and the person who did this is no longer with the company. That doesn't excuse it (and they didn't claim that it did), and I don't know the details beyond that. What's more important to me is that they are taking the issue seriously and trying to set things right. I'm sure this has been embarrassing for them, especially since it coincided with a major product launch. If they didn't understand the seriousness of this issue before, they certainly do now. That is a good thing.
In an ideal world, this would have never happened. Ultimately, though, I feel that part of making a public complaint is giving the party you're complaining about the opportunity to make amends. They've apologized, they've offered compensation that I feel is satisfactory, and that's that. Hopefully this will be wrapped up in the next week or two.
p.3 #5 · Hey, Sunway: That's my photograph. Please stop the copyright infringement.
M635_Guy wrote:
Guys - since I've worked with folks from China a fair bit, I can tell you this very often an issue of "didn't know" vs. an intent to steal.
They obviously knew there was a problem when they were notified about the image theft and it took a LOT of effort for the owner of that image to get Sunway to even respond.
Where did Sunway came up with the design for that BH
Ya think maybe there was a little "theft" of intellecual rights on that side as well?
Some Chinese companies know darn well they are stealing. They just don't care as long as it's profitable and they can get away with it.
p.3 #6 · Hey, Sunway: That's my photograph. Please stop the copyright infringement.
In these days of having our photos plastered all over the internet, it's not just entities in the Far East who are likely to steal images. This article over on the Luminous Landscape illustrates an incidence much closer to home, along with reactions from both sides and possible methods of dealing with such situations.
p.3 #7 · Hey, Sunway: That's my photograph. Please stop the copyright infringement.
DLP wrote:
Where did Sunway came up with the design for that BH
I don't think they're claiming that -- they're just showing how well their disc clamp fits the P0.
Ya think maybe there was a little "theft" of intellecual rights on that side as well?
Now this is an interesting question, because Sunway do make ballheads, basically variants of the Arca Swiss B1, just like everybody else in this game. The concept of the ballhead goes back to well before the founding of A-S, but the tension control and (obviously) the A-S clamp are Arca (maybe the panning base as well). Do Kirk, RRS, Markins, etc license the design from A-S? If so, why are the RRS and Wimberley plates slightly off standard?
Apr 04, 2012 at 07:24 PM
Lars Johnsson Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
p.3 #8 · Hey, Sunway: That's my photograph. Please stop the copyright infringement.
Pat H. wrote:
In these days of having our photos plastered all over the internet, it's not just entities in the Far East who are likely to steal images. This article over on the Luminous Landscape illustrates an incidence much closer to home, along with reactions from both sides and possible methods of dealing with such situations.
Of course the "steal images" in all countries. But the outrageous thing about this, was that it's a company making Photo products doing it. And that Sunwayfoto is a member here at FM and trying to promote the ballheads here. At the same time they "steal photos" from other members to use with their products and websites
p.3 #9 · Hey, Sunway: That's my photograph. Please stop the copyright infringement.
DLP wrote:
Ya think maybe there was a little "theft" of intellecual rights on that side as well?
Some Chinese companies know darn well they are stealing. They just don't care as long as it's profitable and they can get away with it.
Dave
Its not just Chinese companies that do this. They might be the flavour of the month, but they are not alone.
After following this thread, I did a reverse search for some of my images using Tineye and Google Images. I found that there is a church (yes, a church) that is stealing one of my photographs and is using it as the banner image on their web page. According to Wayback Machine, they have been using it since at least May 2009. Not only did they steal the photo, they also cropped out the part that I tagged with my name, the date, and a description. Maybe they forgot one of the 10 commandments?
