Comments on: Crestock.com stole my vector files http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/crestockcom-has-stolen-my-vector-files.html More info from freelance illustrator Atle Hansson Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:07:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Shaw http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/crestockcom-has-stolen-my-vector-files.html#comment-146 Shaw Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:28:28 +0000 http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/?p=150#comment-146 @ Josh "1. We had an extremely large influx of images. Recruiting and training inspectors takes a long time, something we did months ago and have now controlled the waiting times, they are now below 24 hours for photos and a bit longer for vectors, which have a separate queue." <strong>OK I have had vectors in the que since early december... finally deleted them tonight. I guess you guys consider a month slightly lomger than 24 hours</strong> "2. Some emails have been lost in a mail server switch, several months ago. We’ve done our best to recover and reply every email, but thats not possible on every one of them. " <strong>I can understand server crashes etc etc, but can you please explain the unanswered emails, and help desk messages from the past few weeks / month? I am hearing lot's of excuses here, but seeing no action....</strong> @ Josh
“1. We had an extremely large influx of images. Recruiting and training inspectors takes a long time, something we did months ago and have now controlled the waiting times, they are now below 24 hours for photos and a bit longer for vectors, which have a separate queue.”

OK I have had vectors in the que since early december… finally deleted them tonight. I guess you guys consider a month slightly lomger than 24 hours

“2. Some emails have been lost in a mail server switch, several months ago. We’ve done our best to recover and reply every email, but thats not possible on every one of them. ”

I can understand server crashes etc etc, but can you please explain the unanswered emails, and help desk messages from the past few weeks / month?

I am hearing lot’s of excuses here, but seeing no action….

]]> By: Hansson http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/crestockcom-has-stolen-my-vector-files.html#comment-145 Hansson Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:09:12 +0000 http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/?p=150#comment-145 1. I have no problem understanding this. But I think your collaborators would have appreciated being informed about your unexpected success and your long delays. (I just read your forums today - another guy posted on your forum today, and just like me he wanted his files removed from your servers. He had been waiting for two months and never got any replies to his repeated messages to your support desk. So I don't feel that I'm too far out here ...) 2. Excuses, excuses. I don't believe that your email server was down at both occasions I sent you a support request, one in November and December. 3. If you read the full article you would have seen that I actually requested that you delete the images from your server. Your colleague in charge of following up on this did the right thing. If your T&Cs are the same as the other stock agencies, your part of the deal is to review and accept/reject the images within a set delay. As before mentioned I believe you didn't comply to your own terms. In addition I have reason to believe you would never have come back to me on this if I had not written this blog post. If I had found out you used my images while they were in your custody, I wouldn't have written a blog post about it, but sued you right away. Theft does not have to include copyright infringement, and I have never suggested that you violated my copyright. But I believe I have made my point clear enough as to why I consider this being theft of a digital file. 1. I have no problem understanding this. But I think your collaborators would have appreciated being informed about your unexpected success and your long delays. (I just read your forums today - another guy posted on your forum today, and just like me he wanted his files removed from your servers. He had been waiting for two months and never got any replies to his repeated messages to your support desk. So I don’t feel that I’m too far out here …)

2. Excuses, excuses. I don’t believe that your email server was down at both occasions I sent you a support request, one in November and December.

3. If you read the full article you would have seen that I actually requested that you delete the images from your server. Your colleague in charge of following up on this did the right thing.

If your T&Cs are the same as the other stock agencies, your part of the deal is to review and accept/reject the images within a set delay. As before mentioned I believe you didn’t comply to your own terms. In addition I have reason to believe you would never have come back to me on this if I had not written this blog post.

If I had found out you used my images while they were in your custody, I wouldn’t have written a blog post about it, but sued you right away. Theft does not have to include copyright infringement, and I have never suggested that you violated my copyright. But I believe I have made my point clear enough as to why I consider this being theft of a digital file.

]]> By: Josh Hodge http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/crestockcom-has-stolen-my-vector-files.html#comment-144 Josh Hodge Mon, 19 Jan 2009 09:22:23 +0000 http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/?p=150#comment-144 Hi, I'm the Content Director at Crestock.com and I've not heard of this case until today, reading here. 1. We had an extremely large influx of images. Recruiting and training inspectors takes a long time, something we did months ago and have now controlled the waiting times, they are now below 24 hours for photos and a bit longer for vectors, which have a separate queue. 2. Some emails have been lost in a mail server switch, several months ago. We've done our best to recover and reply every email, but thats not possible on every one of them. 3. I don't know why your images were rejected for this reason. You are welcome to contact me about this. Read the Crestock's T&C, they are the same as any other stock agency. No theft has been committed, this is misinformation and I really suggest it be removed. We apologize the long waiting time, but respect your images and do not use them in any way, while they are pending. Hi,

I’m the Content Director at Crestock.com and I’ve not heard of this case until today, reading here.

1. We had an extremely large influx of images. Recruiting and training inspectors takes a long time, something we did months ago and have now controlled the waiting times, they are now below 24 hours for photos and a bit longer for vectors, which have a separate queue.

2. Some emails have been lost in a mail server switch, several months ago. We’ve done our best to recover and reply every email, but thats not possible on every one of them.

3. I don’t know why your images were rejected for this reason. You are welcome to contact me about this.

Read the Crestock’s T&C, they are the same as any other stock agency. No theft has been committed, this is misinformation and I really suggest it be removed. We apologize the long waiting time, but respect your images and do not use them in any way, while they are pending.

]]> By: Hansson http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/crestockcom-has-stolen-my-vector-files.html#comment-143 Hansson Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:51:59 +0000 http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/?p=150#comment-143 Haha Dan, that's a pretty freestyle definition of the word. How do we know what kind of benefit a thief gets from the stuff he steals? All you know is that your car is gone and that's the essence of theft. If the thief just takes your cell phone and chucks it into the nearest trash can, it's not theft then? And what do I know about what Crestock were doing with my files? They certainly did not inform me. In the same spirit as your definition I could add that sharing one's files with a stock image company is done with the intent of getting some benefit from it. My files were just held for 3 months, I did not get any benefit, and no information whatsoever about what the company were doing or not doing with them. I lost my time preparing and uploading the files (there are pretty strict rules for the vector files - no open shapes, for example) and I lost my time waiting, in vain. Time thieves. Yes that, too. This case is no big deal, but trust is important for any online operation and to their clients/collaborators. Crestock.com has demonstrated that they are not trustworthy, and I prefer to warn my fellow freelancers about where they waste their time - and where they get get the benefits required to make a living in a crowded market. There are enough other micro stock websites out there not to waste your time with companies that don't take you seriously. Haha Dan, that’s a pretty freestyle definition of the word. How do we know what kind of benefit a thief gets from the stuff he steals? All you know is that your car is gone and that’s the essence of theft.

If the thief just takes your cell phone and chucks it into the nearest trash can, it’s not theft then?

And what do I know about what Crestock were doing with my files? They certainly did not inform me.

In the same spirit as your definition I could add that sharing one’s files with a stock image company is done with the intent of getting some benefit from it. My files were just held for 3 months, I did not get any benefit, and no information whatsoever about what the company were doing or not doing with them.

I lost my time preparing and uploading the files (there are pretty strict rules for the vector files - no open shapes, for example) and I lost my time waiting, in vain. Time thieves. Yes that, too.

This case is no big deal, but trust is important for any online operation and to their clients/collaborators. Crestock.com has demonstrated that they are not trustworthy, and I prefer to warn my fellow freelancers about where they waste their time - and where they get get the benefits required to make a living in a crowded market. There are enough other micro stock websites out there not to waste your time with companies that don’t take you seriously.

]]> By: Dan Howard http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/crestockcom-has-stolen-my-vector-files.html#comment-142 Dan Howard Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:57:55 +0000 http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/?p=150#comment-142 "Stolen", like it or not, seems to imply that the thief is getting some benefit from having illegally acquired something. Otherwise you don't bother stealing. That is not the case here. Sorry. “Stolen”, like it or not, seems to imply that the thief is getting some benefit from having illegally acquired something. Otherwise you don’t bother stealing.

That is not the case here. Sorry.

]]> By: Hansson http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/crestockcom-has-stolen-my-vector-files.html#comment-141 Hansson Sat, 17 Jan 2009 02:33:05 +0000 http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/?p=150#comment-141 Extra information to you Gunnar: The files were not rejected. If they had rejected them right away it would have been totally OK with me. The files were held hostage in their evaluation system for three full months before they yesterday deleted them. Extra information to you Gunnar: The files were not rejected. If they had rejected them right away it would have been totally OK with me.

The files were held hostage in their evaluation system for three full months before they yesterday deleted them.

]]> By: Hansson http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/crestockcom-has-stolen-my-vector-files.html#comment-140 Hansson Sat, 17 Jan 2009 02:28:47 +0000 http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/?p=150#comment-140 First of all, just when is a digital file to be considered stolen? Since I still have my copies, these files were not stolen in the traditional meaning of the word, and this is the same when it's actually being published somewhere. But I gather that Crestock violated their part of the agreement they had with me, and since I had no answer as of what was going on with my images, I considered them stolen. Here's my answer in the Crestock forum to their answer quoted above: "Well as far as I was informed the files were stolen, since I sent them to you guys without receiving any kind of payment etc. The agreement beween me and Crestock was that either Crestock start selling them within 5 days - or you reject them - and send me a notification in either case. Which you failed completely to do - so yes, it was theft as far as I am concerned. Especially from a point of view of the mutual agreement where I clearly had my files held by someone who did not intend to fulfill it's part of the agreement." First of all, just when is a digital file to be considered stolen? Since I still have my copies, these files were not stolen in the traditional meaning of the word, and this is the same when it’s actually being published somewhere. But I gather that Crestock violated their part of the agreement they had with me, and since I had no answer as of what was going on with my images, I considered them stolen. Here’s my answer in the Crestock forum to their answer quoted above:

“Well as far as I was informed the files were stolen, since I sent them to you guys without receiving any kind of payment etc. The agreement beween me and Crestock was that either Crestock start selling them within 5 days - or you reject them - and send me a notification in either case.

Which you failed completely to do - so yes, it was theft as far as I am concerned. Especially from a point of view of the mutual agreement where I clearly had my files held by someone who did not intend to fulfill it’s part of the agreement.”

]]> By: Gunnar Andreassen http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/crestockcom-has-stolen-my-vector-files.html#comment-139 Gunnar Andreassen Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:08:10 +0000 http://www.illustrasjon.net/blog/?p=150#comment-139 But your pics werent really stolen, just not accepted? But your pics werent really stolen, just not accepted?

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