Okay...I wasn't going to say anything. And DA has helped me...but this is downright rude.

I have had many of my images stolen in the past and even had someone accuse me of stealing an image of my daughter from someone over seas...yeah right.

And now this.



My series of the dart and the balloon is very popular on every website I have placed them on. And then this morning I get a few notes/comments stating that someone on DA has my Dart image in his portfolio with his credit on it. He claims it is his. And that he took it with his Canon D350. Yeah right...he doesn't even know the correct model of his own camera let alone the true camera that took it...or the assistant involved or the setup etc. Nor does he have the original versions and the other 14 balloons involved in the shoot. He claims he took it and it looks like mine.

So I leave him a comment...and I report it to DA. His gallery gets removed. Then I receive this note from him -

hey...


u don;t have the right to call me leir if u r not shore.. and now everyone is call me leir and i'm a shame becouse i didn;t stell your shott i like the idea and when i saw the idea it was on flickr for anothe guys and it wasn't clear ... so0o if i stole it from u i will not post it the same site which u r in it .. so0o u should be 100% shore that i stole it and if u want 2 see where did i stole this idea i will give u the site .. and i'm not kind of persone hoo stell pic in pro photogpheric site coz 100% the persone ho i stole the pic will be there ... and i will be wating for your answer ...

Now I am not the one to show email conversation...but this is downright rude.

So then I follow his footsteps to Flickr...and yep...there he is...claiming rights on the same image there.

[link]

Plus all the other images from his DA gallery.

He has been reported...!!

But I am saying this to warn you all that he may have your images.

He uploaded The Dart on DA as $$..::..Balo0on..::..$$ in November 2006 and as $$..::..Your Time Is Over..::..$$ on Flickr in October 2006. I didn't upload this image to DA till January 3..so that means he stole the image from either an Australia Photographic site or from Dpchallenge.com. Whatever, I don't care...but he has to be stopped.

Now most photographers stick with one title per image. He has absolutely no idea. He even claims he used a pin to bust the balloon...hellllllooooooooooo.....what about the dart in the image!!! DOH!!

UPDATE

911tiger still claims this is his image and I am still fighting to have it removed from 2 (maybe more) sites. He still has it available for download.

UPDATE

911 tiger has contacted me again and admitted that he stole the image. But only after I have had him removed from a few sites as he was displaying and claiming credit for many stolen images including mine on those sites.

I tracked down his home email and his birthdate and found he is only a child (about 15 years) and he has now apologized to me and said he only did it as everyone hates him and he wanted the attention that a good image would give him. He has asked me to forgive him.

I thought about this for a while and feel that the damage has been done. He has offered this image for downloads for no charge and my image was downloaded by others numerous times. This work is my living and I am sorry but I cannot forgive someone for stealing not only credit for my work but also money from my pocket.

911tiger or whatever you are now known as...I cannot forgive you. I accept what you have done and whilst I cannot change the past...I hope you stop what you are doing and start behaving responsibly. I hope that you have learnt from this. I told you....'never mess with me'...and I proved that to you. But be warned...there are a lot worse people out there who could really cause you a lot of grief.

So never ever take someones work again and get on with your life.

I will be watching you and will not hesitate in taking action again.

For anyone reading this, I do believe he has rejoined DA but under a new name. I will be watching him.