• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

Copyright Infringement Reports (Review guidelines in post #1 before posting here)

Gene Moore said:
One more comment on this piracy issue and that is the age of the person involved. Obviously I'm chasing a kid in this situation, maybe 17. Perhaps this should be an expanded thread elsewhere, but should teenagers get a free pass on this? I vote no, because once the video or image is taken others can rip off that work. I've already see a piece of what he did for his site elsewhere.
Click to expand...

What's he going to learn from the experience by cutting him slack Gene? That he can get by with it next time. Legally it's no different than if he walked into a store and stuffed a DVD in his shirt and walked out. For some reason, the average person doesn't put the same value on something as intangible as intellectual property as they do physical property.

Looking at his recent comments, he is trying to act remorseful but hasn't made any effort to remove them either.
 
It's not going to be easy to get this guy (kid) to stop with my material or all the other stuff he's pirated including the Simpson's.... since he lives in Canada. Youtube knows about this activity, there are very few sites that do not contain clips from movies, TV or private sources like our videos. Sony (pictures) was sueing them, but I have yet to hear the outcome.

One thing we have done successfully is lower his ratings. The flood of nasty comments and bad ratings has dropped him from five stars to two stars. That means he will come up low on the rankings.

In the future anyone that posts here that they have been ripped off we can (as a large group) make negative comments on their site and at least reduce their stars.
icon13.gif
 
If you sent everything youtube needed Gene I am sure they will take it down. It's the weekend, so the people that look at that might not even be working.

Yeah, that guy certainly got a storm he wasn't expecting didn't he.

EDIT: looks like he's pulled down the other two and just Gene's is left up.
 
LOL nothing says tornadoes like Tupac Changes. Whenever I'm chasing, I'm always lookin for a purse to snatch, and stayin in the dope game, cause hey...that's the way it is.
 
That thing is useless Gene and a waste of a website owners time. I had the location of one of the images on his server in 3 seconds.

http://www.bobstaake.com/copyno/lichtenstein.gif

The people that grab your stuff and repost it know how to do just what I did to get that. (It's often kids too!)

I stand by my thought that the best way these days to handle it is to let them be your "agents" and work for you. Blast your URL on your images/video and everytime they post it some place, they just advertised your website for you and you didn't pay them a dime for it.

The fiasco with Mike Hollingshead's images is a great example. Could you imagine the kind of traffic he would have instantly had if he originaly would have had his URL on those images that got viral emailed around?

They you just have to worry about going after the jerks that either removed the copyright, altered the material, or are profiting off of it in some way.

Think of it in reverse. How much money would you have to pay out (not including your own time) to get your website URL on just a few hundred websites around the net? How much was that image worth?
 
David Drummond said:
Here's a good one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-59dOxcDR8o#o8EjM63pXJk

I think it probably has video from every main storm chaser for the last decade or two.

I told him he was stealing and he says he's not, he got it from TV. Doesn't seem to think that is stealing. Seems like that video needs some comments and ratings, don't you guys think?
Click to expand...

At least he removed it now. I will post a one that I just came upon....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8tGywiWfnE&watch_response another Hollingshead Special
 
David Drummond said:
That thing is useless Gene and a waste of a website owners time. I had the location of one of the images on his server in 3 seconds.

http://www.bobstaake.com/copyno/lichtenstein.gif

The people that grab your stuff and repost it know how to do just what I did to get that. (It's often kids too!)

I stand by my thought that the best way these days to handle it is to let them be your "agents" and work for you. Blast your URL on your images/video and everytime they post it some place, they just advertised your website for you and you didn't pay them a dime for it.

The fiasco with Mike Hollingshead's images is a great example. Could you imagine the kind of traffic he would have instantly had if he originaly would have had his URL on those images that got viral emailed around?

They you just have to worry about going after the jerks that either removed the copyright, altered the material, or are profiting off of it in some way.

Think of it in reverse. How much money would you have to pay out (not including your own time) to get your website URL on just a few hundred websites around the net? How much was that image worth?
Click to expand...

I've seen some that hide them where you can't view the page info to get it. I forget how it was, but it popped up into a new window with thumbnails and there was no apparent way to view the page source/info. I think all the creative means won't be able to pass the trusty ol print screen thing.

I don't think it is worth bothering with and probably does more harm than good by turning people away. This reminds me, I still need to figure out how to remove it from my photography sales pages, as it was default with that program and changing the javascript where it says to wasn't doing the trick. But anyway, yeah, as long as something isn't larger than the screen size, good ol print screen will grab it no matter what.
 
Great Idea David and linking

(1) posting ratings and comments on the their videos is a great idea.
(2) How about all chasers have a little promo and copyright information in the beginning (I know some of you already do this but do those shysters take them off>) . That way your name etc is on display when they hawk your videos.



:::
David Drummond said:
Here's a good one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-59dOxcDR8o#o8EjM63pXJk

I think it probably has video from every main storm chaser for the last decade or two.

I told him he was stealing and he says he's not, he got it from TV. Doesn't seem to think that is stealing. Seems like that video needs some comments and ratings, don't you guys think?
Click to expand...
 
Well, I just busted another company ripping off my stuff and posting it as part of their production on YouTube.

Get this, they even had a press release and media coverage for their project in Los Angeles on their website.

When I busted them, here is what they said.

"We can use it under fair use because we pulled it off of The Weather Channels Web Site"

I told this idiot that I don't work for TWC and that as a stringer, the material is mine and I own the copyright, they only own a license just like CNN, National Geo, Fox and everyone else.

I guess they don't think people watch out for their videos. But since this was pirated and used by a production company, um yeah, their pretty much (SIC)fudged.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Shane Adams said:
My solution to this problem is simple: I don't post video, ever.
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Well, my solution, Register My Work With The Copyright Office!!!

I just settled with the company in California for what amounts to about $950.00 per second for unauthorized use of copyrighted material in a production, including distribution over the internet, television, DVD and in a theatrical performance in front of a live audence.

And I get film credit.

Post your work on line, just register it with the copyright office www.copyright.gov
 
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