Yesterday, doing a cursory search on Google on my name, I found something I wasn’t expecting. I apparently had a page on a website called Pashadelic. The site included some of my images from 500px, and was presented like I had made this page myself.
I had not. This data was scraped from 500px, and set up on a new website. My guess is that this was a way to build their website, since people would search for their names and user names on Google and come across the Pashadelic website. Needless to say, I did not authorize this. One website suggested that because 500px was a sharing website, one could not stop your images from being shared across the internet (I suppose this is Tumblr’s rationale?). While I haven’t scrutinized 500px’s terms of service, I suspect Pashadelic is not doing something that most photographers appreciate.
The website purports to be a resource where people can log in and find great photographs in locations from other photographers, including the day and time to shoot it. Honestly though, it basically is not much different than any traditional photo site like Flickr, 500px, or others, crossed with a copy of The Photographer’s Ephemeris. This isn’t something I really want, and if I needed information on images to make somewhere I was going, there is probably an Ebook available anyway.
I have given a feedback message to the website in the hopes that they will take down the images I did not approved to be scraped from the 500px website. I am hoping I receive a quick, positive response. I will keep you up to date on what happens.
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Below is the feedback I posted from the website. I am interested to see if I receive a response.
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Question: Why are my images being taken from 500px?
While doing a Google search, I found my 500px images scraped and posted to the site: www.pashadelic.com/en/users/1295-tmschultze.
The images I posted to 500px were for that website only and I am frustrated to see that they have been used on another website without authorization. I would like to ask that my images please be removed from the Pashadelic website, as well as having this profile that I have not set up removed.
Please reply as soon as possible to confirm.
Regards,
TM
T.M. Schultze is a San Diego-based photographer, traveller, and writer. He writes, photographs, and draws things of the outdoors that have inspired humans for thousands of years. He co-authored the Photographer’s Guide to Joshua Tree Park which can be purchased here.