Everyone who has photos on her site should contact her web host. The info below is directly from the host terms of use policy.
Copyright Violations
Freewebs respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask that subscribers of our services do the same. In connection with our services, Freewebs has adopted and implemented a policy respecting copyright law that provides for the termination, in appropriate circumstances, of subscribers of Freewebsâ online services who are repeat infringers of intellectual property rights, including copyrights.
If you believe that one of our subscribers is, through the use of our services, unlawfully infringing the copyright(s) in a work, and wish to have the allegedly infringing material removed from a Freewebs-supported web site, the following information in the form of a written notification (pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)) must be provided to Freewebsâ designated Copyright Agent:
1. Identification of the copyrighted work(s) that you claim to have been infringed;
2. Identification of where the infringing material is located on a web site supported by Freewebs;
3. A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the objectionable material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or under the law;
4. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and that under penalty of perjury, you are either the owner of the copyright that has allegedly been infringed or that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner;
5. Your address, telephone number, and e-mail address; and
6. Your physical or electronic signature.
Please note that pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), any misrepresentation of material fact (falsities) in a written notification automatically subjects the complaining party to liability for any damages, costs and attorneyâs fees incurred by Freewebs in connection with the written notification and allegation of copyright infringement.
The designated Copyright Agent for Freewebs is:
Copyright Agent
c/o Freewebs Abuse Department
Freewebs Corporation
1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 801
Silver Spring, MD 20910
By phone: (301) 960-9010
By email: [email protected]
Should the proper information and supporting documentation be in order, please fill out the following form to report the copyright violation.
http://members.freewebs.com/abuse.jsp
http://members.freewebs.com/page.jsp?page=termsOfUse#Abuse_Policies
Another thing I just thought of and tested it to be true. This person doesn't have to be a CC'er to get the pics from this site.
Some computers, like Macs, have the ability to transfer a pic you see online right onto your Desktop just by clicking and pulling it over.
I was shopping for bunkbeds for my daughters and saw a few I liked on different sites. So that's what I'd do so that I could take another look at the pics without having to log in, go all the way back to the sites I saw them at and search for them all over again.
**I AM NOT THE PIC THIEF. Just stating that you don't have to be a member to take things off the home page where the highlighted cakes are. I just tested my theory, right before I wrote this post. I was able to slide a cake onto my desktop just like that. (yes, I deleted it from my desktop afterwards. )
You have to be a member of the site to see the pictures. If you're not logged in, it tells you that you need to before you can see the pictures.
She is most def. a member. She changed too many things on her site that related to our thread. Like working from home. And "comfortability".
Don't you hate knowing that person is just hanging out with all of us right now, and none of us know it? Totally oogie.
If you are not a member of cc all you can see are are the little pics we see on the main page. Nothing else.
Someone on page 4 mentioned about the contact information not being present. I think someone said that this is probably just a picture site they refer their clients to view their work once they want to see more pics.
I think's it's terrible that this person is doing this again.
I really wish people stood tall and behind their own work and did not do such terrible things.
Her disclaimer is bogus.
I know there is a tonne of things like this that happen everyday on the web and since it's so vast and fast it's nearly impossible to figure things out. It's amazing that you guys happen to be able to figure this out.
Last time I looked at her site and I could see pics that I recognized, but I would not find them back on cc. (not enough people use the KEYWORDS... that's for another tread).
I dont want lawsuits to happen, but there has to be a way to stop this behavior. Obviously this person was never punished for anything in her life so her sense of right and wrong was never quite developed!
Sorry this is happening again.
Good Luck
In the spirit of the current situation, I am stealing Carolyn's idea....more info coming shortly.
You are welcome but since it was my idea and you admit to having stolen it and have admited to taking my idea thus have taken my ability to create an income from stealing others cakes and booking orders off them I am going to be charging you a royalty fee per web hit!
Expect a fake letter from my lack of legal representation to arrive at some time tomorrow after I've had a good nights sleep and a cake of soda in the morning and can think better than I can right now in my sleepy state.
Please be sure to use one of the excuses
A) My web designer did it
B) I had no idea about the copyright laws and will remove them when I make my own cakes.
C) Screw you, I'll call your bluff and keep them there.
D) The dog ate my cake.
E) I was hacked by my competitor and am locked out from my website now and can't take them off or even take the website down to fix it.
Please note, I am not making light of others who are going through this. I went through it too years ago. It was a very ugly and painful process but in the end I had my day in court (and won).
We can get through life in tears and turmoil or with laughter and smiles. I've done both and trust me the laughter and smiles makes bad situations like this less painful.
I say stick to your guns but do it smiling... it makes them wonder what's going in in your head and scares them.
I dont want lawsuits to happen,...
No one ever does and she better stop it before it does. She'll loose and also have to pay the Plaintiff's court costs and lawyer fees.
My issue went to court and because she kept excellent books they discovered just how many of my cakes were recreated and I got some royalty fees tossed in.
Also if she is an unlicensed home baker and it goes to court then she better have a judge that doesn't care because if she's operating illegally from a home kitchen they are to notify the Health Department and IRS as well which is two completely other can of worms no one ever wants to open when flying under the radar.
I wish that gal running the website lots of luck... she's going to need it before this is over.
how cool a double post!
It's way to late and I'm way to tired to be posting.
Nighty night all I'm off to sleep before I read something else and triple post accidentally.
OOOOOHHHHHHHH!!!! Look what I found!
I was on her website, getting "inspiration" for my own website, and looked at the source code.
Check this out -
<meta name="keywords" content="Affordable cakes, cheap cakes, Design cakes,wedding,chilies,cupcakes,cookies,pastel,tacos,tamales,latin food,catering,cakes,birthday cakes,mckinney,frisco,dallas,dfw,fortworth,texas">
So, our little thief is probably a Mexican in Frisco or McKinney. Why else would someone post Mexican food names and two little towns as meta tags in their cake website?
Of course, most Mexicans know how to correctly spell "chiles."
you know what sucks about this the most? is that people (talented and creative people on CC which is everyone basically) will now hesitate to post their pictures. and where will we get inspiration? how will beginners like me learn from the experts?
i know that's a selfish way of putting it, but this person is not only affecting the people she stole pictures from but cakers who need help and the wisdom that CC members have so freely given before.
I got an email from Bren's Cakes last night. She said that there are ELEVEN of hers on her site!
Well, I just thought the pic to desktop thing was something interesting.
I just found them listed on weddingwire.com.
I'm LOLing at the OTHER stolen pictures website.
But I just have to say, I find it really funny or maybe sad, that the other thread blossomed to 15 pages rather quickly of people angry at us for being upset at this person for stealing our pictures. Members DEFENDING this person. And now, that's it's PROVEN that this person is deceitful, and a thief, all those people that were so quick to yell at us for being angry are no where to be found. No "Hey, you guys were right, that's pretty scummy."
People so quick to yell at us, but then once the truth comes out, they're not so vocal anymore!
And then you have the people that are posting in this tread, that care and want to help. I just have to say, because of people like THAT, Cake Central is an AMAZING place.
Props to SummerNoelle for being so calm about this, and trying to help everyone out.
Actually, you are wrong. that other post got out of hand because of the way the situation was being handled, NOT because some of us thought it was okay for this lady to steal pictures.
with that being said, let me be the first to say "that's pretty scummy" what this lady is doing...she was given the benefit of the doubt and has clearly shown that she is well aware of what she is doing. she needs to be unleashed on...
Questions, are many of you posting your pictures on different cake sites?
I saw a picture on THE web site and a different picture of the same cake (it's an angle thing) on CC.
Just a question.
This whole situation sucks and I wish people were honest.
Good Luck.
OOOOOHHHHHHHH!!!! Look what I found!
I was on her website, getting "inspiration" for my own website, and looked at the source code.
Check this out -
<meta name="keywords" content="Affordable cakes, cheap cakes, Design cakes,wedding,chilies,cupcakes,cookies,pastel,tacos,tamales,latin food,catering,cakes,birthday cakes,mckinney,frisco,dallas,dfw,fortworth,texas">
So, our little thief is probably a Mexican in Frisco or McKinney. Why else would someone post Mexican food names and two little towns as meta tags in their cake website?
Of course, most Mexicans know how to correctly spell "chiles."
great detective work...now its narrowed down to a Mexican. hmmm, i'm Mexican, maybe its me??? lol! oh wait, i know how to spell chiles...
Yeah, that's funny!
I am really glad this thread hasn't gotten out of hand, though. Last time it made me sick to my stomach to know she was being hounded like that. Although, she certainly did not learn her lesson-I think every single photo on there belongs to someone else. Another CC member sent me a compiled list yesterday of about 12 others stolen cakes right from CC. Do you think she has even made a cake?
I'm thinking of listing the people involved, so that they can each handle it....
I have been following this from before. None of my cakes were stolen. I agree with another poster about the cakes being so different. I recognized some from CC. I just see the wide variety of types and no signature looks, or cake boards, or setups. If I have a friends wedding cake usually she wants the same base as the other friend so on. Does that make sense?
These are the people I know are involved. I'm sorry if I misspelled the names!
Nuunk
debo_04
Nashville Cakes
Jamilyne
Cakesbyjen
onegr8girl
nhbaker
lifestangles
mikelka
brooksie007
Cakedesigns
Yalantzi
Sondrad
neldaregian
bonucc10
jamcakes
Katzkakes
helipops
A great program to use to watermark your images is uMark Lite. It's a free program and I use it to mark my images. Doesn't always stop people from taking pics, but at least your name is across your image.
http://www.uconomix.com/Products/uMark/Default.aspx
I was one on the other thread who I'm sure people thout was taking up for the thief. I never said it was ok to post the pictures, I just disagreed with how the situation was handled, and that it was allowed to g o15 pages. I STILL think it's wrong to steal pictures, and I'm very glad that this thread didn't go nasty like the last one.
Hey jen-
No, I think they are talking about someone else. I'm not saying who, because I don't want to "out" anyone, but I am pretty sure they are referring to another person.
I agree, the thread got WAY out of hand, and I didn't like her being attacked in that way. I've done my best to keep this one civil, which is the biggest reason why I decided not to post her web info.
I am probably going to get flamed for this but...
Given the fact that she DELIBERATELY STOLE PHOTOS, only took them down when people complained and then REPOSTED THEM AGAIN with some bull$#*t statement ...
quite frankly I think she deserves all the nasty comments people are left on her website. Clearly she doesn't care that what she is doing is illegal, not to mention just plain wrong.
Well, find levity in this site posted by Cakepro yesterday: http://www.freewebs.com/notmycakes/index.htm
The whole thing has been a huge PITA, to be honest. But that site made me laugh so much, that it made me put this in perspective. I can totally understand the frustration. I am equally frustrated. This person is not changing her behavior. She isn't going anywhere-she is in business, and stealing our work to get it. She reads the threads and she knows what she did was wrong. She doesn't care.
o, we might as well have a good laugh while we figure out what to do...
To every ones delight More than Just Cakes will be removing their website photo gallery from the Internet. Legal action has been compiled from this websites forums and individuals specific illegal degrading messages and threats. Environmental health departments have been notified in the cities of people in question as well. Corresponding city officials have been notified for the individuals whom operate from home. This post is not a threat it has already happened. Thank you for the compiling evidence, and remember one mans rant is another mans karma. Thank you
Wow. Cake retaliation.
How do you even know if they operate illegally from home?
This all could've been avoided. What a mess.
I don't sell cakes so I fear not the "cake retaliation". I just stumbled onto this thread and all I have to say in response to "morethanjustcakes" post is (high, sing-songy voice): "spite----ful!!!"
Wow. Cake retaliation.
How do you even know if they operate illegally from home?
This all could've been avoided. What a mess.
That's right all of these could have been avoided , but this person (who took other people's photos) started this whole mess. She should have seen this coming. Really, what did she expect ?
Oh, I agree. It could've ended the first time with promptly removing all pics that weren't hers - or asking for permission. But I am of the thought that if you choose to handle it a certain way (like the comments made), you're also opening yourself up and should be prepared.
Good luck to all.
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