BrandisBaked I don't think anyone is throwing her to the wolves here. I think they are very frustrated that what they spent all lot of hard work and time on is being fraudulently used for her means of support. Those people who steal as their sole means of support go to jail when they are caught. When people counterfeit money they get a lot worse punishment than being asked to remove the money from their possession. They get thrown in jail. A sin is a sin. There are not greater sins than another. She is just as wrong to do this as other people who are copyrighting, counterfeiting or anything else that fits this category. She should be so lucky as to just have the pictures removed. If she did this to a big name baker say, Duff or Bronwen Weber, or Collette Peters do you really think they would just ask her to remove the pictures? No, they would probably press charges.

I know from experience people on CC will gladly give their permission for you to use their photos if you give credit... I have an entire page on my website dedicated to CC members lol... it's an ideas page as well as a links page which links to CC, and photo suppliers websites if they have one... All ya need to do is ask.... if they say no move on... but I only asked to borrow their photos until I could have a chance to make a cake similar and then it would be removed... like I did with the checkerboard cake... I had borrowed one with permission used it and when I made mine I was able to take her's down... just ask don't steal... ask to borrow.. it makes it much easier in the end

"Simple mistake" just doesn't fly with me. Removing a watermark is time consuming and intentional.

I don't feel sorry for anyone losing business if they behave badly. I'm part of the "mob" that says you can use my pictures if you ask, expecially if you live in another state. I don't do this for a living, but I sure work hard at it.

JMHO

Being fairly new to all this I hesitate to comment (and I certainly don't have to worry about her "stealing" one of my cakes LOL) but Brandisbaked I am sorry I think you are wrong - it's not a mob mentality it is a legitimate gripe and a lot of frustration. What makes it doubly bad is her comment to make sure you see photos of what people have done not what they can do - all the while using photos of other peoples cakes! Even if it is her sole means of support - stealing is stealing!

ya just have to remember what goes around comes around, and when she starts trying to make those cakes and charging those prices.... she is just going to kill her own business, it just seems kind of nasty that anyone on here, would go out of their way to try and ruin it for her. I'm so not saying it is right, and like I have said before I understand why people are upset... but just give her enough rope, she'll hang herself, there is probably a reason her site hasn't been updated since march.. she's up to her neck in cakes she just can't manage to make.. or trying to figure out how to refund people money she hasn't got..
always try to find a bright side
Jen

I'm not affected by this person taking my pictures(like that would ever happen , i could only wish) but I do have to totally agree with Messybaker. There are consequences for all of us when we do things that are illegal or unethical. What she is doing is passing off others work as her own. She now has to face the consequences(angry emails, potential effects on her business). As a business person you have to weigh all of the decisions you make and be prepared to live with the consequences. She made the decision to use others pictures and now has to live with the consequences.


I'm sorry for those CCers who are affected by this!

How can you compare apples to oranges? Speeding and stealing? Ok, if you speed, you speed and you get a ticket. No one else gets credit for that. You did that on your own. She stole pictures that were not hers (many of them) and she's taking credit for someones elses work, so that means she should suffer the consequences. Also, how many mistakes can you make? She has numerous photos on her site, but only one that's hers that we know of. So, she just mistakenly cropped out someone's watermark and posted it on her site? WOW I bet next you'll be saying she did this in her sleep!? One photo is a mistake. ALL photos but one is not a mistake!

Apparently, I'm in the minority - and you are all certainly entitled to your opinions (as I am entitled to mine). I am very compassionate - and would give the shirt... NAY, the SKIN off my back if someone needed it.

I believe in forgiveness. I believe in giving someone the benefit of the doubt. I believe in compassion.

I also believe she screwed up. We all have. Only how many of "your" (the collective "you") screw-ups are made public via the internet, and can possibly impact your business?

A lack of response indicates nothing - except that maybe she hasn't seen your message yet. Or maybe it got caught in her spam filter (I had a customer inquiry yesterday that I found in my spam box). Summer is a popular vacation time... and some people aren't on the internet every day (or even every week). She has a phone number listed, if there was no response to e-mail, I think the second step could have been a phone call.

Ok, that's all I'm saying on the subject.

I just hope you consider what I've said - even if you don't agree with it.

"This is somewhat off topic, but how do you all feel about someone completely copying your cake without permission. Do you think this is unethical? Or do you think you should only use the work of someone else for inspiration?"

I think every cake is unique, from a "copying" point of view. You're never going to make a cake that is EXACTLY like someone else's, and if you can, you rock. I think that is just amazing.
I don't think it's unethical to copy a cake. Imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery. Do I think it's unethical to show someone else's work as your own? Absolutely. If she was stealing Picasso's paintings and then saying she did them and trying to sell them, would it be wrong? You bet your spatula it would be. This person is taking credit for other people's work. It's wrong, plain and simple.
Also, in the thread someone else put a link to, the person whose website we are referring to stated that she keeps getting the brush-off. After looking at her photos, I'm forced to wonder if it is because she states on her website "Ask for photos of what the baker has done, not what they can do" and after seeing photos of her work, the customer realizes that she "can't do"? (Amazingly long run-on sentence, sorry!)
Anyway, that's just my two cents.

[quote="shipleyc"]You guys really need to check out mmstormont's recent posts and then check her website again. Here's the specific link I am talking about. http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-95191-.html
quote]

I see what you mean...Either they are one and the same person or one of them has copied and pasted pricing details from the other! My gosh this woman is so rude, and to top it all off she didn't even like my cakes enough to steal them!!! I am very hurt

Has anyone figured out who the photo of the babies watersliding between 3 cakes belongs to?

That picture is from the Wilton Yearbook. I can't remember what year. I think it was 2007

amberhoney, I'm sure it's just an oversight. I think your work is very much worth stealing!

Disclaimer: This statement is made as a light and humorous remark and is not intended to advocate that we all go in and cut-n-paste amberhoney's photo's to our websites.

i'll go sit in the corner with brandi, as I agree with her point, and let ya'll to your business
have a nice night i'm off to bed.
Jen

Hi guys... I am not worthy of being stolen from... however on her site she has a link that states she is part of the "top wedding sites"... so i clicked on the link and advised them of their listing a fraudulent website on their "top" listings...
this is what i wrote -- probably really nasty, but i don't care... she shouldn't be insinuating that she is the creator of all those cakes.

hopefully she will get the message :p

-- Fi

I understand what Brandi is saying but this is kind of different. In another post that got locked tonight, someone was using a professional photo here on CC and displaying as their own work. A lot of people said it was ok because she said she was sorry.... well here we are with this one it's basically the same thing only in reverse... why is this any different then the other one that got locked? Why was it Ok for that person to come in and say "I'm sorry" and explain why she did it, but this person who is obviously passing yalls work off as her own totally ready to be shot lol... I think it's wrong to misrepresent yourself and to pass other peoples work off as your own it's the same thing just a different situation. I think it's wrong either way you do it and it's not because she didn't steal one of my pictures it's because she's hurt some of my friends by stealing theirs that I feel this way and also because it is just plainly wrong to say something is your work when it isn't.

Well, in her post she says that she went to school for business so she knows how to do this and that, blah blah blah. Well, I also have a business degree, a Master's to be exact and one of the first classes you take is Business Law/Ethics. Cearly, she didn't learn very muh if she took that class! If you're smart enough to earn a business degree, then you're smart enough to know that it is not okay to pass off another person's work as your own.

I too wanted to put up a website sometime in the very near future but I don't have lots of pictures right now because I'm just really getting started. But what conclusion did I come to? Hmmmm, maybe I need to order some dummies and decorate them and photograph them so that I can have them to put on my future website. That sounds pretty clever right?

I think that what she did is wrong and that she hasn't replied to any emails requesting that those photos be removed because she is embarassed that she got caught. No innocent mistake here.

I had a big post all typed out... but really I am just floored at this point in time. I am not saying she's not guilty but honestly are our actions so much better? I'm not a big Christian, but I try to be nice and not judge and all of that fun stuff, because it's simply not my place. Especially since it wasn't one of my cakes that was taken and passed off. I don't think what she has done is right, but is it really everyone's place to get so involved, especially if it wasn't your cake? I'm just kind of sad right now. I think this has gotten way out of control and on that note I am done with this specific topic and I hope it gets locked VERY soon.

The only reason I got involved and said what I said is because I think it's wrong that this person gets all this said about them.... but the other thread got locked when this same stuff was said... because someone (me) didn't agree with other's accepting that person's appology and reasons why... so now that enough people are mad about the same thing in a different order... it's ok... that's the only thing I don't get... and I know yes it's taking it off topic but I seriously think this needs to stay open/unlocked and wait for the person in question to have a chance to come in here and explain why they did what they did to the people they hurt as well as the rest of CC. We were all put in a position to have our work stolen and used against our permission and just because she didn't take from everyone doesn't mean she doesn't owe the entire community an explanation.

That being said I'm going to bed. I'll see yall tomorrow lol.

This thread was only started at 9:40 p.m. tonight. Saturday. A weekend. Let's give her a chance to respond to the inquiries that have been sent (although I do understand that one email was sent about a week ago with no response).

Let's see how it gets handled by the website owner.

I'm really not interested in hurting her at all. She did not use any of my photos, or anyone that I personally know. But, I just sent her a very nice email letting her know it is completely illegal to bake and sell character cakes like she has advertised on her website. I'm trying to give her a break.

If she truly didn't know any better (and I believe she did), then she doesn't need to try and run a business! Maybe she thought she could steal photos from cc legally, but surely, she should know you can't take a photo from a Wilton Yearbook and put it on your website, much less pass it off as your own. And on top of that don't we all know by now you can't sell licsened products it even says that on the character pans!

What was the last post about and frozen for?

One more thing, sorry. I certainly don't think we should assume that the website is owned by mmstormont. Although, it may seem as such, until that is proven mmstormont should be left out of this. If this is not her, I can't imagine how she will feel seeing this thread. It could really hurt an innocent person's feelings.

I agree with gibbler about this.

A friend of mine that does photography had some pics stolen from her myspace by someone else in our town and presented them to a customer as there's when they were really my friends. She had to take ALL of her photos off her myspace, put her logo on them and re post them to keep this random girl from claiming her pics as her own!! Are we going to have to resort to that??? Why can't people be honest anymore???