Well, her website is changing as we speak. Her home page picture has changed, which I'm guessing means she was using a 'borrowed' picture? Anyway, maybe my picture will be off of there soon...
that one came from just fabulous pastries. i emailed them to tell them she stole their photo, so i guess they told her to take it down!
well heck, why is MINE still there??? I started it!
Do you think she's more intimidated by someone who has it on a business website already?
Well, it looks pretty clear to me that she's just taking the backgrounds out. Kind of makes it harder to use that as a way of saying "hey, that is my cake and photo!"...don't ya think?
I knew I recognized another one on her 'other cakes' (formerly grooms,showers, and anniversary cakes) page:
theknot.com - http://weddings.theknot.com/gallery/gallery_results.aspx?gallery=18
worksofart.com - http://www.worksofartcakes.com/grooms.html
See if you see it too! Maybe someone should tell them?
I think its safe to say she is reading this thread. She is changing things that you guys are pointing out...backgrounds are proof of stealing and not merely making a similar cake. The prices you ladies were pointing out earlier.
I don't think so. Heath said once he banned her she can't log in anymore to get onto the site to read threads. Plus MY picture is still there and it's the one that started this whole thing. That's the one page she HASN'T changed. She's changed everything else!
I have hundreds of cakes saved on my computer to show clients but I always let them know that we can do it but with some changes and that I didnt creat this cake. I have never taken a cake that wasn't mine nor have I yet to do one that is on my computer. I always end up creating something different. You should never take someone elses hard work.
THANKS FOR POSTING!!
I think once Heath reported her, it doesn't matter that I am a business or not. He represents CC, which is a business much bigger than me or most of us.
I know that but I was thinking [which may be bad anyway! 
] that I thought Heath's notice went to the website host/server person and not necessarily directly to her...
Anyway, it was pure speculation on my part as to why your picture is still there and the other is gone.
Oh, I see the Cute As a Button cake..... 
Yes, you can access forums without being a member, and you can always create a new profile with another computer. She could go to her library, her friend's house.
She has been contacted and replied to someone, so she knows people are onto her. She has changed things specifically talked about. She is obviously intending to keep using copied photos because she is changing the backgrounds. She knows she was blocked from CC. Perhaps she is being vengeful cause you started this? I don't know, but I feel quite certain she is reading this.
Heath said once he banned her she can't log in anymore to get onto the site to read threads.
She can't log in to her banned username, but anyone with an iota of internet savvy can browse sites from which they've been 'banned' by IP blocking. There are all kinds of free anonymizer sites for anonymous browsing to bypass IP blocking. Nobody can *really* be banned from a website, save for a website that only permits paid members and sets viewing privileges accordingly.
This is the link that laurafromtx says... the bakery is Just Fabulous Pastries
http://www.justfab.com/photo_pop.asp?ID=701
This photo is the front page in
http://www.worksofartcakes.com./
Well, by now the cake on the home page has now been changed to a 3tier round with lillies. interesting.... think they got wind of our little discussion? 
I looked thru her site and could not find the cake. They've changed the site becuase yesterday they had 3 catagories: weddings, anniversaries and other occassions. Now it's weddings and all other cakes.... interesting..
Is it my imagination, or did all the cakes in her Wedding Portfolio just change? When I first started reading this thread about an hour ago, I checked her site, Work of Art Cakes, and saw a variety of cakes, all with backgrounds. Now I checked again, and each photo from the Wedding Portfolio has been cropped--they contain no backgrounds and look like different cakes than were there only an hour ago. Am I going crazy or has anyone noticed that too?
I noticed the same thing about the missing back grounds. this way she can claim she made the cakes in the pics because the other details are missing. She just has not gotten around to do the "other occasion" cakes.
I also saw the casual gourmet cake there as well. wow, she's got a pair on her!! 
btw...arostx-- i too love your fine print..gotta love the fine print.. lol
We (CakeCentral) have banned the user from CC as this is a repeat offense. Additionally we have already sent a DMCA complaint (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) to the ISP, webhost and website owners. Because the image is found at CC, it is easier for us to file these complaints than for an individual user.
Wow!
Heath,
Thank you to both you and Jackie for all you do here for us. I appereciate it from the bottom most place in my heart.
You took the words right out of my mouth
OK my eyes are going buggy trying to match up cakes lol. Here's what I am seeing, the wedding cakes have been re-uploaded to remove backgrounds, and many of the pics have been changed cuz they are not all of the same quality...
The two other categories have been lumped into one single other category, but those pics haven't been altered/deleted yet. It's possible that if she had a web designer making these changes for her today based on being contacted by Heath/her ISP provider/webhoster/and arosstx, the designer only got the first page of pics done - spent all day redoing the site but could only get so far? And perhaps that they didn't delete yours yet, arosstx, because they haven't moved to the second page of pics yet? Maybe a few hours into tomorrow you'll start seeing more changes (and your pic deleted)??
I didn't catch if the pics w/the deleted backgrounds are ones you all ID'd as pics from other sites, or if the only pics from other sites are currently on the unedited page two? I noticed the Cape Cod bakery cake is not there anymore, but that was a wedding cake and all of the wedding cakes in the portfolio has been changed.
Just thinkin out loud here...
Wow, I started reading this abotu an hour ago and the more I went through the thread and referenced back to the website in question, the more it changed.
I agree - she is SURELY reading this.
I've seen many of these threads (and try to give the benefit of the doubt) in the past and at least others have apologized and removed the pictures. But the fact that she is just cropping out the backgrounds means she knows what she is doing and is trying to hide it. Shame on you! You have what many of us would love - your own shop and a much training - why in the world do you need to steal with such disregard?
It's funny how some of the pictures are now just showing parts of cakes. I also read how there are at least two other staff members...they could all have accounts here, who knows.
Audrey, your cake is lovely and at least it's getting showcased. 
I have been contemplating this situation...forgive me while I meander through my thought process...I apologize in advance for the length.
My cakes are nowhere near as wonderful as the ones whose pics have been hijacked. And only just this spring, after almost 20 years of decorating cakes, I did my very first tiered wedding cake. So I sincerely believe I will NOT be seeing my cakes on anyone else's website.
However, I have always taken pictures of my cakes with a film camera so I could give a copy of their last cake picture to my clients the next time they ordered a cake. I have the negatives carefully filed away. I protected the negatives originally so I could reprint the pictures if anything happened to my albums. Then I began to see the negatives as a way to protect my "art."
Several years ago, my husband gave me a digital camera for Christmas. I set up my website around that same time, so I had to scan all the 1200 or so previous pictures (from the film camera) so I could upload them. But now I take pictures with BOTH my digital camera, to use for uploading images to my website, and with my film camera, so I'll have the negatives. If I am ever challenged, my negatives are the proof I OWN the photos, they prove my copyright.
All this underhandedness of hijacking pictures has me quite concerned. My mother always said that given the opportunity, even the most honest people will steal almost anything if they want it badly enough and are pretty sure they won't get caught. I believe these people who hijack the cake pictures of others are probably thinking that the odds are in their favor that the theft will never be discovered. Yet here we are, discovering their bad behavior. Shame on them!
In light of all this, in the past year I added a watermark to my website pictures. My webmaster found a program for Coppermine gallery, which is what my website uses, that will add the watermark to all of them at once. And we can turn it off and on or change it to something else very easily. The watermark is not present on the thumbnail pictures, only on the "normal" size images, and on the supersize image which appears when you "click" the normal size one. We decided that a fairly large pale white watermark across the center of the image, with an "inner glow" and a shadow, would be intensely time consuming (and nearly impossible) to remove, without ruining the original image. None of my clients has complained (yet) about the watermark on my images. It is there, but does not really obscure the detail. Sometime in the future, we may decide to change it.
This image theft has happened quite a few times now to a number of members here, and sadly, I believe it will continue. I know that many individuals apply watermarks to their images before they upload them here, but many people don't know how to add a watermark, nor have anyone who can help them do it.
So this leads me finally to a question:
Heath, I was wondering if is it conceivable that a "ghost image CakeCentral watermark" might be enabled, to protect all the images here?
Again...brevity is not my best quality, sorry for the length 
It looks like they are "fixing" the remaining section. Now, all that comes up is the titles of the images for the slide show, not the images themselves.
I can't believe that she would go to all of the trouble of removing backgrounds, when any idiot would be able to figure out that people will still be able to tell the pictures are the same (original/stolen one and the one on her site with blank background). The cake remains the same. Maybe she should change the colors and decorations on the cakes with PhotoShop, too. If she does enough, the pictures truly won't be recognizable. (or very attractive, but you can't have everything!)
What a low self esteem this lady must have to think anybody else's cakes are better than hers... Also not to be bothered by her peers loosing respect for her for not having the talent to come up with your own stuff, it feels so proud having the respect of people who do the same thing you do.
She's asking for trouble as she wont be able to make exact replicas of the cakes she offers and her clients will be the ones to put her in her place at the end
Paola
You know... I wonder if anybody has ever purchased one of those CD's that supposedly have "100's" of cake idea photos! I bet there are tons of stolen pics on those. Someone could honestly buy that and use them never even knowing the pics were stolen! They may honestly think that they bought the rights to use them! This kind of freaks me out! With her editing the pics I would say that was probably not what happened here but....
Sorry this is happening to you Audrey. Although I'm new to CC, I can clearly see the family you all have created here and how you all love each other, give support, help, and share, share, share with each other. So to have one of your own hurt you this way I'm sure is heart breaking. I'm mystified by your restraint and manners. I don't think I could have acted with as much class as you have. Good Job---you have something very good inside of you. I see your photo is still on her site. Good luck with this problem. It is YOUR work of art and definatly worth fighting for. You all have built such a wonderful thing here--please don't let it scare you. There are so many newbies to the site like myself who are in awe over your work and willingness to help us when we have questions. (I've been doing cakes now for about 5 years and am very proud of what I can do, but still i feel so small next you you all....so stand up, be TALL, AND TAKE BACK WHAT IS YOURS!!!
I don't know how people can do this and sleep well at night. I know that the excuses will come in very soon, but in their heart they know that they were wrong. I see it as stealing no matter what form in is.
I guess the other side is that you must feel in a funny odd way honored that your cake was so good that someone wanted to "borrow" it. 
I hope that from this we all learn something, that we can trust whomever we want but we have to always watch our backs. It is sad that here in cc world there is evil. We are here to share and help each other and to support one another when things are good or bad, not to steal or take all the credit for work that isn't ours. I think that we were all reminded that there are people that really don't care how people perceive them or care about respecting themselves and others. We are all adults here and I don't think that this is the place for childish behavior and yet that is the way that she is acting. "OK, you go look to see what they are saying about me and then let me know" ( someone made a point that if she was banned that maybe her workers could come on and see what was being said. She is obviously reading what is being said because she is changing somethings on the site. The way that I see it is if she was women enough to steal/borrow the photo than she needs to be women enough and apologize. She is obviously reading so the same way that she is able to read this thread than use that for good (for once) and say that she is sorry for the borrowing of the photos and that she wont do it again. And maybe just maybe the good, forgiving, kind, selfless decorators here at CC would maybe not forgive but "let go" what happened.
Sorry that it is so long but I have been watching this thread all day and I have been thinking that it might send the wrong message to others on the out side that this is what we are about here at CC and that is not what we are about. I don't want people to think that I will go and steal there photos and than make them mine. I make my cakes, whether they are good or bad they are mine and at that time I was proud of my work even if after the photo is taken I don't feel the same. I can try the hardest I want to make a copy of someones cake but it will never come out the same, so what do I tell my customer, uh....that wasn't my cake so that is what you saw and that is what you paid for but this is what you are going to get...... I think that is an embarrassment to our profession/hobby and that is not he way that I want people to think/judge me.
That is my two cents. Sorry that it is so long.
arosstx, we are here for you as you can see with all the responses that this thread has gotten. I hope that you can keep in mind that you have freinds here and that not everyone is that way.
Your CC Friend,
Vicky
I don't think so. Heath said once he banned her she can't log in anymore to get onto the site to read threads. Plus MY picture is still there and it's the one that started this whole thing. That's the one page she HASN'T changed. She's changed everything else!
Just because he banned the ip doenst mean, she cant log on under another one. if she has window xp you can set up more than one account, (ex dad mom sister guest) each one have a different ip address, if she has more than one computer in the house she can always use another computer, so with that being said, she might logged on with another name as a newbie, we will never know.....Shame on her......
I had a question, is it possible at the website level to disable the ability to download pictures?
If that were possible it seems it would solve this problem, but I am very naieve in the technology world (the cake decorating world too!
)If anyone is persistent enough, they can always get the image.
The problem with trying to circumvent the few thieves is that it makes it harder for all the legitimate cc members who merely want to save images for inspiration. The main reason the photo gallery exists is for sharing, so we don't want to make that difficult.
Agreed. We all just need to protect ourselves as best we can and leave the rest up to the cake gods!
And no I didn't mean Jackie & Heath!
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