Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Friday Fille

Corey,FB

This is me without glasses, a double chin, or wrinkles.

PicMonkey, I love you. 

It is amazing what one can do to a photo. Manipulation paradise. Creative waterfall. Powerful wrinkle removal tool. Why have a good camera when there is such a thing as Picmonkey? A fool proof, easy to use, photoshop for dummies sort of site. I love Picmonkey (Free or/and more advance for a small fee, for anyone with a computer.).

Taking photos is a pleasure for me. Adding them to my blog is something I have been doing steadily for over seven years. Many have asked if they can use a photo of mine for their screen saver, or for a magazine cover, or to use on their Facebook, or to print out for their personal use. I usually say, "Thank you for asking. Add my name and a link to the back. Go ahead."

Asking permission is the right thing to do, it is given credit to where it is due, it is taking the time to find out WHO took the photo and using it with proper credit and not for personal gain.

I am not someone who writes negatively on my blog. But today I have something to say.

 

 

Corey amaro's photo used by TRINKA5

I received an email from a blogging friend who asked:

"Hi Corey!
I was sent a message to go check out a page called "trinka 5 designs" I was told that they were copying some of my designs. I went to check them out and while I was on their page – I saw this photo that I have attached. Isn't this your photo? They have put a slogan on it and watermarked their name on it."

 I was surprised.

I should not have been.

But using my photo, manipulating it with a quote and adding THEIR watermark… Well that is too much!

Trinka 5 you should know better. If you are going to use someones photo at least give them credit, and DO NOT claim it as your own.

If you would like to use a photo of mine, ask me. Then write under the photo adding a link back to my blog. 

Photo Source: Corey Amaro, http://www.willows95988.typepad.com.

Thank you.

 

 

Comments

34 responses to “Friday Fille”

  1. Marie

    So Corey, what are you going to do? I think you should start by sending them a bill for your work! I am reading about other bloggers grappling with this issue with their photography more and more. It is not right.

    Reply
  2. Tongue in Cheek

    Hi Marie,
    I wrote them and they took my photo down.
    Though they did not respond.
    C

    Reply
  3. Beatnheart

    and they are selling at neiman marcus (needless mark-ups)!!
    shame on them…Let’s let them have it….

    Reply
  4. Dawn Fleming

    Shame on them indeed! I am glad they took your photo down. Have a nice weekend.

    Reply
  5. Joanna

    Shame on you Trinka 5!
    With this type of shady business practice you are going to burn more bridges than a chance for longevity in success
    The least you can do is to offer a public apology and retroactive payment to the proper credit source.

    Reply
  6. Diogenes

    Corey, your photos are your art. They are not random snapshots. I saw first hand how you set up all your pictures and how long you really thought about what you were photographing. You rearrange things with your eye, and your mind, and show us what you want us to see. That is art. At a minimum they owe you an apology.

    Reply
  7. Momof5

    Not right! So sorry and I’m glad they removed it!

    Reply
  8. Momof5

    So sorry Corey! I’m glad they took it down.

    Reply
  9. Kathie B

    I can’t even recall how long ago it was in school (6th grade, maybe?) that we were taught to footnote on papers to attribute to its source any and everything we borrowed, although I think we got extra credit the more we had, which tended to lead to perhaps excessive footnoting 😉
    But the great irony here is that first I virtually “met” Corey BECAUSE I emailed her asking permission to reproduce some of her comments and photos of the Princeton Holy Ghost Festa (which I’d found simply by Googling) on one of my websites. Of course she graciously said “Yes,” as she did again when I asked if I could use some of them in a talk I was giving at a conference in Paris a few months later. The best part was that this led to Farmboy Husband and me getting to take the TGV down to Provence to meet Corey, Yann and (fleetingly) Chelsea (Sacha was on his gap year, IIRC) during our trip. I guess the moral of the story is that virtue can be its own reward!!! (And if Corey ever takes Trinka to Cassis, Trinka might be nervous enough to wear a life-vest — LOL!).

    Reply
  10. Laura

    Boo Trinka5….not cool.

    Reply
  11. Carol

    Scruples are in short supply these days!
    Apologizing might be an admission of guilt I suppose.
    So sorry, Corey!

    Reply
  12. Mary Ellen Golden

    http://trinka5.com/new-page/
    It is still on this page without the words..just a collage of photos..could not open it alone.

    Reply
  13. Petra Leaford

    Hi Corey, You right so beautifully, even about this issue. I have seen many rants about this and rightly so, but you have handled it the most eloquently, no ranting, just a clear message and a clear instruction what someone should do. Well done for keeping your cool, even though they have stepped way over the line. You are awesome and I love your creations!

    Reply
  14. Petra Leaford

    Oh no I should have re read before posting *write not right!

    Reply
  15. Vanna

    Wow she has big rubber BALLS doing something so blatant! And not in a good way *winks* Shame on her for not at least offering an apology. Vanna

    Reply
  16. Peggy Braswell

    Shame, shame, shame Trinka 5. So much for ethics! xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

    Reply
  17. 24/7 in France

    False advertising is what I call it…& well, fraud and stealing! I was taught to always cite sources and give credit where credit is due. This situation probably happens more than we could ever know – good you found out.

    Reply
  18. Susan

    Oh no, I’m so frustrated to read this – I can only imagine how you feel.
    What are people thinking? where is the moral compass?
    new subject: I adore Picmonkey. they are user friendly, even for a dopey photographer like me 🙂
    finally, you look lovely in this photo. But you always look lovely. all the time 🙂

    Reply
  19. joanny

    Corey
    Why am I not surprised…in my absence from blogging many blogger’s took what they wanted and never once referenced my blog. What is interesting is that some of these bloggers have big followings.
    What really got me was when I discovered my banner with my photo and blog name in small print they took the whole thing, and reused it as is…. maybe because they were lazy or something or didn’t know how to use photo shop to remove some of the photo’s from the banner & the blog name.
    Lucky for you someone discovered it & alerted you.
    Your photo without glasses etc and with glasses either way you look lovely. A rose is a rose…
    j:)

    Reply
  20. Robin

    There are those who create and those who copy. When one is a student, one learns the difference between creative borrowing and copying. As an artist – the difference transmutes into the question of artistic integrity.
    Trinka has been given a wonderful opportunity to learn that in the world of art & artists (canvas, paper or electronic bits) integrity is everything. I hope they pull the photo, contact you with an apology and enter into the world you have created; as a creative beings – not an interlopers.

    Reply
  21. Jody

    Corey,
    I’m glad you spoke out about this and happy to hear they removed your photo! Your style is uniquely beautiful and your photos are easily recognizable…that someone would steal your work is hard to believe, but I’ve heard it is happening to many others.

    Reply
  22. Missy

    Good for you Corey for calling these unethical people out. I applaud you ! Go Corey! XO, missy

    Reply
  23. Jude

    People will always push the ethics envelope. I see people using quotes and attibuting them to themselves. Famous quotes from the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and Abraham Lincoln that are pretty common and well known. I don’t know who they think they are fooling, but the irony is usually it’s sites about “being a better person”.
    It was right and fitting that you called Trinka on it.
    Jude

    Reply
  24. La Contessa

    I was once told this is the biggest form of a compliment!I still do not grasp that.
    Madame TRINKA is a DINKA if she thought she would not get caught!Again you handled it very well………..I applaud you!
    You look great in your “adjusted”photo!

    Reply
  25. jody

    Corey, i am proud of you for handling this calmly and with grace. i was and am furious for you. your photos are so unique and very personal to your blog. they speak Corey Amaro of Tongue in cheek and we know it.
    xox jody in fl

    Reply
  26. Karen Carson

    As a fellow-photographer I am truly sensitive to this topic! Today’s post was not negative at all, but very gracious and professional. You rock!

    Reply
  27. Jazmine

    To Corey, et al, from Jazmine Giovanni, COO, Trinka 5 Designs ::
    Hello everyone. Hope you are having a nice morning, or evening in Paris, as it were. As I stated in the offending photo’s comment thread yesterday morning (which I left up for a few hours and then removed the post, as per the request), I pulled this pic from a blog that had not given credit to it and thought it was beautiful and totally ripe for a Picasso sentiment. In the nine years that my mother and I have been running this design business, we have never copied anyone’s designs, nor “stolen” anyone’s intellectual property, and the assumption of such actions are without merit, particularly given that our original designs have given way to an entire trend in home decoration.
    It would have been appropriate to email me personally about it and I would have gladly conceded my mistake and made a friend of any fellow artist.
    We are a small company, a mother/daughter enterprise, and I still make every piece by hand myself. I am no stranger to sweating the details for art’s sake. I’m afraid your fervor is misplaced in this case.
    No harm, no foul. I trust you will understand, and in like kind, we would appreciate you updating your blog to reflect this.
    Have a nice weekend.

    Reply
  28. Tongue in Cheek

    Dear Friends of Tongue in Cheek,
    Thank you for your support. I appreciate every one of your generous compliments and encouragement.
    Yes, Trinka5 has at this time of writing this comment a photo of mine on her blog, it doesn’t have her water mark, nor is their credit given to me that it is my photo. But Trinka has many photos on her blog and FB that are not hers, without credit to where or who the belong to.
    With that said, she is not the only blogger, nor FBooking, nor sharing, nor Tumbling photos that are not hers. I know that… she is not the first, nor the last…
    Internet makes it easy to do… either one shares and accepts that, or one doesn’t share, or one watermarks their photos in hopes that people will be respectful.
    It is what it is not fair, not right, not honest. But it is what it is wrong.
    But when someone watermarks a photo of mine as theirs… well that is rude.
    What to do?
    Be honest.
    Compliment bloggers and sites that share honestly. Admire their work and do not copy/paste it as your own. Give credit where credit is do. Link Back to the source to the photo. Help others to be honest.
    Thank you!

    Reply
  29. jeanie

    Corey, take a visit over to parisparfait.typepad.com — she has been fighting what seems to be one woman vigilante fight against people stealing her work — sometimes online, sometimes via pinterest, using it commercially and illegally. If you scroll down to earlier this summer you will see a huge list of ALL the places she has found her photography. She lives in Amsterdam now, but was in Paris for years. She may have some tips for you.

    Reply
  30. Kathie B

    “I pulled this pic from a blog that had not given credit to it…”
    Plagiarism by proxy is still plagiarism.
    “It would have been appropriate to email me personally about it and I would have gladly conceded my mistake and made a friend of any fellow artist.”
    You didn’t merely make a “mistake,” you stole. No ethical artist would want to become your friend after you stole from them.
    “No harm, no foul.”
    Bovine effluvium.

    Reply
  31. Kathie B

    And if you ever plagiarize from me, I promise you’ll wind up in a world of hurt of a magnitude that you can’t begin to imagine.

    Reply
  32. Misha

    I think a queue is starting. There are some very unhappy artists, designers and photographers who’s work is on trinka5.com as “decoration” without consent.

    Reply
  33. Marilyn

    I was recently involved in an online discussion about just this thing. I couldn’t believe that most of the women in the discussion felt once a picture was posted it was free to anyone. My heart was not happy. I am hearing of this more and more and appreciate you speaking up. Thanks, Corey! Keep up the good fight. I so enjoy your photos and like I told the women in my discussion, at least have the courtesy to ask.

    Reply
  34. Rebecca from the pacific northwest

    Was that the only photo of yours among all those many photos? Their actual work is quite lovely. Too bad they felt they could just pick and choose whatever they wanted from the web. Was this photo from before the days when you started putting your name on each picture?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions