On January 4th I published a blog post regarding this image that had been stolen from my Feathered Photography galleries. My copyright had been removed and replaced with the logo of someone else and the image was posted on Facebook under the name of Alessandro Pinna (I’m appalled at the poor quality of this version due to overcompression…)
As I reported before, I filed a DMCA takedown notice with Facebook and the image was removed the next day. But many other images on that FB account had been stolen and the comment section was brimming with vitriol and extreme anger. Justifiably so.
It turns out that the real Alessandro Pinna has apparently been the victim of identity theft on FB and is innocent in this entire matter. Yesterday, he posted this police report on his website. I then posted the link to the police report on a FB group I belong to that is dedicated to dealing with image theft. At that time I was yet unsure about what was really going on.
Then today, I received the following email from the real Alessandro Pinna (quoted with permission). He had seen both my blog post and the fact that I had posted the police report to the FB group.
Dear Ron, I am writing to you because I just found out you guys arementioning my
name and my website on your blog.
I just wanted to confirm
it’s my name this guy has stolen and so I had
to start the process to defend
myself and clear my name; that’s the reason
for the police report you posted
yesterday and I guess more to come if
FB will not take down this guy
soon.You have no idea the kind of hate mails I have received since jan
1st. You know how it goes: it literally takes no time for people to believe you are ‘thief’ and on the other side, it’s a much harder work to convince them you ARE NOT. So, although I am very positive person and
am fighting against it, I
need people to spread my police report and web
page as much as people
did on private blogs over the past week, accusing me
and calling me
names. Ron, thank you for your time for reading this
and congratulations for
your birds…they are gorgeous. Keep in
touch! Best Wishes Alessandro (the real one)
I can only imagine how traumatic this has been for Alesandro so I wanted to make every effort to help clear his name.
I simply don’t understand why Facebook hasn’t taken this account down. Many, many folks have complained to FB, including me. This person (whoever he/she may be) is amoral and a despicable representative of humanity.
Ron
Note (Jan 12 @6:10pm) – Alessandro (the real one) has just opened a Facebook account with the apparent motivation to help clear his name. I’m sure some “likes” and encouraging comments would be appreciated. Here’s the link.
I got into with him and he immediately took two of my photos and posted them as his own. So I just shared them and told everyone he had stolen them and they could find the originals in my albums…. What a sleazebag.
We have been fighting this moron for weeks, as of today 1-16-13 no sites of his are on Facebook, however, he is notorious for creating new ones and taking them down when the heat gets turned up. I am in contact with the REAL Alessandro Pinna, along with 100’s of others in seeking charges against this guy.
I hope this guy can be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.Not only for what he has done but to be an wexample to others who would imulate his actions.
Hi Ron, Terrible situation, and I sympathize with what you and others are going through. Would it help if your blog friends were to weigh in? If so, where and how?
I’d be happy to add my voice – hope this case has some sort of positive resolution.
Cheers,
Dick
I’m not sure what would help with this “person”, Dick. He/she now has a new page up and is beginning to post the same types of images. He’s already getting nasty comments about thievery, including mine (until he blocks me like he has others).
Here’s the link to the page… http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Spectacular-Images-%E0%AE%87%DC%93/518872528133387
But be aware that he sends out really disgusting messages to some folks who complain. I haven’t recieved any yet (but a friend has) and I expect to be a recipient soon. You don’t have to see them if you have your FB settings set appropriately.
Strange motivation involved in this … stealing images to post to an account using a stolen identity. What’s the social network equivalent of a signed petition? I would sign a request to remove the content of the page and replace it with a statement that the real Alessandro is not the thief.
Dave, I don’t know what that equivelent would be. I’m not well versed in social media (except in dealing with image thieves, where I’m becoming more proficient as time goes by, sadly…)
Who is this rotten schmuck who is posing as Alessandro and stealing other peoples photos. Damn it, Facebook!!! GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!!!!
Good question, Nicole. Apparently no one really knows who he is – he’s the subject of much chatter on FB groups dedicated to image thievery.
Adding the injury to Alessandro’s reputation makes this situation even worse than we originally thought. Is this random maliciousness or is it someone with a personal vendetta–perhaps a jealous competitor trying to knock out his competition…? I find myself asking these questions. I just don’t understand it. It really underscores that there are some pretty nasty people out there. Thank you for making us aware of this and I hope Alessandro is able to repair the damage to his reputation and not suffer too much because of this incident.
I agree, Sharon. Image theft is one thing but unwarranted damage to one’s reputation is much worse.
I simply can’t believe that these Pages are still up on Facebook.
I was leaving comments pointing out that the images were stolen, with links to the original sites from which the images were likely stole until my Facebook profile was blocked on those pages. I was one of MANY people doing so. Then, after I was blocked, I started leaving comments and/or messaging original photographers with a link to their work stolen and posted on these pages. The cretins also often altered the original work, badly, “cheapening” it – over-boosting saturation & contrast, for example. When I first shared the article about the stolen identity police report, one of my friends asked if I believed Alessandro Pinna. I responded that it didn’t stretch my imagination in the least to think that the same people that would steal art would also steal a name. Not in the least… There are hundreds of victims of this, and Alessandro Pinna is first among them.
Katie, He(the phony Alessandro)has blocked several of us from commenting. I’ve noticed that some folks are leaving comments that are only a link, to the police report. Last time I checked the jerk hadn’t picked up on that yet.
As I see it now, if it appeared in FB, there was no way to track his URL. Everything that’s posted in FB registers in their own database. If he would have posted it somewhere else, maybe, but once it enters FB it’s theirs, if so to speak.
I don’t think there’s a way to track it through FB either, Maria. But then I don’t know a lot about that kind of “stuff”. Sure is frustrating. And maddening.
Yes, I know, and we have to be on our toes with the “snapshot” or “screenshot” tools of our computers. I was able to take down a pheasant hunting advertisement of a popular website by using the snapshot tool of my Mac, and in a split of a second I was also able to get the “copy image address” of the advertisement. I got him. But I had do it in a split of a second because it was in an ad using Flash Player with a “click tag”. A “click tag” is designed specifically to attract customers, so this is why I was able to get him. In your case I don’t know for how long your image was posted in FB, and whether there was a a way to track his URL at all.
Many thanks, Ron, for all that you did in this matter. You did a tremendous service to Alessandro by do ing this. Let’s hope that FB finally gets the message.
I hope they get the message too, Bob. But I’m afraid they’re just too damned big to care much about stuff like this.
Thanks for the update on the Facebook postings. It appears that whoever is stealing photos is also stealing identities. Since this could be an enormous problem, it would seem a federal agency should locate and “take down” the thief! The misuse of this kind of expertise should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!
Thanks for your info.
Charlotte
Charlotte, I sure wish that SOMEONE in authority would step up and deal with this situation and others like it.
It must be so difficult for the real Alessandro. Mud has a nasty way of sticking and it is quite possible that some people will NEVER believe he is innocent. Thank you for posting both his email and the police report. The thief is an oxygen thief and you are a superb photographer and a more than decent person. Thank you.
I hope it’s possible for Alessandro to get his reputation back, Elephant’s Child.