{"id":2199,"date":"2013-02-05T00:25:32","date_gmt":"2013-02-04T15:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2013-02-05\/2199"},"modified":"2013-02-09T12:13:34","modified_gmt":"2013-02-09T03:13:34","slug":"disappointed-in-fstoppers-com-wholesale-copyright-infringment-as-a-business-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2013-02-05\/2199","title":{"rendered":"Disappointed in Fstoppers.com: Wholesale Copyright Infringement as a Business Model"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n #post2199 p.h { font-size: 130%; font-weight:bold }\n<\/style>\n\n\n<div class='ic'>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/s\/namibia-thorn-trees-by-frans-lanting.jpg\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\"\nalt=\"Photo &copy;Frans Lanting\/lanting.com\"\nid=\"inamibia_thorn_trees_by_frans_lanting\"\nstyle=\"margin-bottom:0\"\ntitle=\"Dead camelthorn trees, Acacia erioloba, Dead Vlei, Sossusvlei, Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namibia. Photo by Frans Lanting\/lanting.com, used on regex.info with permission.\"\/>\n<div style='margin:auto;width:750px;text-align:right;font-size:80%'><a style='color:#666' href='http:\/\/franslanting.photoshelter.com\/image\/I0000Qo534dFV1Lw'>Photo &copy;Frans Lanting\/lanting.com<\/a><\/div>\n<div class='caption'>Copyright Can Be <span class='nobr'>a Thorny<\/span> Issue<\/div>\nespecially if you just blatantly don't care about respecting it\n<\/div>\n\n<p>I used to enjoy reading about cool photography-related things on\nFstoppers.com, but that was before <span class='nobr'>I realized<\/span>\nthat their business model is apparently built on systematic wholesale\ncopyright violation. They <b>regularly<\/b> publish large numbers of\ncopyrighted photos without permission from the photographer. They just take\nwhat they want to pad their site, building their user base and, presumably,\ntheir revenues.<\/p>\n\n<p class='h'>For Example...<\/p>\n\n<p>When this issue surfaced a couple of weeks ago with one article filled\nwith copyright violations (more on that later), <span class='nobr'>I was shocked<\/span> that <span class='nobr'>a\nphotography<\/span> site as respected as Fstoppers could allow such <span class='nobr'>a slip,<\/span> but sad\nresearch has shown that it was not <span class='nobr'>a slip,<\/span> but rather, <span class='nobr'>a pattern.<\/span> Recent\nexamples include...<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\n  <li><p>\n\n&#8220;<a class='pt' href='http:\/\/fstoppers.com\/long-exposures-couples-sleeping-tell-an-interesting-story'>Long Exposures Of Couples Sleeping Tell An Interesting Story<\/a>&#8221;\n<br\/>by Fstopper's staff writer Pratik Naik, filled with copyrighted photos by\n<a href='http:\/\/www.schneggenburger.at\/'>Paul Schneggenburger<\/a>, all used without permission. <\/p><p>How do I know Fstoppers had no permission to publish these photos? Unlike Fstoppers, <span class='nobr'>I contacted<\/span> Paul.\n\n\n<\/p><\/li><li><p>\n\n\n&#8220;<a class='pt' href='http:\/\/fstoppers.com\/review-brief-encounters-gregory-crewdson-documentary'>Review of Brief Encounters, Gregory Crewdson Documentary<\/a>&#8221;\n<br\/>by Fstopper's staff writer Nick Fancher, filled with copyrighted photos by <a href='http:\/\/www.gagosian.com\/artists\/gregory-crewdson'>Gregory Crewdson<\/a>,\nall used without permission. <\/p><p>How do I know Fstoppers had no permission to publish these photos? Unlike Fstoppers, <span class='nobr'>I contacted<\/span> Gregory's agent..\n<\/p><\/li><li><p>\n\n&#8220;<a class='pt' href='http:\/\/fstoppers.com\/brilliantly-minimalistic-food-still-lifes'>Brilliantly Minimalistic Food Still Lifes<\/a>&#8221;\n<br\/>\n     by Fstopper's staff writer Corey Melton. <span class='nobr'>It has one<\/span> short paragraph of text followed by <span class='nobr'>a bunch<\/span> of copyrighted photos by\n     <a href='http:\/\/www.florenttanet.fr\/'>Florent Tanet<\/a>, all used without permission. <\/p><p>How do I know Fstoppers had no permission to publish these photos? Unlike Fstoppers, <span class='nobr'>I contacted<\/span> Florent.\n\n<\/p><\/li><li><p>\n\n&#8220;<a class='pt' href='http:\/\/fstoppers.com\/the-dying-breath-of-a-snowflake'>The Dying Breath of <span class='nobr'>a Snowflake<\/span><\/a>&#8221;\n     <br\/>by Fstopper's staff writer David Bickley. <span class='nobr'>It's a couple<\/span> of short paragraphs followed by <span class='nobr'>a bunch<\/span> of copyrighted photos by\n     <a href='http:\/\/en.www.lensart.ru\/entire-uid-1676-sh-1.htm'>\u0410\u043d\u0434\u0440\u0435\u0439 \u041e\u0441\u043e\u043a\u0438\u043d<\/a> (Andrew Osokin), all used without permission. <\/p><p>How do I know Fstoppers had no permission to publish these photos? Unlike Fstoppers, <span class='nobr'>I contacted Andrew<\/span>.\n\n<\/p><\/li><li><p>\n\n     &#8220;<a class='pt' href='http:\/\/fstoppers.com\/the-surreal-conceptual-photography-19-year-old-taylor-marie-mccormick'>The Surreal Conceptual Photography Of 19 Year Old Taylor Marie McCormick<\/a>&#8221;\n     <br\/>\n     by Fstopper's staff writer Pratik Naik, again filled with copyright photos (this time by <a href='http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/lalasiy\/'>Taylor McCormick<\/a>,\n     and again all used without permission). <\/p><p>How do I know Fstoppers had no permission to publish these photos? Unlike Fstoppers, <span class='nobr'>I contacted<\/span> Marie.\n\n<\/p><\/li><li><p>\n\n     &#8220;<a class='pt' href='http:\/\/fstoppers.com\/amazing-surreal-work-from-robert-shana-parkeharrison'>Amazing Surreal Work from Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison<\/a>&#8221;\n     <br\/>\n     by Fstopper's staff writer Chris Knight, filled with copyrighted photos by <a href='http:\/\/www.parkeharrison.com\/'>Robert and Shana ParkeHerrison<\/a>,\n     all used without permission. <\/p><p>How do I know Fstoppers had no permission to publish these photos? Unlike Fstoppers, <span class='nobr'>I contacted<\/span> Robert and Shana.\n\n<\/p><\/li><li><p>\n\n\n     &#8220;<a class='pt' href='http:\/\/fstoppers.com\/the-surreal-landscape-marc-adamus'>The Surreal Landscape Of Marc Adamus<\/a>&#8221;\n     <br\/>\n     by Fstopper's staff writer Thomas Ingersoll, filled with copyrighted photos by <a href='http:\/\/www.marcadamus.com\/'>Marc Adamus<\/a>,\n     all used without permission. <\/p><p>How do I know Fstoppers had no permission to publish these photos? Unlike Fstoppers, <span class='nobr'>I contacted<\/span> Marc.\n\n<\/p><\/li><\/ul>\n\n<p>That last bit of deliberate infringement by Thomas Ingersoll is perhaps\nmost telling that systematic copyright infringement is institutionalized in\nFstopper's business model, because it follows an article by him two weeks\nago, of the most stunningly-obvious copyright violations, that brought all\nthis to light...<\/p>\n\n<p class='h'>Two Weeks Ago...<\/p>\n\n<p>In mid January, Fstopper's staff writer Thomas Ingersoll published an\narticle titled &#8220;<i>25 Mind Blowing Landscapes From Around The\nWorld<\/i>&#8221; that included some really famous photos (such as the one above) that were almost\ncertainly published without permission. <span class='nobr'>The\narticle<\/span> has since been removed, presumably because of the firestorm\nof &#8220;Fstoppers, come on, really!?&#8221; comments and any number of <a\nhref='http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_'>DCMA<\/a>\ntakedown notices, but you can get <span class='nobr'>a good<\/span> sense of\nwhat it was because it seems to have essentially plagiarized <a\nhref='http:\/\/jtjonesphotos.com\/2013\/01\/15\/25-mind-blowing-landscapes-from-around-the-world\/'>this\nweb page<\/a> (which itself almost certainly has no permission to publish\nthe photos, either), though perhaps the latter is <span class='nobr'>a\ncopy<\/span> of the former... hard to know. Oddly, the Fstopper's version\nomitted any mention of the photographer's names.... it had only the photos\nand the photo locations.<\/p>\n\n<p>The copyright violations were so stunningly plentiful and obvious (and so stunning to be\nfrom <span class='nobr'>a seemingly<\/span>-clueful photography site like Fstoppers) that <span class='nobr'>I left<\/span> what\nturns out to have been the first comment on the article, suggesting that\nthe title should be changed to &#8220;<i>25 Mind Blowing Copyright Violations by\nFstoppers<\/i>&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n<p>Many similar comments followed, some also complaining about the lack of\nphotographer credits. That's tangential, though, because\n&#8220;attribution&#8221; is certainly no substitute for\n&#8220;permission&#8221;. It's <i>permission<\/i> you need: <span\nclass='nobr'>no permission<\/span> means no publish, and Fstoppers certainly\nknows this.<\/p>\n\n<p>It was all quite obvious, but to be sure, <span class='nobr'>I did<\/span> ask one of the\nphotographers whose work appeared, <a href='http:\/\/www.lanting.com'>Frans\nLanting<\/a>, whether he had given permission for Fstoppers to publish his\nmost-abackmazing <a\nhref='http:\/\/franslanting.photoshelter.com\/gallery-image\/Namibia-Africas-Super-Park\/G0000SGiYAMgynZI\/I0000Qo534dFV1Lw'>Namibia\nThorn Trees<\/a> shot from the <a\nhref='http:\/\/ngm.nationalgeographic.com\/2011\/06\/namibia-park\/fuller-text'>June\n2011 issue of <i>National Geographic<\/i><\/a> (seen above... that's a <i>photo<\/i> of dead thorn trees against <span class='nobr'>a backdrop<\/span> of <span class='nobr'>a sun<\/span>-lit dune). No, he had not, was the\nreply. <span class='nobr'>I hadn't<\/span> even been the first to give them <span class='nobr'>a heads<\/span> up.<\/p>\n\n<p>His office, I was told, had sent <span class='nobr'>a take<\/span>-down notice, but the image\nremained. <span class='nobr'>I'm not a<\/span> lawyer, but <span\nclass='nobr'>I believe<\/span> that now makes the infringement\n&#8220;willful&#8221;, triggering <span class='nobr'>a change<\/span> in penalty (should Lanting wish\nto pursue it) from &#8220;not less than $200&#8221; to &#8220;$150,000&#8221;. Oops.<\/p>\n\n<p class='h'>Fstoppers Responds<\/p>\n\n<p>Fstopper's response? I thought that <span class='nobr'>I knew<\/span> and respected the site and\nthe folks behind it, so <span class='nobr'>I expected<\/span> that the article would quickly be\nreplaced with an apologetic note, perhaps citing <span class='nobr'>a lapse<\/span> of judgment by\nan inexperienced staff writer, along with <span class='nobr'>a promise<\/span> that it would not\nhappen again. But wow, <span class='nobr'>I couldn't<\/span> have been more wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>Rather, Thomas Ingersoll (the article's &#8220;author&#8221;) let loose with <span class='nobr'>a string<\/span>\nof virulent replies that would have been considered immature for <span class='nobr'>a 13<\/span> year old,\nperhaps the least adolescent of which was his reply to my comment about the title\nchange, along the lines of &#8220;<i>Uh, yeah, I'll get right on making that change for\nyou.<\/i>&#8221; The thrust of his defense, though, was simply that he couldn't be\nbothered tracking down the copyright owners.<\/p>\n\n<p>Another response from Fstoppers was the occasional update of the article\nto include some names of the photographers whose work was being\ninfringed (again, as if attribution somehow mattered in this respect).<\/p>\n\n<p>At least one photographer whose work was published left <span class='nobr'>a series<\/span> of\ncomments saying that he had certainly not given permission. <span class='nobr'>Yet his photo<\/span>,\nand all the photos, remained.<\/p>\n\n<p>Another Fstoppers response was the eventual deletion of all the\nadolescent responses by the author, Thomas Ingersoll. They just\ndisappeared from the comment thread.<\/p>\n\n<p class='h'>Fstoppers Founder Lee Morris Responds<\/p>\n\n<p>A number of commenters voiced the same question that had begun ringing\nin my head: where was the adult supervision here? When would one of the\nfounders of Fstoppers (Patrick Hall, or the charismatic and prior-to-this-undeniably-cool Lee Morris) step in to make things right?<\/p>\n\n<p>Finally, many hours after it all started, <span class='nobr'>I\nnoticed<\/span> <span class='nobr'>a lone<\/span> comment by Lee Morris,\nresponding not to the copyright issue, but to someone complaining about the\nimmature replies (and subsequent immature deletion) by staff writer Thomas\nIngersoll. <span class='nobr'>As I recall<\/span>, <span class='nobr'>Lee\nmore or<\/span> less said &#8220;<i>Gee, he removed the comments... can't\nyou just let it go?<\/i>&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p>(Update: my memory of Lee's comment was imperfect; Lee Morris himself chimed in with <a href='\/blog\/2013-02-05\/2199#comment-48589'>the actual quote, here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n<p>And that was it. His response to the overwhelming copyright violations\nby his company was.... silence. Until that moment <span class='nobr'>I\nthought<\/span> it was just one staff writer without integrity, but now it\nseemed more than apparent that it was company policy. <span class='nobr'>In\nthat moment<\/span> my respect for Lee Morris and Fstoppers vanished.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class='h'>The Immediate Aftermath<\/p>\n\n<p>The site soon went offline for two days, apparently due to an unrelated\nvirus or hacking or something. When they came back online, the\n&#8220;Mind-Blowing Landscapes&#8221; article was gone without <span\nclass='nobr'>a trace,<\/span> and no mention made of it. No apology. No\nexcuses <a href='http:\/\/www.photoattorney.com\/?p=3866'>like<\/a> <a\nhref='http:\/\/www.photoattorney.com\/?p=3948'>these<\/a>. Nothing.<\/p>\n\n<p>Wow.<\/p>\n\n<p>And to top it off, this <i>delicious<\/i> bit of irony: on the day their\nsite came back up, <span class='nobr'>Lee Morris<\/span> himself published\nnot an apology, but an unrelated article titled &#8220;<a\nhref='http:\/\/fstoppers.com\/this-guy-stole-photography-from-wrong-person-me'\nclass='pt'>This Guy Stole Photography From The Wrong Person...\nMe<\/a>&#8221;, about someone that not only had used Lee's own photos\nwithout permission, but had also put his own name to them.<\/p>\n\n<p>In the article, Lee talks about how he took the fauxtographer to\ntask for stealing his photos, and ends with \"<i>the moral of the story is,\ndon\u2019t steal other photographers\u2019 work and claim that it is your own,\nespecially mine. You\u2019ll never get away with it.<\/i>\".<\/p>\n\n<p>Apparently it's okay to steal photos, so long as you don't claim that\nthey're yours?<\/p>\n\n\n<p class='h'>My Followup<\/p>\n\n<p>I was dismayed by Fstoppers copyright violations and wondered how\nconsistently they were doing it, so <span class='nobr'>I contacted<\/span> the occasional photographer\nwhose works were being published on Fstoppers, asking whether they had\ngiven permission.<\/p>\n\n<p><span class='nobr'>I got<\/span> <span\nclass='nobr'>a number<\/span> of &#8220;No, I've never heard of this\nsite&#8221; responses. Eventually <span class='nobr'>I did<\/span> get <span\nclass='nobr'>a few<\/span> &#8220;yes, <span class='nobr'>I gave them<\/span>\npermission&#8221; responses, so Fstoppers does at least know how to do it\ncorrectly, even if they don't normally do so.<\/p>\n\n<p>Some of the photographers responded to me with laments about how common\nthis kind of thing is, and that they've given up being bothered about it.\n<span class='nobr'>I understand<\/span> this and mostly feel the same way\nmyself. (My own photos are taken and used all over, though now it's\nincreasingly legal because <span class='nobr'>I now<\/span> release many of them with <span class='nobr'>a generous<\/span> <a\nhref='\/blog\/lightroom-goodies\/creative-commons'>Creative\nCommons<\/a> license.)<\/p>\n\n<p><span class='nobr'>I just<\/span> expect so much better from <span\nclass='nobr'>a for<\/span>-photographers by-photographers site like\nFstoppers.<\/p>\n\n<p>And in most cases, all Fstoppers had to do was ask. Many photographers\nare thrilled to share their work; they retain copyright so that they retain\ncontrol, but often readily give permission in cases like this. <span\nclass='nobr'>And if they<\/span> do say no, well, no means no.<\/p>\n\n<p class='h'>Update<\/p>\n\n<div style='border-left: 3px solid #888; padding-left:1em'>\n\n<p><b>This section was added <span class='nobr'>a week<\/span> after initial publication of this article.<\/b><\/p>\n\n<p>In the aftermath of this article, two things became clear: based upon\nthe comments below by Fstopper's founder Lee Morris, they simply had <i>no\nclue<\/i> about copyright. This is almost unbelievable for <span class='nobr'>a professional<\/span>\nwedding photographer, but if it's the case, it means <span class='nobr'>a complete<\/span> correction of the problem\nwould be as swift as an understanding of the problem.<\/p>\n\n<p>And indeed, many subsequent articles came with a &#8220;used by\npermission&#8221; note, so <span class='nobr'>I didn't<\/span> feel the need to followup.<\/p>\n\n<p>Some articles didn't carry such <span class='nobr'>a note,<\/span> and on occasion <span class='nobr'>I made<\/span> contact\nwith the photographers whose work was republished. <span class='nobr'>In one case<\/span>, it was clear\nthat Fstoppers had not asked permission:<\/p>\n\n<ul><li>&#8220;<a href='http:\/\/fstoppers.com\/documentary-photography-by-azli-jamil' class='pt'>Documentary Photography By Azli Jamil<\/a>&#8221;\n      <br\/>by Fstoppers staff writer Chris Lambeth, filled with copyrighted photos by <a href='http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/azlijamil01\/'>Azil Jamil<\/a>, used without permission.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n<p>So Fstoppers clearly still has <span class='nobr'>a ways<\/span> to go, and still expose themselves to <i>staggering<\/i> liability.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p class='h'>How Would Fstoppers Feel...?<\/p>\n\n<p>Fstoppers and Lee Morris are the ones who worked with the amazing <a\nhref='http:\/\/peterhurley.com\/'>Peter Hurley<\/a> on <span class='nobr'>a how<\/span>-to video on\nportraiture. <span class='nobr'>It's Peter<\/span> who inspired me to <a\nhref='\/blog\/category\/camera-equipment\/portraiture-practice'>practice\nportraiture<\/a>, and <span class='nobr'>I seriously<\/span> consider spending the $300 for the\nfour-hour video based on the quality of Fstopper's free trailer. <span class='nobr'>I wonder<\/span> whether\nFstoppers would mind if others violated the video copyright in the same way\nFstoppers systematically violates photo copyright? <span class='nobr'>I wonder<\/span> what Peter\nHurley thinks of Fstoppers doing this.<\/p>\n\n<p class='h'>PetaPixel: Alternative to Fstoppers<\/p>\n\n<p>Another site I've long read is <a\nhref='http:\/\/petapixel.com\/'>PetaPixel<\/a>. There's <span class='nobr'>a\nlot<\/span> of back-and-forth cannibalism among these news-aggregation\nsites, so you'll often see the same subject on both, but in PetaPixel's\ncase, you'll find articles end with something like &#8220;<i>Photographs by\nso-and-so and used with permission<\/i>&#8221;. For example, as <span\nclass='nobr'>I write<\/span> this, the most recent article on PetaPixel is\n<a\nhref='http:\/\/www.petapixel.com\/2013\/02\/03\/long-exposure-photos-showing-couples-tossing-and-turning-at-night\/'>PetaPixel's\narticle covering the same photos<\/a> cited in the first infringing\nFstoppers article mentioned at the top of my post. <span class='nobr'>The\ndifference<\/span> is that PetaPixel sought and was granted permission to\nreproduce the photos; Fstoppers just took them.<\/p>\n\n<p class='h'>Interesting Contrast<\/p>\n\n<p>Last summer I had my own little copyright issue with PetaPixel, and the\ndifference between how PetaPixel responded then and how Fstoppers responded\nhere is stark. Back last summer, confusion in mails between PetaPixel and\nsome kid on Reddit who had used one of my photos lead PetaPixel to believe\nthat the kid was me, and that &#8220;his&#8221; use of my photo was me\nusing my own photo, so they posted his article with my photo and my byline.\n<span class='nobr'>It made for<\/span> <a\nhref='\/blog\/2012-07-05\/2043'><span class='nobr'>a\nsurreal<\/span> story<\/a>, to say the least.<\/p>\n\n<p>PetaPixel fixed it as soon as it was brought to their attention <span\nclass='nobr'>(<i>strike 1<\/i><\/span><i> for Fstoppers<\/i>), they apologized\nprofusely <span class='nobr'>(<i>strike 2<\/i><\/span><i> for Fstoppers<\/i>),\nand most importantly, it was an <i>honest<\/i> mistake <span\nclass='nobr'>(<i>strike 3<\/i><\/span><i> for Fstoppers<\/i>).<\/p>\n\n<p class='h'>In Summary<\/p>\n\n<p>So very disappointed in Fstoppers. Sure, it happens all around the web,\nall the time...photos get copied and republished without permission. <span\nclass='nobr'>Few seem to<\/span> mind much when it's the occasional one-off\n&#8220;borrow&#8221;, and often that falls under &#8220;<a\nhref='http:\/\/www.photoattorney.com\/?p=299'>fair use<\/a>&#8221; anyway, but\nFstoppers goes far beyond any of that into systematic wholesale copyright\nviolation.<\/p>\n\n<p>As best I can tell, it's the basis of their business model. <span\nclass='nobr'>It seems<\/span> risky to me (as <span class='nobr'>I noted,<\/span> each violation can\ngarner <a href='http:\/\/www.copyright.gov\/title17\/92chap5.html#504'>a\n$150,000 penalty<\/a>), but perhaps it's <span class='nobr'>a\ncalculated<\/span> risk: perhaps it's easier to ask for forgiveness than\npermission.<\/p>\n\n<p>But maybe I'm wrong about everything. Maybe <span class='nobr'>I have<\/span> no clue about &#8220;fair\nuse&#8221; for <span class='nobr'>a commercial<\/span> site like Fstoppers. <span class='nobr'>I'd love to<\/span> be wrong, especially\nconsidering how much <span class='nobr'>I wanted<\/span> to have <span class='nobr'>a beer<\/span> with Lee Morris and Peter\nHurley. <span class='nobr'>But it doesn't<\/span> look good.<\/p>\n\n<hr width=\"25%\" align=\"left\"\/>\n\n<p>Frans Lanting's Thorn Trees photo is used with kind permission. <span\nclass='nobr'>I originally<\/span> published this article without the photo,\nhaving requested permission but not yet received it. <span class='nobr'>I\ncertainly<\/span> didn't expect to actually receive permission, so I'm quite\npleased! Lanting's office was <i>not<\/i> happy with Fstoppers' &#8220;egregious&#8221;\n(their word) infringement, but <span class='nobr'>I should<\/span> be clear that Lanting's photo here does not\nconstitute an endorsement of this post.<\/p>\n\n<p>Sorry not to have any of my own photos on this post. There's <span class='nobr'>a pretty<\/span> nice one on my previous post, &#8220;<a\nhref='\/blog\/2013-02-03\/2198' class='pt'>Impossible Shot at Kyoto\u2019s Enkoji Temple<\/a>&#8221;,\nand perhaps some on <a\nhref='\/blog\/photostream\/main.html#random'>my blog's\nphotostream<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I used to enjoy reading about cool photography-related things on Fstoppers.com, but that was before I realized that their business model is apparently built on systematic wholesale copyright violation. They <b>regularly<\/b> publish large numbers of copyrighted photos without permission from the photographer. They just take what they want to pad their site, building their user base and, presumably, their revenues.<\/p> <p class='h'>For Example...<\/p> <p>When this issue surfaced a couple of weeks ago with one article filled with copyright violations (more on that later), I was shocked that a photography site as respected as Fstoppers could allow such a slip, but [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}