Facebook and myspace picture being stolen, then put on a porn website, it is not even a sexually influenced picture, how do i get it removed?

More likely than not Myspace/Facebook has some kind of fair use code in their terms of use. If you put it out there and don’t make it private, anyone can take it.

You could try issuing a DMCA Takedown letter to the website’s host, if they’re located in the USA.

http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2009/07/06/sample-dmca-take-down-letter/id=4501/

fuggedaboudit

Send them an email asking them to remove it but if they don’t, you shouldn’t waste any more energy on it. It’s unlikely that it will get you anywhere and you’ll just build up a lot of negative energy pursuing it. So while it is unfortunate, try to look at it from a humorous angle instead. :)

sorry, this sucks

I thought if you put it out there, even if it is not private, you still own the copyright. I thought Facebook just has written in their TOU that by uploading content to their site you grant them a royalty free license to use your stuff until you remove it from the site or terminate your account with them. I didn’t think they had the right to sell your content to third parties or that you were transferring ownership.

I think what they have done is blatant copyright infringement and that you could absolutely hold them accountable for it. The link that @grumpyfish posted I thought was interesting. You could also contact the Electronic Frontier Foundation – maybe they would be able to offer some guidance.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir I agree. I’d be mad as hell & worried about it!

@jbfletcherfan So would I! I wouldn’t want to just forget about it or try to see the humor in the situation!

I suggest you consult with a lawyer. They’ll give you an idea of what is possible.

well well.. i hope you find a resolution. until then, on the bright side of things, someone thinks you’re hot.

Link?

I would start by trying to find who owns the domain. Try http://domains.whois.com/domain.php?action=whois

I wish I knew more about legal rights remove unauthorized images myself. I am hoping someone here will know more about it.

It’s doubtful that this imposes on any copyright related laws due to the fact that, as @MebiByte stated, Facebook will very likely be legally permitted to use any files you choose to upload to its public domain as you are technically using their resources. You may however be able to bring strong libel charges against the pornographic website involved. It would be difficult to argue that displaying your photograph on the organisations website does not imply your affiliation with the services they are offering and as such, simply stating that you are contemplating legal action on this basis would probably prompt them to remove it.

@Nially_Bob I don’t agree at all. Facebook is permitted to use your stuff, but the porn site IS NOT Facebook. I don’t think they have the right to gift or sell your stuff to third parties. Where in the TOU does it say that??

I also failed to ask your age. If you are a legal minor, there may possibly be even stricter laws surrounding something like this. I’m not sure though.

@iamsophy What I would probably do in your position is get a lawyer friend to draft a threatening letter on their letterhead referencing applicable law, requesting the photo be removed immediately to avoid “further action”. When lawyer speaks, company listens.

This is why there are almost no images of me anywhere online.

if it’s a US website, maybe you can do something about it.
its probably not.
its probably russian or ukrayinian or whatever and you’re gonna have to face it that they will laugh in your face when faced with threats about your face.

What website?

@lilikoi
I myself am unfond of the idea but my assumption was made based upon my studies of contract law. Large organisations tend to arrange it so that they have as much control over the data contributed by service users as possible while retaining little responsibility for the specifics of its use. This is rarely done maliciously but instead in the best interests of the organisations financial future.

Anyhow, with all of this stated I found the following examples upon scanning through Facebook’s statement of rights and responsibilities (terms and conditions) and privacy policy amongst other resources…

“For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (“IP content”), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (“IP License”). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.” (Facebook Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, Section 2.1)

“When you publish content or information using the “everyone” setting, it means that everyone, including people off of Facebook, will have access to that information and we may not have control over what they do with it.” (Facebook Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, Section 2.4)

“We take steps to ensure that others use information that you share on Facebook in a manner consistent with your privacy settings, but we cannot guarantee that they will follow our rules.” (Facebook Privacy Policy, Section 3.0)

“Although we allow you to set privacy options that limit access to your information, please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. We cannot control the actions of other users with whom you share your information. We cannot guarantee that only authorized persons will view your information. We cannot ensure that information you share on Facebook will not become publicly available. We are not responsible for third party circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures on Facebook.” (Facebook Privacy Policy, Section 7.0)

“Please keep in mind that if you disclose personal information in your profile or when posting comments, messages, photos, videos, Marketplace listings or other items , this information may become publicly available.” (Item 8 on this article – Credibility questionable)

There are enough loose “legal threads” hanging around Facebooks contracts and conditions for them to offer a reasonable argument for being permitted to share the original posters photograph with a third party and an extremely strong argument for them not being responsible for this. Admittedly however, the more I investigate this the more it seems plausible that this third party website has simply seized the photograph illegally in which case matters may become far simpler as they are not merely performing an illegal action but also stealing Facebooks intellectual property by proxy.

I apologise if this all appears rather blunt or disrespectful by the way as that is certainly not my intention. I’m sincerely trying to assist in finding the most apt solution for the original poster to undertake but also, as I mentioned, understand the lengths to which large businesses can go to “cover” themselves from a legal standpoint.

@The_Idler
Facebook will have policies pre-arranged for matters of international advertisement. Even the most stubborn amongst us isn’t likely to retain a single photo when faced with potential legal action from a huge business.

@ninjacolin please, like that’s supposed to make anything okay – this is a pornographic site, even worse.

what? hot girls are on porn sites, didn’t you know that?
just a statement of fact!

@ninjacolin Okay, first of all…what’s ‘hot’ is debatable…second of all, whether or not porn is good for women is debatable (and don’t say it’s good for men….you’ll only prove my point)...finally, the OP didn’t intend for her images to be used this way, ever, so I don’t know how she’s supposed to feel better about it…why don’t you rethink think when your face will be posted on top of some random naked pic from www.mypenislookslikeatinycarrot.com

@Nially_Bob None of us, but have you ever tried threatening some dodgy Russian internet guy with ‘legal action’? I know plenty of them, and they wouldn’t give a shit. I mean, seriously, it’s Russia.

what isn’t debatable is the fact that someone took a gamble that having her picture there would be positive for their business. this seems to indicate to me that the misuser of her images at the very least thinks positively about her appearances.

@ninjacolin excuse me, but are you actually suggesting that calling someone an ‘amateur emo slut’ is a positive characteristic? whether or not it’s ‘good for business’ – yeah, some business

oh man.. i would like to see some hardcore (pardon the pun) evidence proving that the opposite is true, that being an amateur emo slut is a negative characteristic.

porn actresses aren’t bad people. what if her face was used for a nike ad. she would still sue just the same but probably for more! it isn’t ethical to discriminate based on occupation held. the issue is that her image was used. not that it was used for that occupation.

Hmmmmm, amateur emo sluts… what are they good for?
Well, pretty much just not-entirely-involuntarily making half the of the porn of the 00s

is that a good characteristic? is it?

@ninjacolin I will be the first here to defend sex workers and their rights, don’t you worry. Defending the right to call them sluts ain’t where it’s at. Yes, I agree with you – it is an issue that it was used, I never said that the occupation is a problem..I am saying you thinking calling women ‘amateur emo sluts’ is positive is a problem..would you please please do me the favor of asking fluther whether or not it’s a compliment?

I think it is a serious part of the issue, the manner in which it has been used.

I would much less offended, being portrayed as a Nike-sponsored athlete, than as an amateur emo slut!!

I wouldn’t mind being called an amateur emo slut

@Nially_Bob yeah, you, of all people, really fit the title…really, lol

i tried, @Simone_De_Beauvoir but it got pulled. haha. i edited it to be a new question. hopefully it gets put back up.

However, the job of a porn actress is the acceptance of money for doing certain work. some of that work might be slutty modeling as an amateur in emo garb. so i might want to argue that it begs the same question discriminating against the job itself rather than sticking to the real issue which is simply that her photo was used without permission.

@ninjacolin I was perfectly happy to stick to that issue – you were the one that said ‘let it go, at least some loser thinks you’re hot’

i did not say let it go! i said “in the meantime” UNTIL it gets resolved.. and i expressed hope that it would get resolved in her favor.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir Shut up! I’m gonna go write poetry with boys on Myspace! Atleast they understand me!!!

@Nially_Bob lol, I’ve missed you
@ninjacolin ok, you’re lucky I like ninjas

@Simone_De_Beauvoir The feeling is mutual :)

hahaha all of this was very amusing, and very helpful.Thankyou so much. However, I can’t take it as a compliment im afraid, or “fuggedaboudit”!
There there must be somthing i can do about it so i shall definetly follow up the links that a few of you have posted, i take responsability in the fact i don’t know where my picture will be used etc, but the fact that i’ve only ever used it on a networking sight- (privately) is another matter. I don’t think i want to get lawyers/police involved but i know for one thing, if its not taken down, i’m going to have to. I can’t forget about it- considering one of my friends had seen my face on a porno website, its awful. It’s not right for anyone to be called sluts. It’s a horrific word. It’s just the title that im under, next to all these girls (i am 19, but i must say, some of the girls in this website look about 15)- which also means the site could be shut down. Also the picture of myself is about 2 years old- it could have been up there for the whole time. I would link you to the website guys, but i don’t know if i can do it on fluther? It would help me because then you guys can help me find an email for this site. They hide it very well. I did email one email on there, but i think that was only about pay. mm. we’ll see.

p.s. I am pretty sure the site is american. Because they can be just as nasty as anyone else and probably just laugh indeed, but i don;t know if they’d be laughing if i managed to get it shut down, as alot of underage girls on on there.

Sorry for your situation. If it is an american website and you are underage, than I would call the police and ask them if there is anything you can do. I would think you can get them with a libel suit as already suggested.
I just wrote a question about concerns over the use of facebook and this is clearly another reason why joining facebook is a bad idea.

The oddest thing, I was just thinking about this happening yesterday and I came across this question today. It only occurred to me now that this is the reason parents always tell their kids not to put pictures of themselves up on the internet.
I am really sorry that happened to you. If you are underage you could get them to take the photo down on that basis, but I hope you have now made all your photos and things on myspace and facebook private.

I would first note this question is almost a year old and the OP has not been back in almost that long. But to answer the question, I would advise if she lives in the US, to contact someone in her Attorney General’s office. Nearly every state has an ICAC department in which internet crimes against children (ICAC) are routinely investigated. She does not have to be a child or under legal age to pursue this matter. They could give information about what steps need to be taken to have her image removed from a site that she not give permission to post them.