I asked my friend Shannon Larratt about what he knew about the laws and if he could see if this site could be held accountable for selling downloads of other peoples original art tattoos, and prints, etc with out the creators consent.... Here's How to deal with it.... Richard has numerous stuff on their site so I am going to have to do this as well...

THANKS A BUNCH SHANNON!

I've just had "tattoodonkey.com" brought to my attention, a website that is selling stolen images en masse, mine included (even a photo of my daughter). They are using clickbank.com to charge for it, so I've contacted them, their hosts, and everyone. I would suggest that everyone else do the same if they find their photos. Here is the letter that I sent and who I sent it to. What they are doing is completely illegal and while they are trying to hide behind a disclaimer and DCMA notice. Complete scumbags trying to profit from the hard work of this community.

====

To: [email protected]

From: Shannon Larratt

Subject: DMCA notice, site stealing major content

CC: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

First of all, if you even have lawyers, you should have been told that you do not qualify for "safe harbor" protection under the DMCA. Your site "tattoodonkey.com" is posting thousands of photos of other people and other people's art without any permission, and it is very obvious that you are wholly aware of this. You are not operating in good faith and can not hide behind the DMCA.

What are you doing is wholly illegal under US and International law. You surely know that, and your "disclaimer" in no way protects you. Because you are charging for these photos and also filing them under my and other people's trademarks, you are putting yourself up for a great many damages.

You are using many pictures stolen without permission of me, from my website, and I would wager that not even one percent of the photos you are using are legal. In fact, I would go so far as to say that every single image on the site is stolen. Your site actually came to my attention because of the vast number of tattoo artists upset at the thefts of their photos and designs. There are few well-known -- or even lesser known -- artists who won't find their material stolen on your site.

The following images, and I suspect many others that I have not found, are mine and I insist that they are removed immediately.

http://www.tattoodonkey.com/bme-tattoo/zentastic.com*blog*wp-content*uploads*2009*12*bme-tattoo.jpg/

- A picture of my hand, downloaded from my blog, and even labelled as having been downloaded from my blog

http://www.tattoodonkey.com/bme-tattoo/technoccult.com*wp-content*uploads*2008*05*shannonlarratt.jpg/

- A picture of me

http://www.tattoodonkey.com/shannon-larratt-is-zentastic-i-couldnt-ask-for-a-better-day/zentastic.com*blog*wp-content*uploads*2010*09*nazi-zombie-tattoo.jpg/

- Another picture of me

http://www.tattoodonkey.com/shannon-larratt-is-zentastic-pixies-and-new-tattoo-work/zentastic.com*iamimport*2004*11*pixies-and-new-tattoo-work-1.jpg/

- A picture of my sleeve

http://www.tattoodonkey.com/guadalajara-tattoo-expo-artist-hard-at-work/zentastic.com*iamimport*2004*11*pixies-and-new-tattoo-work-2.jpg/

- Another picture of my sleeve.

http://www.tattoodonkey.com/shannon-larratt/modifiedmind.com*pics*rt*rtshannonpic.jpg/

- A picture of my face

http://www.tattoodonkey.com/shannon-larratt-is-zentastic-new-tattoo-injured-troops-ftp-tool/zentastic.com*iamimport*2004*12*new-tattoo-injured-troops-ftp-tool-1.jpg/

- Another picture of me

http://www.tattoodonkey.com/-her-family-crest-tattooed-on-back-jade-dragon-tattoo-tattoos/zentastic.com*iamimport*2004*11*pixies-and-new-tattoo-work-4.jpg/

- A picture of me that doesn't even show my tattoos.

http://www.tattoodonkey.com/the-lizardman-tell-me-about-your-tattoos/zentastic.com*iamimport*2006*10*a-day-of-work-doctors-survivor-and-ufc-2.jpg/

- A picture of my car and my six year old daughter -- how is stealing my personal pictures even relevant?

http://www.tattoodonkey.com/source-zentastic-via-make/odditycentral.com*wp-content*uploads*2011*02*nail-portrait21.jpg/

- A closeup picture of my face, apparently stolen from a repost by Make Magazine.

http://www.tattoodonkey.com/source-zentastic-via-make/odditycentral.com*wp-content*uploads*2011*02*nail-portrait3-550x586.jpg/

- A photo of a piece of art that I created.

I am quite certain that this is only a small percentage of my photos that you are using, but they are the most obvious. I expect them removed immediately, and would like confirmation of this, and want to be very clear that I do not give you permission to use any photos of me or photos from any of my blogs or sites, now, in the past, or in the future.

If you have sold downloads of any of these images I demand that those payments be immediately remitted to me.

Again, I insist on these being removed immediately. Searching for terms like "zentastic", "larratt", "bme", "bmezine", show me multitudes of stolen photos to which you have no legal right to post, let alone charge for.

Highlighting the fact that you are bulk-downloading other people's content indiscriminately, I noticed this image:

http://www.tattoodonkey.com/-2008-bmezinecom-and-shannon-larratt-tattoos-piercings/b0.img.v4.skyrock.net*b08*carvedinskin*pics*2809502475_small_1.jpg/

is actually labelled "2008 Bmezinecom and Shannon Larratt" which is from the original copyright text -- "© 2008 BMEZINE.COM and Shannon Larratt". It's shocking the extent to which you are willing to steal content.

I have CC'd this to your hosts and the EFF as well. I have also CC'd this to BME, a large commercial entity -- who actually does hold legally binding rights to these photos and can easily prosecute you on numerous grounds -- from which you have obviously downloaded pictures from as well. I have also contacted certain media.

I have also notified ClickBank who appear to be handling your sales. I suspenct they may not be happy that they are helping you to sell stolen merchandise, thereby putting their business at risk as well.

I hope you will choose to act ethically -- and legally -- on this matter.

Shannon Larratt

zentastic.com

founder and former owner of bme.com