I am Local Guide (7) and I recently noticed that one of my photos is now uploaded by the business owner as their own. I uploaded that photo 10 months ago and it has 22834 views. And yesterday I saw that the exact same photo was uploaded 2 months ago by the business and it seems that they own it. Now the views go to their account. How is this possible? when I checked their account they have one photo only(my photo) but the counter on contributions is 0. The photo still exists in my profile but if somebody check their business on google maps it seems like they took the photo and are the owners and the views go to them. I don’t understand why and how they did that. They could easily take a new photo and post it to their account instead of stealing mine. Do they have the right to do something like that? The business is ACS COURIER in Greece .
I believe they have violated your copyright. They might have done it out of ignorance because they liked your work, or they stole it hoped they would get away with it.
Please share a link to the place on Google Maps so I can take a look at it tomorrow.
All the best
Morten
Hi @MortenCopenhagen and thank you very much for the quick response!!
Here’s the link to their google maps profile
ACS Courier
Acs Courier , Greece,Alexandroupolis
Thanks @Katerinakroupi
Yours was clearly the best photo so no wonder they wanted it.
And they even had the nerve to get yours removed! That indicates to me they had ill intentions.
Depending on the copyright rules in your country you should consider sending them an invoice for stealing your photo.
But don’t expect Google to help you.
You can flag their photo as stolen. And you could try to get your photo to show up again but I don’t know if the views are that important to you.
Cheers
Morten
Problem solved!!!
Actually Google helped me solve the problem. I reported the photo (from a desktop) choosing the option other and I explained that my photo was stolen and that I had uploaded that photo 10 months ago and they uploaded it again after 8 months (removing mine) .From my iPhone I reported that photo for copyrighted content (2 times) and today I checked again and now my photo is showing my name.
But I could not retrieve the views for those 2 months. (20.000 views).
But that’s ok. The main thing is that they didn’t manage to steal my photo and present it as their own.
So if someone else face the same problem do what I did first.
Thank you for your help Morten!!
Thanks for confirming, @Katerinakroupi
I was just responding to suggest you to follow the procedure that in fact you did it: reporting the photo for copyright. Well done
Regarding your question about why the contributions of the business were showing zero photos, even if they uploaded one, is because a business do not earn point for uploading photos (a business cannot be a Local Guide)
Brilliant, @Katerinakroupi
Thanks for the feedback.
I should have recommended that. We all continue to learn.
Cheers
Morten
@Katerinakroupi
It’s frustrating to see your photo uploaded by ACS Courier in Greece as their own, especially with 22,834 views credited to their account. Here’s what might have happened:
- Photo Claiming: Google allows businesses to claim photos of their locations, which might be what’s happening here. However, this doesn’t necessarily transfer ownership or views to the business’s account.
- Google’s Content Policies: According to Google’s policies, businesses can’t claim ownership of user-generated content without permission. If you believe your photo was used without consent, you can report the issue to Google.
To resolve this, you can:
- Report the Issue: Flag the photo on Google Maps by clicking the three dots next to the photo and selecting “Report a problem.”
- Contact Google Support: Reach out to Google’s support team for further assistance.
Keep in mind that ACS Courier might have multiple locations in Greece, including Thessaloniki and Athens, with different contact information and working hours