Flagrant Copyright Violations

Every once and awhile, I’ll stumble upon an account like this one [GOOGLE MAPS URL REDACTED] that clearly is taking images off the internet and uploading them to Google Maps as if they own the content. In a single week, this specific account and others I’ve found will post hundreds of photos around the world; sometimes in the same day they’ll upload an impossibly high quality photo of Christ the Redeemer in Rio and Pulpit Rock in Norway, then also upload same aerial shots of the Great Wall of China.

In this specific instance, I found the account because they’d stolen four of my photos. I’ve already filed DMCA requests, but I’m curious if Google will do anything about the rest of the account’s content. Most of the copyright holders will never know that their content has been stolen, and it’s frustrating that had they not stolen my content, I would have no recourse to shut the account down.

Have any of you had similar experiences?

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For those curious, here are the side by sides of my content and their theft of it and re-uploading to the platform -

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Example 4

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Thanks for reporting plagiarism @paysin .

However, the Connect site recommends not sharing links to any profiles, to protect privacy.

That’s true even when the member has indulged in some wrongful act.

It’s my humble request to remove the link.

Nevertheless, you can report the entire profile through Maps, as outlined in this article.

https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/Announcements/You-can-now-report-entire-profiles-for-abuse-on-Google-Maps/ba-p/2587129

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Hello @paysin

Thank You for Shearing Please Report and don’t share publicly link Protect privacy

I tag @DeniGu so Help

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Hi @paysin ,

Thank you for reaching out.

I’m accepting @C_T ‘s reply as the solution because it gives you the right procedure to follow in such cases. If you come across Local Guides’ accounts whose contributions violate our program rules and/or the Maps User Contributed Content Policy, you can report their entire profiles directly in Google Maps.

In your particular situation, I suggest you also take a look at the Report Content for Legal Reasons article. We take copyright seriously.

Please note that I’ve removed the links to the Local Guide’s profile and photos from your post and comment as we value everyone’s privacy here. We ask Local Guides to avoid sharing theirs or someone else’s personal information publicly.

Last but not least, I’ve change the topic of your post to How-tos as this is the section of Connect where Local Guides ask questions and report issues.

Thank you!

P.S. Thank you for the tag, @rajuroyal !

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Hi @paysin

Like you, I’ve reported this type of activity on a number of occasions, including following the official procedures. One particular person (I’m not going to refer to them as a ‘Local Guide’) has been reported, and last time I checked was still merrily ripping off other people’s photos from various sources, and posting them as their content.

Can we make this very clear. This is not ‘plagiarism’ this is out and out theft.

Sadly it would appear to be rife, and the real issue is, if no action is taken against these thieves, they will simply assume that Google condones it, and continue.

If you check out Cairo on Google Maps, you will see a photo of the Sphinx (top 10 photos) attributed to someone that clearly isn’t me. Here’s the original which was posted about eight months ago. They’ve clearly taken a screen shot and re-posted as if they’ve been to the Giza Plateau.

And you’ll also note the top photo for Cairo is also attributed to them. I know categorically that they’ve ripped this off from another Local Guide.

Not sure how to proceed with this, but, as we say in England ‘I’m spitting feathers’.

Oh, and I’ve checked their whole profile, and I doubt whether they’ve actually taken ANY of the photos they’ve posted.

@DeniGu

I’ve had some success getting stolen photos taken down via DMCA requests. You can do that here -

I check my top photos regularly and usually at least one has been stolen and re-uploaded by someone else. Clearly stopping this kind of thing isn’t a priority for Google.