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.
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.
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.
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.