Stolen Photo of The Day....

[Wally Dickerman]

A few days ago I checked in on the new WoW site. Surprise surprise....A photo of one of my pieces from many years ago was the Photo of The Day! How could that be? I hadn't posted any photos. I scrolled down and another surprise! It was credited to someone else! Now not only was the piece mine so was the photo. I had posted it on WoW in 2003. I checked in my files and yes the original is there. The piece is Buckeye burl and has some very distinctive color and figure so there is no doubt that the piece and the photo are mine. I even posted the same photo here on SWC a couple of years age when I was posting some oldies. Herm, the boss at WoW posted my 2003 post to prove to any doubters that it was mine.

Herm has contacted the guy. I don't know where it goes from here.

Am I disturbed about this? Yes I am....very. I guess I should be flattered that he picked my piece out of the thousands of pics on WoW

[Roger Chandler]

I hope Herm gets him straightened out, Wally! That is an underhanded thing for him to do....:mad:.........I hope he is exposed for the fraud! Good that you caught the misdeed!

[Scott Hackler]

I called him out on his photo! I hope to see Herm reply with the response from the offender.

[Jim Seyfried]

Congratulations on the cover! :D It kind of makes you wonder why someone would try that. You might be able to fool a few people but with the Internet they always get caught. A while back I was reading on the old WOW where a someone was posting others work on Facebook and claiming it was theirs. It didn't last long, he was called out in short order and the pictures were removed.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Wally - I thought I recognized that piece! Went through and checked the WTU Behind the Arts interviews and sure enough, it was one of the pieces featured in your interview and that was June 2013!

I added my comment on WoW after Scott's reply. Thanks Scott!!

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

where is the new WOW site? I was on the old site, but have not gotten the new link.

[BILL DONAHUE]

Wally, you can thank God that you're plenty alert and could spot it. A while back I was in the home of a very wealthy and artistic couple, the guy is an internationally known interior designer, and I saw a neat looking Navajo styled seed pot on their coffee table. I wondered if it was pottery or wood. Picked it up, realized it was wood, turned it over and was startled to see my name on it. Then I remembered donating it to the symphony auction years before and never knew who bought it. The people there couldn't understand how I didn't recognize what I made and I told them it didn't look so good when I last saw it in my garage. It looked a heck of a lot better surrounded by expensive art. You're a lot sharper than I am.

[charlie knighton]

sorry to hear this, glad it was caught, amazing what people will do

[Jim Seyfried]

where is the new WOW site? I was on the old site, but have not gotten the new link.

http:// www. thewows.com

[Michelle Rich]

wally..I understand completely..I brought up the copying of others original designs then posting as if it were their own, on WOW just a few days ago.

[Jim Underwood]

Now you know why every picture of what Michael and Cynthia Gibson has made has a watermark on it. They had this problem on Facebook a while back.... It was obvious that those pieces belonged to the Gibsons because their name was on the photos. I wondered just how ignorant you have to be to post such a thing as your own... Pretty darn ignorant.

[Jim Underwood]

Wally I don't see that piece in your photo album on the new WOW site.

[Wally Dickerman]

Jim, it was posted by the imposter so it went into his album. Look at Herms album for a copy of my 2003 post.

[Doug Herzberg]

I thought imitation was the highest form of flattery. Looks like it might be outright theft. Glad you caught the scoundrel; hope he gets his due.

[Dan Hintz]

Not to hijack, but... looks like my old credentials don't work on the new site. Would one of you mind sending me an invite, please?

[Patrick McCarthy]

Ditto what Dan said; I have mostly been doing flatwork, but have a lathe and have been looking for a mentor/tutor. If I haven't offended anyone here yet I also would appreciate an invitation to the WoWs.

Thank you, Patrick

[David DeCristoforo]

Damn, Wally... when you get ripped off you really get ripped off! The guy knows how to do it right! The pirate seems to have dropped out of sight. With WoW being an invitation only site, you would think there would be someone that knows something about who the bozo is. But no one seems to have a clue. Very odd. Anyway, maybe you should thank him for getting your piece on the cover twice. Bet this is the first time that's happened!

[Dwight Rutherford]

For those interested in an invite send me a PM with your first and last name and Email address. We do ask you to follow the house rules.

[Thomas Bennett]

There is a positive aspect to this story. A lot of us want to become reacquainted with WOW. I, and several others, have "rejoined." I promise to only post photos of my own work!

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Wally,
At the very least this person has excellent taste in what he takes credit for. This turning fits into the great then even better now category.
faust

[Richard Moran]

I had a similar problem on another site where a spammer was using my posts, projects and pics as his own just to have something to post and advertise his business. The moderator banned him.

At a more personal level than spamming, people who plagiarize someone else's work are morally bankrupt. They don't have the talent, patience or skills to do something that they would like to do, so they pretend to help feel better about themselves.