Polyvore's Fashion Faux Pas - Does This Classless Act Call For A Class Action?

In early 2007 (according to the WayBackMachine internet archives), Pasha Sadri launched his fashion collage site, polyvore.com. Since that time, Polyvore has been a magnet for both fashion-fixated teens/young adults and copyright controversy. According to web sources, Polyvore was originally created to allow users to upload product content from all over the web and incorporate it into user-generated fashion collages. Iffy enough. Soon, however, users were clipping images other than fashion pics. Now, Polyvore makes no clear distinction between the types of images that can or should be used on its site, but instead encourages users - right on its front page - to get images from any and every possible source. And here is what is says at the top of its About page:

Overview

Polyvore is a free, easy-to-use web-based application for mixing and matching images from anywhere on the web. It is also a vibrant community of creative and stylish people.

Polyvore lets you create sets composed of individual images using an easy to use, drag and drop editor. After you have created a set, you can publish and share it with your friends and the Polyvore community.

Copyrighted artworks, photos, and designs, along with private photos of children, family, friends, pets, vacation scenes, and even home interiors, snagged from personal webpages, photo storing sites, and non-fashion commercial sites - to name jut a few - have found their way into Polyvore collages: as backgrounds, virtual mannequins, props or even bizarrely altered focal points. Often, watermarks are obscured or removed - an offense punishable by fines of up to $25,000 USD. More and more users are calling these sets 'works of art' and are defending their 'right' to make them, regardless of where the images were obtained. For many users, Polyvore has become a major outlet of 'free expression' - only the images being used to create these moody depictions, make political statements, etc. are NOT free use. And the creation of these compilations damages the owners of the copyrighted images by adversely affecting their reputations and incomes, and infringes on their lawful right to have complete control over the use of their images.

Artists, photographers, and designers of all sorts are coming forward to denounce Polyvore and to complain that its users have stolen their images and created illegal derivative works. And, although Polyvore will comply with DMCA requests to take down specific content, little-to-nothing is done to stem the tide of illegal clipping and altering, or to educate the Polyvore community about the true facts of copyright. Infringing content continues to abound. Images taken down one day are uploaded the next. And when made aware of the illegal use of images, many users react defensively, claiming that Polyvore TOU gives them carte blanche to use any image they like. Artists have even been accused of 'asking' for it by uploading their images on the internet where 'everything is up for grabs'. Very seldom do the users comprehend the gravity of the theft that is occurring wholesale at Polyvore.

The reality is that Sadri himself had once opined to a colleague that "there is an enormous amount of content on the web today that isn't being used in any kind of creative way." That attitude, coupled with the fact that Polyvore provides both the image clipping tool and the graphics manipulation software onsite to users, without reasonable restrictions, supports the growing sentiment that Sadri ought to be held accountable for facilitating both the theft and illegal derivative creation of copyrighted material. Besides - this isn't the first time that Polyvore and Sadri have come under scrutiny and criticism for these issues: in January of 2008, many artists at Etsy.com - an e-commerce site specializing in handmade items, as well as vintage finds, and crafting/art supplies - became aware of the illegal use of their images and began a campaign to both inform other Etsy sellers and to get their images removed from Polyvore. Sadri defended his site and its practices, but agreed to disallow images from Etsy from being directly copied by his clipper tool. At some point, however, that restriction was removed, and illicit copies of Etsy images began flowing in again.

In this latest round of complaints, Sadri is again defending his site and its use. He commented on the Flickr account of one egregiously abused Etsy artist, admitting "we don't have affiliate relationship all the sites in the world but we want people to be able to use products from any shop." The implication from both Polyvore users and Sadri himself is that anyone whose images are featured in sets and 'art' collages ought to be grateful for the free promotion and exposure they are receiving - whether or not they agreed to, or want, it. (Interesting to note that Polyvore users generate income for the site by the creation of many of the sets - and most don't even know it, operating under the mistaken belief that, because Polyvore is free to use, it is a not-for-profit site. Polyvore has partnered with certain companies to receive click-based sales commissions.)

Again, direct-clipping from Etsy has been disabled, but Polyvore users have developed workarounds whereby they copy images to other sites, then import, or clip, them from those third-party locations. In many cases, there isn't any direct link to where the original image came from, and no credit given to the artist/photographer/designer. And, by the way, personal photos are every bit as copyright protected as artworks or product images.

Because Sadri has not restricted the clipping and manipulation of images to ONLY those sites with whom Polyvore has a contractual affiliation, does not require users to 'check off' a statement for every image that is clipped, asserting that they have the rights to that image, and has not taken serious steps to inform users of - or to effectively enforce - copyright restrictions, there is a widespread sense that Sadri has acted in bad faith, putting his own interests and financial profit before the law. There is precious little real estate in the vastness of the web that is safe from the Polyvore clipper. People all across the internet, from locations all across the globe, are saying 'Enough!' They are calling for the shut down of Polyvore. And many are looking into securing legal representation for a class action suit.

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For a sampling of information, specific incidents of infringement, discussions and comments on this alarming issue, visit the following links (or try searching for 'polyvore copyright'):

Articles:
http://etsynews.com/607/is-polyvore-stealing-your-images/

http://etsynews.com/848/is-polyvore-stealing-your-images-part-ii/

Blogs and internet forums:
http://artandghosts.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/01/polyvore-copyright-violation-update.html
http://www.zanzig.com/blog/?p=201
http://www.artwanted.com/mb/topic.cfm?Topic=433653
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5438619
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5982886
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5982962
http://www.flickr.com/help/forum/en-us/57337/

Notices and Petitions:
http://www.metafilter.com/78145/Polyvorous
http://digg.com/arts_culture/Is_Polyvore_com_stealing_your_images
http://www.redbubble.com/people/crokuslabel/writing/266182-petition-to-stop-copyright-theft-at-polyvore-com
http://www.gopetition.com/online/24378.html

If you’ve been victimized:
http://www.vlany.org/aboutus/index.php (specifically for NY - but you can ask for a referral, or search Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts for an organization near you)
http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/stock-letters/

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In summary, it is sad to note that the prevailing notion is that any content found on the web is free for the taking. Somehow, internet users have convinced themselves that notices of copyright and watermarks are mere annoyances, and not legal notification that it’s ‘virtual hands off’. The truth is that, even without any visible notice, it is illegal to copy and use content without permission, with the very narrow exception of some educational and critical uses. Copyright law grants immediate protection to the creator from the moment that an image, audio and/or video recording, or written work/composition is created. Unless it is expressly stated that the content is free-use, or in the public domain, it is NOT permissible to copy.

It would behoove internet users – and the admins and members of Polyvore in particular – to properly acquaint themselves with factual copyright information:

US Copyright Office
Copyright FAQs
Copyright Law, Treaties and Advice