Help with Ancestry Photos

[solidrock]

There are a lot of name collectors on Ancestry. I noticed a few years back that every name I put in my tree appeared on a certain other tree that seemed to have no connection with mine. I added 3 fictitious names to my tree and sure enough they appeared on this other tree. Make your tree private. 

[Jomot]

Someone did something similar with some of my photo's, and one in particular was added to the wrong person with the same name.

I messaged this person very politely several times asking him to remove the photo's but he took no notice, so I got a bit heavier and quoted various sections from the Content Submission Agreement and threatened to report them for being in breach.  Whether Ancestry would have done anything is another matter, but it did the trick.

Specifically "Be aware that content, including photographs, even if submitted to a site of which you are a member, belongs to the creator or submitter and you should not reproduce it without permission of the owner " and "You must not use Ancestry's products and services to: Post, transmit, or display content which is protected by copyright or trademark or that does not belong to you and that you do not have authorization for use from the owner ...."

To stop others copying them in the meantime I also plastered the same warning all over his pages where the photo's were visible, although I'm not sure you can still do that now that comments are effectively hidden.  Worth a try though.

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/pt/MultimediaSubmissionAgreement.aspx

[plk74]

The answer would be not to put the photos on the tree if you are bothered about them being shared around, but share them privately with your relations.  I confess to copying one or two photos from public trees, but I never put them on my own public tree, just kept them on my computer.

[StevieSteve]

Yes, that's what I'd do.

If someone's put content on a public tree, the it's not unreasonable to assume that they intended to share it. It's less reasonable that you assume that they intended you to publish it.

I do write a comment thanking them, also those who put up certs and other non-online info.

What I want to know is why no-one has nicked my photos?

[Scribble1952]

When all said and done you have the "originals" .😊
Hey they must be a good snap😁

[chris_49]

I don't put any photos or cert scans on any online tree for this very reason. However, I did email some photos to a 2nd cousin, he put them on his tree and sure enough, they were nicked by totally unrelated people. You can't win...

[Benody1921]

I guess I can't really be too upset about it. I knew the photos would be shared and I'll admit that I've added photos to my tree of my own relatives. I also would be in contact with those people whose pictures I added. It's just disappointing when someone with obviously zero connections has added them. My tree has been private for a while now but this person would have gotten to them before I made it private or would have gotten them from a distant, but very obviously related, cousin who has added the photos. Ancestry is a great tool but this is one of the downsides to using it.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and for adding your experiences. It's nice to know I'm not alone.

[Benody1921]

When all said and done you have the "originals" .😊
Hey they must be a good snap😁

Haha that's right. My grandparents were a good looking couple. Too bad they didn't pass any of their genes down. Selfish.

[Kiltpin]

I have no wish to be argumentative, nor stir up trouble, but for the life of me, I can't see what the problem is.

If my brother or sister created a tree that was wildly inaccurate and claimed relationships with all the various crowned heads of Europe, it would not affect my tree in any way, shape or form. My data will still be correct; my relationships can still be proven and all my certs and pictures will still be mine.

Unless I am missing something very obvious - what is the problem?

Regards

Chas