Douchebaggetry at Its Finest

I read this post Tenshi Vielle made today over at Shopping Cart Disco today, and I have to say: there are very few things that will set me off, but being a DICK and generally disregarding the fact that you are WRONG and trying to write it off like it was nothing, yeah — welcome to my own personal inner circle of hell.

To sum up: The PhotoLife studio booth at SL6B was (I’ve no idea if they still are) hosting AND selling (for $1,000L!) walls of photos they had admittedly lifted from their Flickr group, without permission.

A few choice lines from the public local chat conversation (at the exhibit in SL6B) between Greg Paslong and Darkley Aeon (the PhotoLife user whose work was lifted, and inquired about it) – you may read the whole conversation, and I encourage you to do so just to get the full breath of WTF that I did, at Shopping Cart Disco:

[3:17]  Darkley Aeon: why wasnt i asked? everyone else seems to have been
[3:17]  Greg Paslong: they weren’t
[3:17]  Greg Paslong: want your photo off the wall?

This is Greg admitting to the fact that no one was asked for permission to use their photos from Flickr in the PhotoLife booth.

[3:18]  Greg Paslong: want it off?
[3:18]  Darkley Aeon: i dont mind it being there
[3:18]  Greg Paslong: then what’s the problem?
[3:18]  Billy Tammas: I don’t think that is the issue Greg, I think it’s the fact that copyright law has been broken and no permission was asked
[3:18]  Darkley Aeon: its that i wasnt asked, and was uploaded from flickr without my knowledge
[3:18]  Darkley Aeon: and its set for 1k
[3:19]  Greg Paslong: it was an oversite
[3:19]  Darkley Aeon: others were asked
[3:19]  Greg Paslong: most of the shots on that wall were taken off of FlickR
[3:19]  Darkley Aeon: thats copyright infringment
[[3:20]  Darkley Aeon: mine are all set ‘all rights reserved’ its the default setting
[3:20]  Greg Paslong: NP Darkley………let me remove your shot now……then we have no issue
[3:20]  Darkley Aeon: there is an issue
[3:20]  Darkley Aeon: you have a full perms copy of my copyrighted work, without permission

This is where Greg decides to not only NOT apologize for his admitted “oversight,” but also try to simply cover up his wrongdoing by just removing and forgetting about it. No acknowledgement that it was used without permission, know “I’m sorry,” absolutley NO consideration for the concern of the photographer in question or her rights to her intellectual property. Basically – this is where I started to get mad.

[3:21]  Darkley Aeon: why was it set for sale?
[3:21]  Greg Paslong: if you’d read your chat…..it was an oversite
[3:22]  Darkley Aeon: its copyrighted work
[3:22]  Darkley Aeon: and given a copy inworld
[3:22]  Greg Paslong: OMG Darkley…..who would want that wall?
[3:22]  Darkley Aeon: if i had been asked, i would have said ok
[3:22]  Darkley Aeon: thats not the point
[3:23]  Greg Paslong: well……you weren’t…..and many others weren’t either
[3:23]  Darkley Aeon: but some were

And *THIS*, ladies and gentlemen, is where I actually got pissed off.

First off, where the hell do you think you get off talking to people, YOUR OWN CUSTOMERS, like an uncaring, nonchalant, DICKHEAD? AT WHAT POINT did you learn in your customer service experience that having an attitude is the best way to solve a confrontation? At what point do you think that insulting the work of ALL of your users (quoted above, “Who would want that wall?” – the photos were actually grouped together in a wall of photos from 12-15 photolife customers) was a GOOD IDEA? And more importantly, at what point did you think that selling other people’s work without permission was OKAY? Darkley even tried to cover your ass FOR YOU, Greg, by insisting that in fact SOME people HAD been asked, but she personally had not. While you just kept insisting that no one was asked.

And my personal favorite quote:

[3:26]  Greg Paslong: I made a mistake…live with it

I pretty much would have had one thing to say at this point: Fuck you.

At no point was Darkley arrogant, rude, obnoxious or DESERVING in the way that this man treated her. She was simply a CUSTOMER trying to determine how her work came to be used without permission, along with others. WHAT RIGHT did you have to give HER attitude? What right did you have to treat her like SHE was the one at fault here? Quick note to any store/service provider in SL: There are several surefire ways to lose customers in Second Life, and this is definitely one of them: being an ASSHOLE is never a good customer service tactic.

Later, PhotoLife General Manager Colleen Criss stepped in and spoke with Darkley as well, also attempting to disregard the fact that her work was used without permission and that since the wall was no longer for sale, there “was no issue”:

[5:00]  colleen Criss: ok. did he removed the photo?
[5:00]  Darkley Aeon: yes both of them
[5:01]  Darkley Aeon: 2 photos
[5:01]  Darkley Aeon: thats not the point though
[5:01]  colleen Criss: ok what is the point you want to make?
[5:01]  Darkley Aeon: illegal uploading of copywrited material
[5:02]  colleen Criss: let me ask this Darkley
[5:02]  colleen Criss: had you displayed your photos on Team Flickr, or submitted either of them for contests ect?
[5:02]  Darkley Aeon: yes, that doesnt change their status from ‘all rights reserved’
[5:03]  colleen Criss: when you amke your photos available to the group … I think that it does.

For one, trying to cover your ass AFTER you are confronted by posting a “you give us permission to use your photos for promotional/teaching purposes” message in your Flickr group discussion pool is ABOUT the most tell-tale “oh shit” reaction you can make. Secondly, submitting a photo to a group on Flickr DOES NOT remove the COPYRIGHT on the photo, nor does it give you permission to just download it without first asking the creator. Creative commons licenses, sure, I can understand that assuming the CC gives the proper licensing for the use you intend. However, I know for a FACT that AT LEAST two photos used at the exhibit are All Rights Reserved, with no CC attached. Meaning – you either ask, or you don’t use.

And now the real garbage starts flying. The following is a classic case of “you hit my teddy bear, so I’m taking my balls and going home”:

[5:11]  colleen Criss: Since you have tak this issue further them it needs to be and I do not wish to have any further problems. I am asking you you leave the pL group and I am going to remove your app from CP and ask you to take your things from the public Flickr group.
[5:11]  Darkley Aeon: ok Colleen, I havent been looking for trouble, i’ve been trying to protect myself, but ok, ill do that
[5:13]  colleen Criss: Darkley you have at this time made trouble …
[5:13]  colleen Criss: thank you
[5:13]  Darkley Aeon: i did nothing wrong
[5:14]  colleen Criss: you filed that report because you were mad at Greg
[5:14]  colleen Criss: now
[5:14]  colleen Criss: you carry it out and do what it takes to make you feel better
[5:14]  Darkley Aeon: I filed abuse report because it was valid
[5:14]  colleen Criss: but I wish you to end all association with pL.
[5:14]  colleen Criss: then thats fine
[5:14]  colleen Criss: do what you need to do
[5:14]  colleen Criss: and now I am as well

PhotoLife AND it’s staff obviously have no idea how to provide customer service, how to solve conflict, how to admit when they’re wrong, or how to treat the people that spend money on their products. And I, personally, could never and would never dream of being involved in ANY kind of business transaction or relationship with people who simply have NO respect for their customers, the money they spend, OR their work. Flickr photos being stolen… you know what? That happens every day. I’m used to seeing that happen. I typically say nothing anymore, as it’s not worth my time or effort – and usually the photos are removed, and a slap on the wrist is given, which has happened here.

No, what pissed me off is the fact that you really are just blatantly rude, disrespectful, appear to have no desire to apologize NOR admit wrongdoing, and you are PAINFULLY arrogant. And frankly, if I were going to spend the $10kL on a photo studio, I would DEFINITELY want to know these little facts first — so that I could steer full clear of your “world class photographer” egos, and spend my money elsewhere. No one likes an asshole, and you guys are DROWNING in shit with the way you treat your customers.

Over and out.