Feb
17

Copyright Violations of Your Facebook Posts – What to do?

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If you have ever received an email with a subject line “reports citing copyright violations of your Facebook posts” ,I’m sure your heart dropped just like mine.  It can be an extremely stressful situation.  I remember reading the email that had been forwarded from a client, I had to read it twice and thought to myself “it’s not possible”. Like you, we do all we can to only share content that will keep you safe and definitely give credit where ever you can, but still that email shows up! You could also receive this same or similar message via the Facebook Messenger.

Is it a Phishing Attack?

It is very possible it is a phishing attack.  This however does not lessen the impact of discovering that email in your inbox.  Head over to Google and do a bit of research. Are others receiving the same email? Are there threads on different websites, including Facebook that describe the same incident? My first big clue should have been that I didn’t receive the first email from the client, it had been directed to my spam folder.

Facebook tells us to beware of;

Messages with misspellings and typos, multiple fonts or oddly-placed accents.

  • Messages that claim to have your password attached. Facebook will never send you your password as an attachment.
  • Mismatched links: When you hover over a link, look at the status bar at the bottom of your browser window, and make sure the link actually goes to the place shown in the email.

 

The first big clue that it is phishing; you are asked to enter your personal information AKA password.  Facebook will NEVER ask you for your password via email or message. You control all of that via the privacy settings on your profile. Do not click on any link, it could have some type of virus attached.  Forward the email over to Facebook at phish@fb.com.  If we all let Facebook know when these things happen they will be able to put a stop to it sooner.

What Happens if It’s Real

Then I want you to do is to head over to Facebook and take a look at the page in question.  When you head over to your Facebook account to see what’s happening your account just might have been shut down by Facebook if there has been a complaint. There are a number of different steps Facebook may take;

  • Shut down your account
  • Blocked from posting to your page
  • Remove the suspect image

If the copyright infringement notification is truly from Facebook it will include the name and email address of the rights owner who made the report and/or the details of the report. Click here to be taken to the Facebook page that outlines the appeal process.

Make Sure It Doesn’t Happen to You

To make sure you never receive that email/message reading “Copyright violations of your Facebook posts”, do your research on any graphic you find online, find out if you can use it and if so how can you use it.  If you are only looking for general images to support your post or blog a real quick and easy method is a Google search.

Go to Google images, enter the keyword phase you would like to find a graphic for and search.  Once the search has populated, go to the top bar and click on tools, then usage rights.  You will find many images you will be able to use, just select the specific “rights” you are looking for. Enlarge that graphic on the left and you will see the path you need to take to identify images that won’t get you into trouble.

I use Google Images for a number of different posts, including graphics here on the blog and Facebook.  They usually aren’t the most exciting but they are definitely better than nothing. Remember there are lots of different programs you can use to edit a picture/graphic to make it more exciting.

Where can I find Free Images?

Here are 5 sources where you can find copyright free images;

There are many others, if you don’t find what you are looking for within the five sites above keep searching using your keyword and add “copyright free” then hit search.  There is a lot out there for the person who takes the time to look.

Is it Worth it to Buy Images?

Most definitely yes, but I recommend you only buy the ones that are very specific to your business and your current need.  Some images can cost $100.00’s of dollars, while others can be as affordable as a dollar.  Here is a list of a few of the sites where you can purchase images;

ShutterStock

DreamsTime

Fotolia

DepositPhotos

PhotoPin

Pond5

YAYImages

iStockPhoto

123RF

BigStock

MediaBakery

Hire Your Own Graphic Artist

This may not be as expensive as you might think.  There are 1,000’s of graphic artists in the Philippines looking for work who would love to be creating graphics for you.  Two of the graphics in this post were created by my graphic artist John Mark.  Check out http://www.onlinejobs.ph

If you would like assistance hiring your own graphic artist sign up for a free strategy session with me.  Be sure to add the information you are looking for your own graphic artist in the “Is There Anything Else You’d Like to Tell Me?” box.  Here’s the link to sign up for the session http://www.AskCarla.ca

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