Many people find their works stolen from DA and posted on Photobucket and it seems that DA watermarks are not stopping the thieves - they either post full size image with the watermark, or they post a preview version where watermark is not visible. More often than not such stolen images still have your name in their titles - every image you upload to deviant is automatically given a title with the original title and your name in it. This is why the simplest way to find your works on Photobucket is to enter your deviant name in their search engine. Of course, it won't show you the images where titles have been changed.

While such theft will not hurt you much - no one can sell prints of such marked images or really use them in any way - the ugly fact of the matter is that they are spreading your art without your permission and without giving you any credit. The worst case is when such a thief removes the watermark, usually ruining your image because they totally lack any skill with graphics programs, and claims the art as their own. Such images are difficult to track down, but when you do find them, you just have to act.

Many deviants I know, especially those who are not fluent in English, simply do not know what to do in such cases, so I decided to offer a little help. Photobucket does have a copyright infringement policy and they do care about copyrights - I know because every time I contacted them, my stolen images were removed without any problems. All you have to do is send them a special note. Here is how such a note should look like (make sure to read the important information below):

______________________________________________

DMCA Notice of Alleged Infringement

1. Some of my images have been posted on Photobucket website without my permission. The images were first posted by me on deviantART website from where they have been downloaded/stolen. My original images are:
http:// ..............................................
http:// ..............................................
http:// ..............................................

2. The infringing images are:
http:// ..............................................
http:// ..............................................
http:// ..............................................

3. My mailing address:
.........................
.........................
.........................

My e-mail address:
.........................

4. "I hereby state that I have a good faith belief that the disputed use of the copyrighted material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law (e.g., as a fair use)."
"I hereby state that the information in this Notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that I am the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of the copyright or of an exclusive right under the copyright that is allegedly infringed."

5. My full legal name is ......................... , I post my works under alias name ......................... .

______________________________________________

Just fill in the text with your data and send it to: abuse@photobucket.com

IMPORTANT:

in point 1. put LINKS TO YOUR ORIGINAL IMAGES ON DEVIANT there
in point 2. put LINKS TO YOUR STOLEN IMAGES ON PHOTOBUCKET there
in point 3. put your REAL HOME ADDRESS and your REAL E-MAIL address there
in point 4. this is the legal text that HAS TO be in the note, DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING there
in point 5. legal name is YOUR REAL NAME and alias name is YOUR NAME ON DEVIANT

Do not send the note as a Word document in an attachment to the email, because it most likely will not be read. Put the whole text in the body of your e-mail message and put "DMCA Notice of Alleged Infringement" in the e-mail's title.

I send such a note every time I find my works there and they usually remove the stolen images and respond by email on the next day.

If you find your works on Flickr, you can use the same form, just send it to copyright@yahoo-inc.com instead.

Good luck!