There have been worries on social media about a new website that has appeared on the web (wallpart.com) that offers to print off any image (including an artist’s copyrighted works) for a fee.
Over the past week I have done some extensive investigation into the site and even placed a dummy order with them (more on this below) to see how the practice works. My findings are that it may well not be the serious breach of copyright many believe it is.
I first contacted a top lawyer to get the correct wording (see below) to use when ‘Reporting a Violation’ – an option on their website. Despite many people’s worries, one of Europe’s foremost digital advertisers tells me: ‘Users leaving a message in the ‘report violation’ box would not necessarily mean they are putting their own computers at risk. But the site works with cookies and the user’s behavioural info is most likely to land at a third party. In other words, they earn money by giving users’ browser data to 3rd parties, including their search queries.’ So getting visitors to their site may be their only aim.
Another suggestion of possibly combatting the site was to sign Change.com’s ‘Shut Down WallPart’ petition. It is unsure at present who has set this account up, so I am investigating this. However, although this seems like a good idea on the surface, practically I doubt it will do much good. The reasons for this are that although WallPart.com’s site claims to have a Australian address, that address doesn’t exist. Added to this, their IP address (the address of where the site is supposedly based) started in the Ukraine and has moved several times since.
Lastly, when I tried to place my dummy order they claimed to be shipping via ‘USPS China post Airmail’. So, all in all, even if the root of this site could be found, asking any of these countries to help in expediting their removal would be likely to fall on dead ears.
Dummy Order
As mentioned, I tried to place an order to actually see if I could actually order anything from them and, if so, how good the service was. I managed to find an image to order (their website is erratic at best and many images come and go) then went through to filling out my address. Lastly I went through to what I thought was a payment page, but there was nothing to click on. It simply said ‘Awaiting payment’ and showed my order.
I checked my email and, sure enough, I had a confirmation email (sent to the dummy email address I had set up – see below) with an order number, but the email simply stated that I had ordered something but it was ‘Awaiting payment’. And over the past few days, I have had no other emails from them. So my conclusion so far is that this site is more hot air than it should be a worry. Oh and that ticker showing 3500 odd happy customers? It’s a jpg, not a counter, and my order number was just No. 442, so hardly the numbers they claim.
My feeling is, interacting with the site may be futile, but if you do decide to continue using their ‘Report Violation’ button, I would suggest using the paragraph below and the email address I have set up to monitor interaction (of which so far there has been none), not your own email address. Also, I would delete your cookies after visiting the site at all. Here are the links for doing that, if you’re unsure. It’s quite simple. Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Google Chrome. Alternatively, signing the Change.org petition. Although I believe it may not be able to achieve much, it does show a commitment.
In Conclusion
A more serious side to this issue has been that artists have contacted me about other violations in territories that we do have international copyright agreements with. Some of these images are being sold by even the likes of Walmart and Amazon on prints and even iPhones. This is a more serious issue and something that would have far more impact if we were to combat it together. In the coming weeks, I will be contacting several of the larger art bodies including my own fellowship (The RSA) to see if a UK team can be set up, funded by them all, that represents all UK artists, not just the artists who are members of that one particular body.
My feeling is that in this digital age, what Wallpart may be highlighting is a need for just such a body to exist. We should avoid getting caught like the music industry did in 1999 with Napster, and start to work together to uphold artist’s copyrights while there may still be time. I will report back on my progress with this.
Mark David Hatwood FRSA
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To ‘Report a Violation’ on Wallart.com (or any site you believe is violating copyright infringement), copy and paste this. I would suggest not using your own email address, but you can use: enquiries@artrehome.co.uk. And remember to delete your cookies after ANY visit.
“The artist (I) have/has not given permission for this artwork to be used, printed or viewed here. If it is copied, sold or printed by Poster Shop or wallpart.com, it will be a clear violation of the artist’s/my copyright. As such, further action will be taken if this ‘cease and desist’ request is not complied with. This image should be removed immediately from your database and not copied, sold or printed in any way, otherwise Poster Shop or wallpart.com will be held responsible for a copyright violation infringement.“