A thief caught in the act! Photo Gallery by romy ocon at pbase.com

A thief caught in the act!

Somebody (a lowlife going by the name SUBROTO MUKHERJEE) stole a couple of my bird photos, chopped off the lower portions to eliminate my watermark, and posted the same pics as his own at www.treknature.com . Eventually, after a flurry of complaints, the said website removed the photos.

Here's a thread at DP Review I started regarding this issue:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1029&message=23233756

Of course, I had the presence of mind to save the offending web pages while these were still up. Here are screen shots of these pages. Even if the webpages with the posted stolen photos are gone, I won't easily allow this amoeba to simply hide in a dark corner and be forgotten. I'll keep this gallery up to remind everybody of this thief's misdeed.

First, the legit photo as appearing in my web gallery is presented, then followed by 4 screen shots of the rascal's page.

IMG_0045_1-1000x750.jpg Black-naped Monarch (Male) Scientific name - Hypothymis azurea Habitat - Common resident all over the Philippines, in disturbed forest. [20D + 500 f4 IS + Canon 1.4x TC]	Stolen-BNM-1.jpg Screenshot No. 1 - stolen photo of a male Black-naped Monarch	Stolen-BNM-2.jpg Screenshot No. 2 - stolen photo of a male Black-naped Monarch	Stolen-BNM-3.jpg Screenshot No. 3 - stolen photo of a male Black-naped Monarch	Stolen-BNM-4.jpg Screenshot No. 4 - stolen photo of a male Black-naped Monarch
IMG_9994-1000x750.jpg Handsome Sunbird (A Philippine endemic) Scientific name - Aethopyga bella Habitat - Thickets, forest edge and forest below 2000 m. [20D + 500 f4 L IS + Canon 1.4x TC, on tripod]	Stolen-HS-1.jpg Screenshot No. 1 - stolen photo of a male Handsome Sunbird	Stolen-HS-2.jpg Screenshot No. 2 - stolen photo of a male Handsome Sunbird	Stolen-HS-3.jpg Screenshot No. 3 - stolen photo of a male Handsome Sunbird	Stolen-HS-4.jpg Screenshot No. 4 - stolen photo of a male Handsome Sunbird
screenshot-4.jpg

comment |

Guest		20-Nov-2008 03:06
This guy subroto mukherjee has no shame and he is stealing the pictures for quite sometime and also writes the comments about the photo and the place where he took it. He is simple ligting others work and using it as his own. He calls himself as a software professional ????? if you want to see more of him he has orkut account by the name of subroto mukherjee, kolkata. you can search and fine him there . he can be warned on the scrapbook about his behaviour so that he is exposed there too.

Janice Dunn		19-Nov-2008 20:21
Hi Romy, as a member of PBase and TrekNature I am really pleased to see that the TrekNature moderators have closed down SUBROTO MUKHERJEE's site on TN. He also posted photos on another site (usefilm.com) that were taken from other TrekNature members too. A lot of pictures have been erased from the gallery on usefilm.com... yet some remain. Thanks for putting this up here on Pbase Janice

rnn		03-Oct-2008 01:16
To the previous guest: Please read carefully before posting such posts. First, it is not a magazine, but a hosting site. As such, they are no more liable or responsible than pbase would be is someone posted something that was not their copyright here (that would only be an issue if pbase did not respond to the inquiries, and evidently the treknature site did respond to Romy Ocons inquiries and removed the photos). Secondly, the name was not "Nature Trek", which is fairly well known bird tour agency. They are completely uninvolved. So, the person who did this, a Subroto Mukherjee (if that is the real name), certainly fully deserves this page, but please don't randomly post misinformation on something as serious as this (as the previous guest did).

vectisbirder		23-Jul-2008 21:32
Reading closely on a couple of the pages, you can see that the toerag claims the Philippine-endemic sunbird as occurring in California! Not only is he a thieving scumbag, he doesn't know anything about the birds he claims to have photographed (stole). Glad he was busted, Romy.

Guest		24-May-2008 20:52
if your photos are copyright, why not sue the magazine? I'll remember "nature trek" and tell my friends about their stolen photos.

wildoat		31-Aug-2007 14:49
If this thief has any camera equipment it should all be smashed to little pieces. There is an unspoken code between most photographers that they would never dream of doing what he did. He is major low life. Thanks for making a feature of it and let it be a warning to others.

Eddie M.		19-May-2007 05:43
Ipagamod mo kaya yung bruho na yon. Pesteng yawa nang tawhana.

Rob_in_Japan		16-May-2007 10:31
I too am glad he was BUSTED!! Your photos are an inspiration to bird photographers everywhere, fledging and experienced alike. I'd LOVE to be able to claim pictures such as yours except I'll be taking them with a camera, NOT from one of your posts or your gallery. Keep up the good work.

CebuPortal.com		16-May-2007 01:59
Good for him to be exposed

click on thumbnails for full image