Amit Dutta - another bird photo thief!

[Romy Ocon]

Thanks to a heads up from a PBPF mod, I found out this guy (going by the name "Amit Dutta" and appears to be based in Singapore) has stolen one of my bird photos and posted it as his own.

He went so far as changing the EXIF data (easy to do in PS, just copy one photo and paste it over another, whose EXIF will govern). Fortunately for me, I have the RAW capture, which easily proves ownership.

Here's the bird photo as posted in my Pbase gallery:

Philippine Woodpecker (Dendrocopos maculatus, a Philippine endemic)
Subic rainforest, Philippines, October 11, 2008
20D + 500 f4 IS + Canon 1.4x TC, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800




Here's my stolen photo as posted in the thief's site (note the sham EXIF):

www.amitdutta.com/photo/index.php?showimage=324#




A resized full frame after RAW conversion and quickie PP (BG is left uncleaned) is shown below.... obviously, if I were the photo thief, I can't invent detail beyond the frame he posted in his gallery.





Curiously, it appears that the thief is maintaining a photo forum himself. I wonder why it's necessary for him to steal a photo and post this as his own, as this can be easily exposed in the open internet.

His photo forum (unmaintained, now taken over by spammers and smut peddlers):
www.amitdutta.com/forum/index.php

His profile:
www.amitdutta.com/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=2



All these web pages and data were already saved and attested to by other witnesses for use in possible legal proceedings.

Meantime, I've posted this here to caution other photogs, and to shame the thief for what he has done, while I plan my legal moves.


Romy

[Romy Ocon]

Here's a thread at DP Review I opened for maximum exposure of the thief:

forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1029&message=28202379


And a screenshot of the thief's web pages:

[JP Cariño]

what a loser

[Martin Alvendia]

I hope he pays dearly for his ghastly act!

[Romy Ocon]

Thanks, JP and Martin.

The thief is now being universally criticized at DPR. His wish to be well-known is now being fulfilled.

Romy

[Mark Itol]

Good thing you caught him, Romy.