Paramount Studios is at it again. As you may remember, some time ago Paramount Studios had The Movie Blog shut down over a picture that we had up of the cast of The Transformers. It was just a simple picture of the cast off camera standaing around posing for a picture. There was nothing wrong with it. Eventually Paramount apologized to me for the incident (which was very decent of them) and explained it was an accident. Everything was cool.
But earlier tonight, another webmaster contacted me to let me know that Paramount is at it again. This time the target of their bullying tactics are the good folks over at IESB.Net. IESB is a first rate website run by first rate people. If I understand it right (and it is possible I don’t understand it right), Paramount used their mighty legal department to have IESB shut down and pulled off the net over the Iron Man pictures we posted here ourselves.
Here’s the funny part… the pictures in question are IN NO WAY ILLEGAL. They were taken legally and posted legally. Paramount’s legal department is using fear and bullying tactics to push sites like IESB around so they can be “in control”.
Hey Paramount! When will you guys realize that we in the online community are YOUR FUCKING ALLIES!!! We want to get people talking about movies… YOUR stupid movies. Sometimes that will be good… sometimes it will be bad… but we will get them talking. We’re on your side you morons! Just because you can’t manipulate and control us like you do with Print and TV media, doesn’t mean you should try to bully us into submission. It won’t work. Learn to work with us… and working WITH us doesn’t mean you’re in charge. DEAL WITH IT.
I hope you’re pleased with yourselves pulling IESB down… I hope you relish this little chest thumping session of yours. Because this is going to bite you in the ass BIG TIME. I hope for your sakes this was all some big mistake… a mistake you’ll correct sooner rather than later. Feel free to let me know if I’ve got any of this wrong.
Hey Some Guy
You said:
“If you plan to profit from pictures or video of a person, like say publishing them on your movie website, you have to have them sign a release”
No, you really really really don’t. Otherwise, whenever a newspaper took a picture and people ended up in it, they would have to sign releases… and they don’t.
In law, there is a significant difference between getting someone to be your subject and have them perform for you on camera… and someone being photographed in a public area.
The law is clear. Paramount knows it, that’s why IESB is back up now and the Iron Man images and video are still there.
There is also a big difference between filming for a movie to be sold (ie. Girls Gone Wild) and meida.
Once again, Paramount knows it, that’s why IESB is back up now and the Iron Man images and video are still there.
My middle finger is on steroids and pointing straight up in Paramount’s where the sun ain’t shining.
The moment they put on the iron man suit and go out to where they can be seen from a public area… the law is clear… your picture can be taken. And guess what… that picture belongs to YOU. If you take the picture from a public area… it’s yours. Copyright on the image and everything.”
Tell it to the Girls Gone Wild guy… WHEN HE GETS OUT OF JAIL.
If you plan to profit from pictures or video of a person, like say publishing them on your movie website, you have to have them sign a release. EVERYBODY you see on television, video, or film, has signed a RELEASE FORM. Otherwise you’re opening yourself up to a lawsuit.
I hear ya John, and the point was by no means missed, by the simple fact I awknowledged they broke no laws, its my point thats being missed, because it might not be the BIG point, its a point nonetheless. So I will digress.
Nord
Oh and Prophecy… as an addition to my last comment, IESB has posted a statement about the situation… and yes… the Iron Man Images are still there bigger than ever.
When IESB went back up earlier this afternoon… YUP… the Iron Man images and video were still there.
I won’t be surprised at all if Robert decides himself to remove them at the REQUEST of Paramount… but since the site went back up earlier… th Iron Man stuff was still there front and center.
Oh…and if IESB did nothing wrong, took the pictures legally and Paramount has admitted the shut down of IESB was wrong, then when IESB is back up the Iron Man pictures should still be on display. Right??? Because as stated, IESB did nothing wrong.
Nord,
You’re missing the big point here:
If you’re in a public area… and take a picture of a building that had a giant bilboard of “Spider-Man” on it… guess what… the image belongs to you. Period.
The moment they put on the iron man suit and go out to where they can be seen from a public area… the law is clear… your picture can be taken. And guess what… that picture belongs to YOU. If you take the picture from a public area… it’s yours. Copyright on the image and everything.
Paramount folded becuase they knew this.
IRON MAN IS NOT A REAL PERSON!!!!!
HE IS NOT A SKYLINE!!!!
HE IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED PROPERTY!!!
Owning something and haveing the copyright on something are COMPLETELY different things. I said they were walking a fine line, I did not say they broke any laws, but if they didn’t “break” a law they came f’ing close.
They are acting like papparazzi and in my opion should be treated as such, bottom feeders, pictures of the CN tower will not generate MILLIONS of hits on their website, so I dont imagine the CN tower people would track down people using the image, but Iron Man has been put into the hands of a very competent and respected director who, if he wanted to, could have released those pictures to the public, but he didn’t, and thats where my argument comes from, the disrespect shown to someone who is going above and beyond to respect them.
Most of you are blinded by the rediculous way Paramount handled this. John you argue in favor of studios having the “end all be all” right to do WHATEVER they want to their property, even recutting a directors work, because they OWN as you constantly point out.
Well they own IRON MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and its a brand, worth millions of dollars, and if they dont want the market saturated with photos they dont want scene yet it and have it completely fuck with their marketing distribution plan, its their perogative.
AGAIN, this was handled poorly by Paramount, big fucking surprise, but all of this empathy for IESB is mind boggling to me, what they did was greasy and not something most movie websites would do. They are giving people like you a bad name John.
You get invited to sets with permission to photograph and print the pictures (Meat Train) IESB hides in bushes, dodging security, and then cries about the consequences when they knew full well they were working against the wishes of both the studio and the film maker.
Shame on THEM
Nord
I’m sure the founder of IESB will be invited onto the Star Trek set to make up for this.
Hey Nord.
IESB put their logo on the pics exactly because the pictures are IESB’s intellecutal property.
If you take a picture of the Toronto Skyline, and get the CN Tower in the shot… and you took the picture from a public area… guess who the copyright on that image belongs to? YOU! Not the CN Tower… not any body else. The image belongs to you and you alone. Period.
IESB LEGALLY took the pictures from a public area. The copyright on those images belong to IESB, not Paramount or anyone else
Nord,
The picture was taken by people at IESB, therefore it is their intellectual property. They can put the logo on it because they took the picture.
They didn’t steal pictures taken by Paramount. They didn’t put their logo on Iron Man’s chest. They marked the pictures they took. It’s that simple.
I posted something far more questionable on my site in regards to the Iron Man movie a few months back and I received a (justifiably) angry email from someone in the FX production. Although the phrase “broken federal laws” was tossed about, I removed the image and that was the end of that.
Of course this could be due to her contacting me and my removing them before lawyers were involved.
The problem with this sort of thing in the land of the internet is that removing an image from a site does NOTHING. Images are immediately copies and uploaded to places like imageshack and photobucket where they can be accesses from many other websites.
That’s not to say that what Paramount did was right, BTW.
Vic
Why did you not address the fact IESB photoshopped their Logo onto the pictures of Iron Man.
Maybe I wasn’t clear in my argument, but thats where I was talking about copyright laws. Im not talking about your personal copyright as a human being John. Im talking about a brand, which has copyrights, that belong to Marvel. Iron Man is not a real person in case anyone is confused on this, he is a created piece of fiction that happens to belong to someone.
Remove the whole ethical part of my argument if you want (the ethics of them sneaking around, avoiding security and just being a pain in someones ass, which by the way Im completely surprised you compare that to your own incident of simply posting a Transformers pic), the bottom line is they published a photograph of someone elses intellectual property with their own personal brand splayed accross it is walking a VERY fine line as far as the legalities are concerned.
I personaly have little to no respect for these ISEB guys (but once I again I say having their website taken down is bullshit, absolutely wrong, and therefore no respect for Paramount either)
I do respect Jon Favreau, this dude has gone completely out of his way to keep the internet geeks informed and up-to-date on this project like no other comic movie before, and these monkies are running around outside of his set, dodgeing security to take pictures of something he obviously doesn’t want them to have pictures of, that bothers me.
Now I know you are caught up in this story John because it brings back some very intense memories of your encounter with Paramount, I get that, but on the same hand, think on this, The Hulk will be filming here in Toronto this summer, and I would bet a years salary that you and Doug would not drive into the city, sneaking around to take pictures of the movie, so that you could splash “TheMovieBlog.Com” accross them and post them on your website as a big scoop. Its something you could easily do, but you wouldn’t. You know people would go ape shit of the first pictures of Ed Norton as the Hulk, so whats stopping you?
Nord
All I have to say about this is that I put up the very same Iron Man pictures on this website yet we haven’t been asked to remove them.
Everyone still gets to see the pictures (though I only posted 3 of the 10 or so there).
If they don’t stop them in the first 24 hrs then it is already too late. IESB is getting the stick because its their logo on the pictures.
I wonder if Paramount also bullied their security team if this was considered a concern for them?
Wow, I’m amazed at how much of a misunderstanding people have about copyright laws.
As John and others have written: No laws were broken.
This is also completly different than what the paparazi do. These are pictures taken of a movie set, not of peoples personal lives.
John, I just wanted to know if their is anything I can do to support IESB. Should I write to Paramount (I know my letter won’t mean a damn thing, but I figure if they see that the fan community is supportive then they would listen, eventually). Do you have any contact information that I can reach Paramount at?
Hey Nord
You said:
“Paramount does have a certain right to protect their copywritten material.”
The law is the law. Copyright does not extend to this situation at all in any way.
If this was the case, then there would never been news pictures ever taken again. Any picture you take outside in public would become illegal bcause anyone walking in the background is having their personal “copyright” violated. Any buildings you see in your pictures are violations. All pictures taken anyplace other than your personal living room would be subject to prosectution.
The copyright exemption and fair use here is very clear on the matter. Things made visible in public or from a freely public place fall under “fair use” and can be photographed/video taped.
For the record, Paramount has emailed me to agree. They were wrong, and are now trying to get IESB up as soon as possible.
And Nord, I never said the “purpose” of IESB in this situation was to promote Iron Man. I never said that. But as a media outlet, they were in a public place, had the 100% legal right to photograph, and then gave that to their readers. They are 100% in the right here, were well within their rights, and totally within the ipsus of “fair use”.
To suggest otherwise is to restrict any photography, anywhere almost anytime. Forget the news, their footage would all be restricted.
Sigh, it seems to me after reading these comments that whether or not you agree with the ethics of the situation, nobody agrees that IESB should have been shut down, and it shouldn’t have, thats fucking dirty pool man.
But, I do have to ask this question regarding the ethics, regardless of where they took the pictures from, Paramount does have a certain right to protect their copywritten material. Marvel is a familiar brand and now Iron Man will become a money generating offshoot of that brand, they have a right to protect it.
Heres the thing I would like to know John, how would you feel if someone, standing on public property, but using a telescope pointed on to private property, was able to sneak a peek at the final Harry Potter book and released spoilers, under the guise of “promoting” Harry Potter for JK Rowling, maybe JK should feel privledged that someone, without her permission, is out releasing exerpts of her final book to do free promotion for her.
Lets cut the crap here, IESB is not offering up free publicity for Marvel or Paramount, neither one needs it or asked for it. The thing that probably pissed them off the most was IESB splashing THEIR logo all over a picture of Iron Man, not a Marvel logo, not a Paramount logo, but the logo for their website.
Say what you will, but Paramount has a huge point here in that they should have the right to protect their copywritten, bought and paid for material from other entities taking their product and slapping their logo on it. I believe they were TOTALLY out of line getting IESB yanked, but IESB pissed off a giant and they knew they were doing it, Im not going to feel sorry for them for getting burned, cause that generally tends to happen when you play with fire.
(and in my opinion this is a totally different scenerio from what you went through with Transformers John, same end result, but you weren’t asking for it John, they were)
Nord
Sorry john i have to agree with Darren on this one….what IESB did was wrong, i mean if you have to duck and hide from security and people on the set to take some pictures and video, then something is wrong, they shouldnt have been there, and they obviously knew that, cause they wouldnt have been hiding…
but i do think that Paramount was in the wrong also, they shouldnt have shut them down, just simply ask them to take the pictures down, adn if they didnt then, yeah shut them down……
This is just wrong. Paramount are acting like nothing but a bunch of thugs. Scratch Iron Man off my list.
I’m totally with John Campea on this! Paramount did wrong!
They also screwed up Star Trek! ;-/
“The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.”
I don’t care what anyone says, I’m still more excited about Iron Man than Transformers. Iron Man is the REAL robot movie!
The aquisition of the material was 100% legal. Paramount should be sued for this, nothing less.
Look, I’m not looking to punish Paramount, but I’m telling you, hearing all this has made me lose any interest I had in seeing Iron Man. Good job Paramount.
Paramount is making some really stupid moves. Why don’t they shut down some sites that might actually be hurting htem, like the pirate bay instead of a forum/trailer site. Jesus. After being around for longer than I was alive for they still haven’t figured this shit out.
I reckon the photos were probably taken illegaly (it’s like taking and posting, online, pics of a product that’s in the works), but they have gone overboard in they way they’ve responded to the initial posting of the pics.
Actually the problem is a society that thinks it’s entitled to anything and everything and entitled to it now and fuck you if you dare say the dreaded “n” word.
No?
What do you mean no? I demand to see crappy resolution spy pictures goddamn it and how dare you deny me that. I demand to be allowed to have free reign over information no matter how it’s obtained with no view to consequences. I demand that people be able to steal stuff from production offices or dodge security to film secretly on set.
I demand, I demand, I demand.
I’m sure Paramount would rather show off the Iron Man suit in action rather than as a guy doing sit ups on set filmed by some dude with a camcorder. They’ve been pretty generous with their Iron Man releases so far, they’ve actually shown stuff unlike Transformers where they posted release after release of nothing but boring ass reaction shots.
I guess they’re pissed at how they’re being repaid by trying to be more generous than they had with Transformers.
This is just papparazi journalism these spy photos and they’re getting treated the same way by studios as personalities do when the paparazzi start getting in their face. So who has the right to complain. Whether or not the course of action taken was extreme, they were quite right to take action.
Of course, to the “I demand” generation, that’ll be a completely different matter I suppose.
the problem in my opinion is that these guys have some marketing book written who knows when trhaT EXPLAINS THE BASICS FROM 30 YEARS AGO.
STEP 1. YOU LET OUT A LITTLE INFO THAT THE MOVIE IS COMING
STEP TWO YOU ‘TEASE’WITH LITTLE PHOTOS THAT SHOW, WELL, NOTHING REALY.
STEP 3 TRAILERS
and so on. if you show something else, you screwed their whole plan up and they might actually have to react.
this story is so sad.
Ask the guy who got sued by Jennifer Aniston for snapping her topless whether anything you can see from a public place is fair game legally…
If it was a legit video taken 100% legally then there would’ve been no reason at all for the guys filming it to have to keep ducking and hiding from the guys watching through the fence.
Are Paramount right to take action. Yes.
Should they have been shut down? No.
Bitch all you want about free publicity, if your going to post illicitly obtained material relating to the movie, you have to expect the studio to get pissed.
I understand the problem for the studio in asking to take the pictures down is that by now it’s propagated. I worry that Paramount feels this misguided step is the only way they can get the message across that they won’t tolerate “spying” on their private productions.
Accident though? Either time? Ha.
Paramount has nothing better to do, since 90% of the films they put out suck. Its not hard to ask politly to take the pics down. IESB, would take them down and if they didn’t, then more action should be taken. Paramount sucks, ever since they okayed the script for Star Trek Inssurection, I lost all hope.
Paramount should have asked them to take the images and video down, they way went overboard. To punish Paramount I will only see Ironman 2 times in the theater.
For the life of me I will NEVER understand why studios attempt such grand schemes of “control” over something as simple as pictures from their movies. It’s just promotion for their movie. We’re not talking about THE ACTUAL MOVIE on the net. Especially movies like Transformers, etc. Especially when the sites posting those pictures are basically geeking out over them, as AICN and others often are. Why would you ask AICN, who has a billion readers (give or take) that ALL WANT TO GET EXCITED ABOUT YOUR MOVIE?
What it all comes down to, I believe, is vanity. Hollywood studios just need to feel powerful, to control everything, and the fact that movie sites big and small run by guys in their underwear sitting in their mom’s basement are doing something THEY HAVEN’T APPROVED OFF PERSONALLY pisses them off to no end. So they will BURY you, as the saying goes, just to prove to their own ego that they are as powerful as they believe themselves to be.
It’s all about vanity and ego.
Basically, it’s Hollywood, baby. Why do you think they have 5,000 awards shows a year?
“I see where you’re coming from, and I want to be on your side, but that is the same argument used by paparazzi scum. The bad outweighs the good in my opinion.”
Some Guy,
Yes it’s the same argument. It’s called freedom of speech. The right,no matter what country you live in, to say what you want without anyone telling you can’t. Some use it for good, some for bad. But just because bad people use it doesn’t mean it negates that freedom.
That kind of logic would have us take guns away from cops because bad guys use them…. stop government run public education because Hitlar used it to create Nazis… or even ban videogames because some of the children who shoot schools were played them.
-AB
Thanks for posting about this John. I’m not a IESB reader, but I’m proud that you’re sticking up for other sites too, and what’s been done to IESB is just wrong. Shame on Paramount. Shame.
“Being an Ally is not the same thing as being their bitch and you bend over when ever they ask. They run their business… the media runs theirs. one must not control the other.”
I see where you’re coming from, and I want to be on your side, but that is the same argument used by paparazzi scum. The bad outweighs the good in my opinion.
As an IT Person, I still can’t fathom how Paramount has the power to shutdown a site for some silly reason when we have so much trouble getting genuinely dangerous phishing/scam/malware etc sites shut down.
I guess it all comes down to money and lawyers – unless they own the hosting ISP?
in regards to shooting the pics and video on “private property,” that wasn’t the case. The first video was shot on our redears balcony and the second video from a 24 Hour Fitness parking lot that was facing Ocean Blvd. they were on a public street and tons of people were around.
quick heads up guys, no one asked us to take the content down. we actually covered the Shrek junket and premiere this weekend and none of the reps said a thing. very simple, if they would’ve asked, we would have come to an agreement. the big problem is that paramount never asked us a thing. none of the studio publicists didn’t know this was going to happen and they are now trying to make things right, too bad that after all is said and done we lost traffic, readers, scoops and much more.
they fucked up and not us.
Being an Ally is not the same thing as being their bitch and you bend over when ever they ask. They run their business… the media runs theirs. one must not control the other.
As far as respecting their wishes… too bad Paramount didn’t have the decency to even ask IESB first or talked to them about it before their site was pulled.
If you claim to be an ally of the studios then you should respect their wishes.
The whole parasitic stalker culture has got to go. Go Paramount.
Here is my review of this situation:
Were the pictures taken legally. – Yes. If something is visible in a public area then it becomes public property.
Was it morally wrong to post them on the net. – No. They are journalist and have the right to share news,pictures,movies, etc.
Did Paramount have the right to ask for IESB to take down the pictures. – Yes. They didn’t have a legal basis, but they can ask and hope IESB would respect their wishes. Which I believe they would have done as a professional courtesy.
Did Paramount have the right to take the entire IESB site down. – No, plain and simple.
Should Paramount have taken the site down – No. Especially after the incident with John a few months back. They will only generate more bad publicity and anger their main group of followers.
Looking at all the points made I have one simple opinion about the whole thing…
PARAMOUNT F#$% UP!!
-AB
IESB did nothing unethically. They are are movie site that talks about movies and therefore posted a couple pics hat were obtained legally as John noted. If these pics were taken otherwise, every paparazzi would be in jail right now for taking pics of all those celebrities while on publi property. And besides the pics were showing nothing but some guy in a suit that is in every Iron Man comic (well maybe not the first couple editions)…not very earth shattering IMO.
The real issue issue isn’t being ignored. You have your opinion, I have mine. My arguement is not silly. It has merit. IESB behaved unethically.
However.. One. More. Time.
I do not approve of the studio shutting down IESB.
Can we at least agree on that?
Thank you!
Fuck Paramount. I’m not a regular IESB reader, but until I see IESB back online with a huge apology from Paramount, I’m personally scratching Iron Man off my to see list.
Darren, the argument is silly.
So the guy picking his nose pulls out a shot gun and shoots the photographer… and all you want to do is talk about how the photographer had it coming.
There is 1 “wrong” party here… and that’s Paramount. Period. If they had a problem with IESB, they should have contacted them (I know for a fact they didn’t). They should have talked to them. But instead, they pulled out the gun.
Paramount is wrong. Their actions are egregious and far overblown here. Why on earth you want to ignore the real issue here and talk about IESB taking pictures (which was legal) is really beyond me.
So…let’s say you picked your nose in the confines of your backyard. A hundred feet away, in the middle of the street, soomeone films you doing that and throws it up on the internet. They might have a legal right.
I’m talking ethics.
Nothing more, nothing less.
“The law is VERY clear, that things that are visible from a public area is 100% totally fair game to be photographed. It’s just that cut and dry.”
Really? Does that make it right?
No, it doesnt.
How did they get a good look at Iron Monger? They went on private property. They said so themselves before they were taken down! When they were stopped by security, and said ‘don’t go there’ They GO THERE.
Again, I think it could have been handled differently oon Paramount’s part, but while I’m not jazzed about IESB being shot down (really) to make them out like saints is an error on your -and any bloggers part.
You and I have to agree to disagree.
There is no “both sides of the fence” here. The images and video were obtained LEGALLY. Period.
But that’s not even the issue here. The issue is once again, Paramount is throwing their legal department around like a ball at whomever they can’t control. In this case it’s IESB.
No, John. I am not wrong.
I have *zero* problem with the pix. I had a problem with the video and the pix that were shot ON PRIVATE PROPERTY.
IESB shares some blame- I’m sorry John…they overstepped thier bounds. Did I want them shut down? No. Let me ask you something. If it’s so “public” why do they have to “hide what they are doing” from security?
I’m wrong?
They are wrong.
And you should look on both sides of the fence.
so it finally comes out…..Hollywood controls Print and TV media.
thanks John.
Hey darren,
You said:
“I truly believe IESB overstepped thier bounds.”
You’re wrong on that point actually. I happen to know that the photographer was standing in a PUBLIC area. The law is VERY clear, that things that are visible from a public area is 100% totally fair game to be photographed. It’s just that cut and dry.
IESB didn’t overstep anything. He was standing in a public area… the iron man was visible from that public area… and pictures were taken. 100%, no questions asked, totally legal.
For the first time since visiting this site and commenting, I am more or less a total loss for words. But I’m going to try. First things first.
On one hand, I cannot **disagree** with you more, Gio and int’l friends. I truly believe IESB overstepped thier bounds. The studio has been bending over backwards in releasing art, stills and being more than open with fans. There was no reason for IESB to be all cloak and dagger about this. Bitch all you want- when they have to duck around security and things like that, it is a problem. When places are OFF LIMITS they should respect such warnings. If they truly believe they did nothing wrong, then they should not say “we expect these pix and video to be taken down in a few days’. In my point of view, and you can bitch and chew me out all you want, I stand by my previous statement. They -IESB- are in the wrong.
It had a trickle effect, I was proven right.
NOW, before everyone gets all steamed, look back at what I clarified before AND I WANT THIS CRYSTAL I thought the video should have been yanked; NOT the few pictures. The pix were not big on res, slightly blurry, and behind a fence (on PRIVATE PROPERTY) …it could have been a stunt double, could have been Downey, who knows.
Yes, I think IESB overstepped and made a huge, huge blunder.
Now, let’s get this CRYSTAL.
I lost respect for IESB. Yes,
I think that they are in the wrong. Correct.
Did I want them shut down? No.
NO.
NO NO NO.
NO!
So please, people, **know** where I stand on this. I don’t entirely blame Paramount this time. IESB has to share some blame.
-Darren J Seeley
Guys please, this is exactly what they want to do, this is all publicity for them and for Ironman, maybe the pics didn’t received the attention they thought so now they make all this staged shut down sites thing, so those that didn’t saw the pics will ask “oh so the pics were that good, and they don’t want us to see them, I have to see those, now!!!”
it’s all to raise the buzz on ironman, and it only makes me think that if they need to get to these extremes, then the ironman script and the whole myspace and the very early publicity aren’t working.
Maybe the movie (because ironman is not as known as superman, batman or spiderman) will need though and excessive publicity to get people to like ironman or maybe it’s just as simple as IESB posted some pics and paramount didn’t had the right to take legal action.
I want to hear what director Jon has to say about this. He’s a very cool, semi-nerdy dude, I bet he wouldn’t be happy.
This is outrageous. Sites like this one and IESB get me pumped about movies that wouldn’t have caught my attention otherwise. How dare Paramount treat them like this? I say, fuck Iron Man right up his robo-suit ass.
This is retarded. Honestly, don’t they realize that this is PROMOTION for them?
They shut the whole site down? Just ask them to pull the pics down. If that doesn’t work, then send in the suits to scare ’em with legal action, but you don’t destroy the whole site over some damn pics.