THE CARTRIDGE COLLECTOR

This past October I did a search for collectible cartridge boxes using the search phrase 'vintage cartridge box', and stumbled onto the coffee cup shown here with the image of a cartridge label applied to it that was being sold by The Image Shark, a storefront on Amazon. My first thought was 'what a neat idea; I wonder what other labels they have?'. I looked through the products they offered and found additional cups, as well as refrigerator magnets, with an assortment of other labels. It soon dawned on me that the images looked familiar. The image on the cup is the label from an early Union Metallic Cartridge Company .32 Webley Revolver cartridge box. I new I had a photo on my web page of a similar box label from my collection, and had never encountered another, so I immediately checked my web site for the picture to see just how similar it was to mine. What I found was not only did it look like my photo of my label, but it was my photo of my label.

I have been including monthly installments (picture pages) on this web page since September 2003 with photos and remarks on items I have been able to add to my cartridge collection over the years. This Webley label was included as one of the items that I wrote about on my March 2004 picture page, a portion of which is included here.

I copied the label image shown below from among the different images that were included with the cup that was offered by the The Image Shark; it shows the entire label as it appears on the cup.

This next image is the one that is on my April 2004 picture page. While the two images appear to not be the same height, it is apparent from the matching imperfections on the two that they are based on the same label. Note the voids in the printing of the letters and the two black borderlines, and the thin curved line under the word 'and' in the bottom line of text.

Among the refrigerator magnet images being offered by The Image Shark is the one shown below on the left. Coincidentally, it matches the image at the top of that same March 2004 picture page; I have included my image below on the right.

Three other images they have used that I'm aware of are shown below, two of which are distorted a bit to fit their needs, but all copies of images that were taken from my web site with neither my permission nor my knowledge.

I have never previously made any claims in regards to property rights or copyrights on the images that make up the majority of the content of my web site, and never really felt that there was a need to. However, I have now added the statement seen at the top of this page to this and the other pages of my web site, in an effort to make those who would be inclined to pirate my images aware that these images didn't just appear out of nowhere, and that they should get my permission to use them. I have no problems with anyone using them provided they are not using them for commercial purposes and provided they just ask. I've been contacted numerous times in the past by cartridge enthusiasts asking permission to use my images in cartridge related journal and magazine articles, and I have had no qualms about granting permission to them provided they credit my web site. The Image Shark storefront was offering 602 products the last time I looked, all with images that they had to obtain from somewhere. Included were copies of covers from past issues of Playboy and Sports Illustrated, oil company logos, movie posters, sports stars, endangered animals, and other subject matter. Assuming they went to the same effort to obtain permission to use all of those images as they did to use mine, it should only be a matter of time before they find themselves in the sights of a corporation with a seemingly unlimited legal budget.

That said, I still have to admit that I do like the cups that have my label images on them. Of course, I'm not inclined to put in an order with The Image Shark; perhaps I'll just wait for the liquidation sale.

Sources:

All images from that were identified in the article as being The Image Shark offerings were obtained from their storefront on Amazon,

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p_89_0?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck

%3Aimage+shark%2Cp_89%3AThe+Image+Shark&keywords=image+shark&ie=

UTF8&qid=1445979297&rnid=2528832011