I Am So Mad

[KLorentz]

Well if he does not let mine go through it will still be on Blogspot.Noooooooooooo doubt about it.


Kevin

[SeedPlanter]

[Sherry_AK]

Carolyn -- Here's a link

http://www.drtomato.com/

[geeboss]

I'm a little slow but one would think that if you grow your own tomatoes for seeds then why wouldn't you take pictures of your tomatoes. I know I do and while my camera eye is some what lacking you at least see what my tomatoes look like.

I've supported many seed companies including the one's he feels people reading his blog shouldn't visit. Sad when a business carries on like a kindergardener. I've got my order in for 2011 at Tatiana's. And Remy you've always been highly thought of here as a respected business person and helpful Tomatoholic

George

[mjc]

Does he still have any of your pics up?

If so, issue a DMCA takedown notice and if he doesn't comply, then the plug gets pulled.

[Tania]

I think his behavior is totally childish.

I kinda liked the way he used the large font to tell the world he does not recommend Tatiana's TOMATObase. It really shows some pretty strong personal feelings - I am sure he knows I was the person who brought up the whole subject here at TOMATOville, as he was a member, and was getting notifications on that post. And I like tomatoes with strong taste

That's why he was not responding to my emails.

I am fine with that - I think this is his problem, and I think it shows.

The interesting thing though - as he hates TOMATObase that much, that's probably why he copied everything from the TOMATObase Tomato Variety List into his brand-new website - http://www.tomatoseedbank.com/ and asked people to supply him with pictures and descriptions. I am wishing him very good luck building another copy of TOMATObase out there. I know it will be a lot of work, even if it is copying and pasting.

He even sent me an email about it - in response to my 'thank you for removing TOMATObase picture' email that back then I felt was appropriate thing for me to do :

From: Tom Duncan [mailto:drtomato@yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, August 29, 2010 9:26 AM
To: Tatiana Kouchnareva
Subject: Re: Thank you for removing Tatiana's TOMATObase photoes

All the pictures on my website I took or customers sent them to me. You will love my new site coming up this fall no pictures and no descriptions.http://www.tomatoseedbank.com I will remove this picture.

________________________________________
From: Tatiana Kouchnareva <tatianastomatobase@gmail.com>
To: drtomato@yahoo.com; TDu9530801@aol.com
Sent: Sun, August 29, 2010 1:38:48 AM
Subject: Thank you for removing Tatiana's TOMATObase photoes
Dear Thomas,

I would like to thank you for removing Tatiana’s TOMATObase photos and the Garden Watchdog Top 5 banner from your website, I really appreciate it.

One picture I missed before – Picardy is a picture of a TOMATObase member. Can you please remove it also? (http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Picardy )

Thank you for taking steps to make things right. I am sure your customers will like that.

We need more tomato seed vendors out there – to help to preserve heritage varieties and make them available to public. I hope your business will be a success.

Tatiana

P.S. I noticed a spelling error in one of the tomato variety names, Soldacki is misspelled as ‘Sodaki’ (red tomato seed page 5).

[Tania]

Oh, did I mention that Dr.Tomato abused Tatiana's TOMATObase website by editing my 'Seed Availability' template so it would show 'DR. Tomato' on every single tomato page?

First I thought it was an innocent mistake... well.. I think by now we know he is not very innocent... So I fixed the problem.

Next morning I discovered the same edit, + the link to his website on every TOMATObase page.

So I locked the template and went out to check this guy out. I think many of you know what I found back then.

So this was the full story, from the very beginning.

Tania

[Tania]

Originally Posted by mjc

Does he still have any of your pics up?

If so, issue a DMCA takedown notice and if he doesn't comply, then the plug gets pulled.

Last time I checked all Remy's and TOMATObase pictured were removed. But TGS, SSE, Baker Creek, and Tomatofest pictures were still there.

My last email I sent him on August 29 - of course I never got any response, instead I noticed that started copying TOMATObase lists over to his new website. This is when I wished him 'good luck' and just let it go.

Tomatoseedbank looks good – thank you so much for sharing the link!

Trudy Davidoff at http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/Free_Seeds.html is doing a similar thing.

Same as what Val McMurray from Wynndel, BC, Canada was doing since 2005 – unfortunately she passed away this January

I am sorry for bringing this painful topic again, but your drtomato.com catalog still have pictures from other seed vendors – Baker Creek, Tomatofest, Tomato Growers Supply Co. and SSE. If your customers sent you these pictures, they were violating various copyrights.

Tatiana

P.S. As I mentioned in my original email, it is OK to use TOMATObase pictures, as long as the GNDL terms and conditions are met.

[Tania]

Remy,

I totally understand why you were so mad about it - you have done nothing wrong, you did not say any bad word about him or his website, publicly or privately (unlike me), and he puts you up there as 'not recommended'. This is absolutely uncalled for.

Same comment about Tomatoville - just because I posted a comment, he hates the entire Tomatoville.

I am so disgusted with the guy, really.

Folks, I am really really sorry that I started all this commotion that negatively affected some of you.

Tania

[travis]

Oh, I think it's pretty obvious who's sincere and who's the jerk, Tania. Thank you for a valuable and well put together resource for us tomato enthusiasts. Lots of hard work on your part, and the result is real quality that he'll never be able to duplicate.

[KLorentz]

Tania,

I think someone should say something on Idig as well.Clearly Tom has no ethics. I would really love to see him try to pull this with pics and info from Burpee or some other well known company like them and see how fast he ends up in court. Also the Garden Watchdog top five banner is also on Tom's site again.


Kevin

[tam91]

I thought about commenting, but figured he wouldn't allow it. There are no comments so far.

However - since he kindly links to Tania's site - perhaps there'd be a way to put some comment there?

Tania's site is terrific - if anyone does look at it from his site, out of curiosity, - I think it'll be pretty clear where the quality is.

What an idiot.

[mjc]

Don't EVER be sorry for speaking the truth...or for trying to get to the bottom of a situation.

This is a problem, that does affect everyone.

Like I said earlier, I avoid the having to be asked by using the Creative Commons copyrights (I'm thinking about watermarking with that copyright logo...and yes, it is something that they would allow). It is one thing to be very generous with using pictures, but it's another to just use them and then be a jerk about it when called on it.

[remy]

Hi Everyone,
I feel much better this morning. Even though I was bothered by that pinhead's post, I slept well.

mdvpc,
No, I won't, but thinking of southwest themes, I watched a show on the chupacabra before bed last night. I then dreamt I had a pet one, but he was tame.


Thank you EVERYONE for all your comments and support to Tania and me.


Tania,
I knew you were not going to be happy. As MJC said don't be sorry. You have worked so hard to have one of the best sites on the web, and he was trying to piggyback off your success. You did nothing wrong.


SeedPlanter,
He copied and cropped them. I think to make them not as recognizable.

MJC,
DustDevil has watermarked my tomato pics. I just need to upload them all now. I'm going to do that from now on so I don't have to deal with this again.
Remy

[Zana]

Here is the post I just made on his blog (I think they may have gone through since they show as posted on the thread on my computer.)...I don't know if it will be "approved" or not...but for what its worth:


DR Tomato,

I'm rather confused as I've dealt with both Tatiana's TOMATObase and The Sample Seed Shop in the past (the latter multiple times.) Both has excellent product selection, information about the different seeds offered, quick and efficient service when ordering and the seeds all came true.

There are many websites out there that give information on growing various kinds of plants - whether flowers, fruits or veggies. Many are a waste of time, in my mind because of all the extra stuff that I am not interested in. There are a few that don't seem to be monitored at all and the language used is not to my liking.

And then there are a a very few that are a delight to visit because of the integrity of their sites and the information found on them. I know that there is allot of work done to keep up a website, and the more information found on the site, the more work it was to put it there, especially when creating all new support materials, like photos/charts, etc. I appreciate the amount of time that takes to create original photos of all the products. And as somebody who has dealt with copyrighting materials for publication elsewhere, I have a high respect for those that honour copyrights and the work and pride that goes into producing original work.

I came upon your site from a link elsewhere. I still haven't worked my way through your whole site, but I am concerned about you thinking that "borrowing" photos is just a little thing and that complaints about that are because somebody would be ashamed about them. Rather I would think its because they're proud of them and want them protected. It is fine that you say that everybody can use your photos. But you need to make it clear which are actually yours to offer a blanket free usage permission.

As for The Sample Seed Shop, I know they grow all their own seed, as I have picked up my seed directly from them. I don't believe that making a comment calling somebody a reseller without any basis in fact is sound business practice. In fact I believe that is libel and could result in you being sued in court for defamation of character and harm to their business.

Based on your comments, I am tempted to go see what the fuss is all about of why your commenting against them. And I would suggest that others do the same. I am quite concerned that accusations are being made that have no basis in fact. And I am the type of person that feel obligated to do my homework and find out what is the true story.

In the meantime, since I've had such good service from Tatiana's TOMATObase and The Sample Seed Shop, I shall reorder from them in the future.




Remy and Tatiana,

I am all about supporting copyrights - whether they be writings, photos, music, performances, etc. I've had some articles published, my sister is a composer/musical artist and my brother is a sound/recording engineer and producer. My sister's and brother's livelihoods depend upon their works being copyrighted. Its one of the reason that I don't buy bootlegs or scam free downloads of music, movies, etc.

Your photos are your work. The use of them is protected under law. Some people just need to understand that. And obviously this guy hasn't a flipping clue about the seriousness of his transgression. It will be interesting to see what the "big seed companies" do when they discover his "borrowing" of photos.

Zana


ps - I just checked and my two part comment is on his blog when you bring up his site. The question is for how long. But it will be interesting to see how he responds.