Overclockers Pulse - Hardware Review Blog » Post Topic » Plausible Deniability? 3dGameman Rips off Hardware Canucks Copyrighted Images?

Plausible Deniability? 3dGameman Rips off Hardware Canucks Copyrighted Images?

Posted by Spawne32 | Published in News Archives | [-1 comment-]

I was doing my daily rounds across the net at various tech forums, when I came across this lovely tidbit over at Hardware Canucks. It would seem that there is some controversy arising over the validity of the images used in 3dGameman’s reviews. Check out the full forum thread over at HWC by clicking here.

In the meanwhile, i had to do some investigating my self, turns out, the story is true. One of Hardware Canucks images from their Palit Radeon HD4870 512MB Graphics Card Review shows up at exactly 2:46 in 3DGameman’s review of the HIS HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 Video Card. To be certain of its matching, i even used photoshop to examine the images further. They are identical even down to shapes and tears in the thermal pads on the heatsink, to the position of the sticker on the cooling fan. Just have a look for yourself…

Screencap of 2:47 during the HIS HD 4870 Review @ 3dGameman.com, Click to Enlarge.

Side by Side Comparison of the HWC Image and 3dGameman Review Video, Click to Enlarge.

Original Hardware Canucks Image, Click to Enlarge.

Close up of the heatsink during the 3DGameman Review, Click to Enlarge.

This is truly disturbing from a reviewers standpoint. Its one matter to criticize another’s work, but you out right steal images and reuse them as your own is down right offensive, and then to go as far as to deny the fact of. SKYMTL was quoted on the HWC forums saying the following..

The site in question was contacted. They have denied it is ours even though I can tell you that it is either a damn good copy (which it isn’t) or indeed ours. The fan angle is the same, the little dent I put in the ram’s thermal pad is there, my lame reapplication of the VRM thermal pad is shown, the shadows are the same and when superimposed the images line up to a tee.

At this time we are still deciding what route to take since this usage is in clear violation of our Terms and Conditions. No, we were not contacted with a request to use it…a request we have granted many times in the past I may add. In addition, all diplomatic routes between the two sites was stopped at the behest of the owner of the site in question after we offered to allow them to use it as long as the watermark was reapplied.

I must say I am disappointed since I count myself as a diplomatic type of person and I wanted a quick resolution to this.

Keep a watchful eye on this one fellow reviewers, as for myself, i will be re-evaluating how our images are branded and copyrighted.

-Spawne32

Article Update: We have been informed that 3DGameman has removed the images out of the review videos in repsonse to the overwhelming support for Hardware Canucks defense. Including the ones that involved copyrighted Techpowerup images as well. Id like to thank the community for getting behind HWC and Techpowerup and helping this matter get resolved quickly. We as reviewers are grateful for all the support you give us in keeping our work respected as our own.