Instagram Watch Dealer who uses others' watch pictures without consent

Vinnie appears to be a watch dealer, based on his Instagram home page.




He has also used others' pictures without credit , nor permissions. One example is here
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUo_G79LZPN/?utm_medium=copy_link

This photo is taken from Blomman Watch Report , and you can see the original here.

He also used a picture from someone he had bought a Jim Clark from, without the seller's permission. His excuse was that buying the watch allowed him to use the seller's photos without credit nor permission.

When I called him out on his improper use of others' photos, I was rewarded with a flood of invective over IG DM, which was quite amusing I guess.

I'm not sure he understood the point at all unfortunately, but I would say that this would be a seller I would definitely avoid. Posting this as a heads-up to the community at large that buyers are aware of what Vinnies_Vintage_watches aka Vin Du has been up to.

I tried using this link from another OF post. Turns out you can only report if it's your photo, and not if he's using someone else's picture (like Blomann's above). I have notified Blomann though - perhaps the offending post using Blomman's picture will be taken down soon.

My guess is that copy-and-paste violations like this are seen as relatively minor infractions, unless he is somehow damaging the copyright owner in a tangible way, or fraudulently claiming that he has possession of the watch and trying to sell it. Nevertheless, I think they are taken down by IG if the owner complains.

True, and these infractions aren't uncommon on IG.

If someone is a watch dealer though and has been shown to be somewhat cavalier about IP, to me that would be a red flag. One can only wonder what else about the watches for sale that he's cavalier about. The numerous rude DMs he sent me were also rather concerning, certainly not a dealer I would buy anything from.

Absolutely. I wouldn't want to do business with someone who acts like that. In fact, if someone rubs me the wrong way at all, I'll usually just move on, as a buyer or a seller. The last thing you want is to have a problem upon delivery, and then have to deal with someone who is unethical and/or difficult.

Maybe Blomman had reported him or DM-ed him, but it appears his post using Blomman's picture of the GP8846 has been taken down.

Perhaps Vinnies Vintage Watches has realized his error?