My grandpa just died, but I’ve got bigger issues: I found bad web design and questionable practices.
When we were arranging the funeral, we were given the option of using a service called “tributeslides.com”. Here we would upload photos of my grandpa, and have them automatically arranged into a nice slideshow. Using the app was a great experience. It was easy to use, didn’t have any visible issues, had a lot of formatting options, and overall I just liked it. The slideshow turned out great and people at the funeral liked it.
Buuuuuut, then my family started talking about buying the slideshow. Yeah. Apparently your computer generated slideshow using your photos costs money. It seems wrong to charge the family $30 USD or more. We’re too busy crying to pull out our wallets, give us a break!
I went to the order page and had a thought. You can preview the entire slideshow… what if… no, surely not…
Yes! Charging actual money for an MP4 that ANYONE can download free of charge. Just cmd + shift + i and it is all yours, but they still want your money.
I figured since I got the video and the original photos were from too many places to find again, maybe I should download the photos from tributeslides too. I was able to while editing, so it should work. Should. Yeah. They removed the download button for those. Not only does this site charge for an automatically generated video, but they take away your ability to download ORIGINAL photos so they can squeeze out a few extra bucks.
Not to worry I guess, the photo download zip is also still there. Hidden but not well. I decided to poke around a bit more and found out that the obituary also has an embed to the tributeslides page with an order link. Mmmm, that sure makes me feel good.
I was not involved with the paperwork for the funeral, and the forwarded funeral home email did not mention selling my photos, so this seems relatively shady. Tributeslides also had no terms of service or any agreement for me to give them permission to sell MY photos. In fact there isn’t even any contact info anywhere. This isn’t helping their case. I looked more into tributeslides and it is owned by a company called Tukios. Their about legal page has this:
You acknowledge and agree that when you submit an obituary, post comments, submit a tribute video, or post or submit other content (together, "content") to Tukios or any website of any Client operated by Tukios, such content will be shared with and stored by Tukios and its affiliates and partners.
You further acknowledge and agree that you relinquish all ownership rights in any ideas or suggestions that you submit to Tukios through the Sites.
So there is a ToC after all… but it is not presented on the tributeslides website, and appears to be hidden. Most people will not be digging into the parent company to try and find the ToC. How is this even legal? It’s reminding me of H2G2:
“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
“That’s the display department.”
“With a flashlight.”
“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”
“So had the stairs.”
“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”
“Yes, yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”
The Sites are protected by applicable copyright and other intellectual property laws, and no materials from the Sites may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way without our express permission.
Do I even own my own photos anymore? I do not understand legalese when it comes to copyright, but from my basic reading it seems like that is what they mean. Regardless, it is awful that no user is going to know how tributeslides uses their photos. It is taking advantage to sell without notice.
Anyways, tributeslides sucks! Also RIP grandpa, I never realized how much you meant to me. I hope you can rest happier knowing people didn’t get to monetize your death.