Plagiarism and social media part 2: jfkhndwine/jamescavs is a FRAUD

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After finding out a couple of years ago that a person by the name of Jo Soo-Tang - a marketing professional and socialite who is currently the Chair of the Board of the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital Foundation - plagiarized my pictures and posted them as her own on Instagram, and subsequently discovering that this photo I took of the Bimmah Sinkhole in Oman has literally been stolen by hundreds of websites, I was alerted to another case of plagiarism involving my work.

Photo credit: @jfkhndwine on Instagram / James Michael Cavanaugh

Here he is.  Someone who goes by the handle of @jfkhndwine (changed from @itstheoenophile after I reported him) on Instagram.  I don't know who this person is.  I don't even know if this is actually a picture of him.  This is James Michael Cavanaugh (@jamescavs), a spoiled brat who apparently holds an American diplomatic passport.  What I do know is that he has been stealing my pictures and posting them as his own on Instagram under the aforementioned handle.  And he has stolen a lot of them.

I was alerted to this by one of my followers on Instagram, whose own picture has been stolen and used by this character.  Interesting, this person has actually blocked me on Instagram to prevent me from finding out what he has been doing, and I needed others to send me screen captures of my work on his Instagram.

This was the first picture I received.  Let's be frank... there ain't too many bottles of 1940 Latour floating around on the market, which was what caused the kind Instagram follower to take notice.  Sure enough, this is my picture of the bottle I opened for dad's birthday on September 25, 2011 at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Taipei. 

Eventually I logged myself out of Instagram so I could see every post he has made.  There are a total of 127 posts, and I counted 25 of them as being pictures I have taken.  That's 20% of his posts!  STOLEN FROM ME!  And doing a quick search using his Instagram handle reveals many other reported cases of pictures being stolen by him.

So what the fuck was going on?  Who is this guy?  Does he even drink wine?  Why is he going around stealing everyone's pictures?  Just so he can get lots of followers and 'likes'?!  So he can pretend he's living the good life while in reality he's sucking on Two Buck Chuck?  This is the sad state of social media, where people like him are pretending to have a life by stealing the work of others and passing the experiences off as their own.  I'm sure there are plenty of others.  What a bunch of sad fuckers!

My message to this guy?  FUCK YOU AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON!

So I'm filing a formal complaint to Instagram, and I'm not gonna stop until his account is deactivated, and we find out who this person is and make sure he can never steal another picture from someone else again.  Please help me in that effort.

(Update: I reported the violation to Instagram and the 25 pics were removed within the hour.  And the fucker has changed his handle.  I wish Instagram would just de-activate this account for good!

Here are the rest of the pictures that he stole, along with links to the blog posts where the pictures were originally posted:

This magnum of 1990 Lafite-Rothschild was drunk at my friend's birthday party at Sup 1 on June 11, 2014.

This bottle of 1991 Vogüé Bonnes-Mares was opened at one of our MNSC dinners at Guo Fu Lou (國福樓) on October 13, 2013.

Vladimir poured me a glass of this 2008 Drappier Grande Sendrée when I had dinner at Gaggan in Bangkok on Gaggan's birthday - February 22, 2017.

This 2009 La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion drank beautifully at the Sotheby's Domaine Clarence Dillon dinner on September 26, 2013.

This was a picture of a bottle of 1990 Chave Hermitage Rouge I served at an MNSC dinner at Caprice on June 21, 2010. The asshole who stole the picture said this was 1993 and posted fake tasting notes as he usually does.

This bottle of Penfolds Bin 707 was drunk over some beef at Neighborhood on January 5, 2017.

This beautiful bottle of 1973 Petrus was shared over an MNSC dinner at Amuse Bouche on April 29, 2013.

The 1971 DRC Echezeaux, along with this stunning bottle of 1982 Latour à Pomerol, were drunk at an MNSC dinner I hosted at Petrus on June 26, 2017.

The 1995 Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde as well as 2008 Michel Gros Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Clos des Réas were drunk at a private dining facility on October 7, 2014.

Both the 2005 Alter Ego and 2006 Alter Ego were part of the Château Palmer tasting at Hong Kong Wine Vault on May 31, 2011.

As was this bottle of 1998 Palmer.

I drank this bottle of 1998 Denis Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St-Jacques over dinner at Ming Fu (明福餐廳) in Taipei with some friends on June 15, 2011.

The 2000 Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux drank really well at the Sotheby's Château Margaux dinner on October 13, 2015.

The 1975 Lafleur was served at an MNSC dinner at The Chin's (中華匯館) on January 15, 2017.

Chef Fabrice Vulin very generously offered me a glass of this 1990 Lafite-Rothschild at The Tasting Room in Macau on July 8, 2017.

This was an incredible bottle of 1976 Penfolds Grange I got to drink at an MNSC dinner at The Hong Kong Club on December 25, 2016.

The 1995 Chave Cuvée Cathelin was drunk at 7 par Anne-Sophie Pic in Valence after visiting Jean-Louis Chave on October 24, 2011.

I opened this bottle of 1991 Opus One at the Grand Hyatt Steakhouse on April 16, 2017.

The 1996 Mouton-Rothschild was my wine of the evening at the Sotheby's Château Mouton-Rothschild dinner on January 29, 2015.

I opened this magnum of 2000 La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion at a private dining facility on October 19, 2015.

The 2000 La Mission Haut-Brion was part of a 100-point wine MNSC dinner at The Principal on December 17, 2012.