Copyright

lawrenceots

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Name
Lawrence
Edit My Images
Yes
So it's that age old question of copyright!
Got my website up www.lchadwicksmith.co.uk and need to protect the images. Do I compress the images to they're barely usable of splash a logo over them all! :D

Views please!
 
My view is whatever you stick online will be stolen and may be used elsewhere. Mostly by individuals who just want to add a photo to a blog, forum, twitter post or whatever. However there are the odd few companies who seem to be unaware of copyright law, or don't care about it, and will steal them for their use. Some will try to claim they are non-profit so that makes it okay (no it doesn't).

Anyway, one way or another they'll try and if you can see the picture it can be copied, so don't even bother with javascript, flash and such tricks.

The only protection you can apply is to do as you say. The choice you have to make is whether you want people to see your photos more than be concerned about theft. If you have to make intrusive logos and such, then may as well not put them on at all.

I've had mine pinched a few times. One thing I do if I'm concerned is only upload 800 pix max photos on the web, so at least they're not much use for print. I'm also looking into ways of putting very small copyright in the photos that aren't intrusive but might get copied with the photo, or you can put copyright in the meta data of the image so it may be easier to hunt down and use in court should there be an argument as to ownership. Then again not uploading the original settles that as only you have the original, and meta data can be stripped off (though there are ways of embedding data in the actual pixels of the image itself in a hidden way).

It's a tough one. I'd say if there's something you want to make money out of yourself and don't want anyone else to, don't stick it on the Internet.
 
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hmmm, well the primary objective was just to display my work, but then a few friends mentioned that they thought they were good etc, could see a few on the wall, and being the vain git I am....:) Thing is, I don;t want to ruin it when you look at the image - at the moment, the ones on the website were put into iWeb in full res, but on the website they're pretty low, I think you'd struggle for a normal size print out of them. :thinking:
 
if you make the image 600x400 and jpeg 6 , it is unlikely to be of any use for printing bigger than 7x5 and definatly not a4 and retain quality.


if you wish to put a water mark on these images , no one is going to be able to use them , other than for looking at.

but the only way to gaurentte your images wont be used by anyone else is not to put them on the web ib the first place

Cheers Steve
 
My view is whatever you stick online will be stolen and may be used elsewhere. M

well that depends where you 'stick online' = avoid Facebook and Flickr like the plague.
 
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I've had mine pinched a few times. One thing I do if I'm concerned is only upload 800 pix max photos on the web, so at least they're not much use for print.

You ahve to be joking.. I have seen smaller sized pics printed in newspapers... you can make prints from smaller than an 800 px pic for sure...
 
There comes a point where its stupid - you can stick your head in the sand like awp and not put any pictures online, but how many people do you seriously expect to browse your portfolio when its locked-up on your harddisc, or on some nice prints on the wall...?

put some sample pictures up - a discrete watermark is ok, but as has been discussed and shown many many times, even hideous ones slapped across the image can easily be removed - so please don't, you'll just put people off rather than protect your copyright... :shake:

As for Flickr & Facebook - its advertising that potentially connects with millions, you'd be insane to turn your back on it if you want to grow your business...

...its all a matter of how you expect to make money and what effect online stealing would have on it; notice how art photographers are quite happy to put their photos online in full, but wedding/portrait togs are utterly paranoid.
 
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- you can stick your head in the sand like awp and not put any pictures online

eh?? I have more than 8,000 pictures online in safe environments earning me money!
 
eh?? I have more than 8,000 pictures online in safe environments earning me money!

oops my apologies, I got you mixed up with someone else who said they'd never put pics online. Sorry!:hug2:
 
i wasn`t saying that you shouldn`t , put your images online , just stating a fact. this does not make economical sense as you wont sell any images online. water marking an image across a key part will deter most poeple reusing your images . please dont get to wraped up in protection as it will take the enjoyment out of taking the picturesand will take longer to process the images

sorry if my first comment was taken out of context

Cheers Steve
 
water marking an image across a key part will deter most poeple reusing your images .

Isn't that the idea?!

please dont get to wraped up in protection as it will take the enjoyment out of taking the picturesand will take longer to process the images

Cheers Steve

NOT true - if it takes longer to watermark - then you're using the wrong software! Lightroom watermarks as you export images - automatically - no extra time required at all.
 
Put a watermark on them - nothing too huge and it won't spoil the picture.

If someone is *that* desperate to get at your images, they will. Even if it's just as a screen grab.

All you're doing is making it a bit more difficult, and they'll probably nick some other poor sucker's images.
 
You ahve to be joking.. I have seen smaller sized pics printed in newspapers... you can make prints from smaller than an 800 px pic for sure...
Actually, I'll admit that's true. A few of mine were pinched by an air show organiser. They'd actually asked for how much to use my photos and I'd replied with very low quotes compared to what I'd looked up as the "right" prices, never heard back from them. Next thing I found was large thumbnail pics on their web site, and then later bigger ones in leaflets they distributed locally to local shops (must have been a print run in the thousands). Try as I did, I never got a reply back. I should have taken it through the courts but a lot of hassle at the time and never got round to it.

I wasn't intending on making money from the photos, but I do object to someone else doing so without my permission.
 
I was talking to a couple of professional printers of photos the other day on this exact subject. What transpired during the conversation is what one can do is apart from reducing the photo size for the net also watermark the photos. Now here is the twist that came up, reduce the watermark so it is no longer or hardly transparent when just looking at the picture, but if there is a copyright infringement this "invisible" watermark can be recovered as proof of ownership, if that makes sense.

Realspeed
 
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realspeed said:
I was talking to a couple of professional printers of photos the other day on this exact subject. What transpired during the conversation is what one can do is apart from reducing the photo size for the net also watermark the photos. Now here is the twist that came up, reduce the watermark so it is no longer or hardly transparent when just looking at the picture, but if there is a copyright infringement this "invisible" watermark can be recovered as proof of ownership, if that makes sense.

Realspeed

Makes perfect sense and it can work very well. There is also a link to a web tracker that searches for your chosen images:

Such as: IMG_1234 is of a bride putting her dress on next to a four poster bed...

This link (when I remember where it is) will search for the image data used to capture that shot. Shape, colour, exposure etc....

So... You can search and if you find any of your images, treat yourself to a nice polite email to the thief and enjoy knowing they are squirming.
 
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