Photos in the public domain

[MadFrankie]

Hi,

I know this overall topic has been done many, many times here but I'm coming at this from a slightly different angle.

Background:

I want to put my photos online, some will be private and so shared only with family and friends, (pics of daughter, birthdays etc), and then there will be some photos that I'm happy to be in the public domain and looked at, commented on, critiqued etc. However, should, (and this is a massive should), I get a worldy shot / be in the right place at the right time for something decent I put it online as part of my collection and it gets used elsewhere...

What website / procedure / method is the best to protect / make 'save picture as' type activity hard / track photo usage or even offer it as an image to buy as I'm sure it's pretty impossible to stop, but like anything the harder you make it the less likely it will happen to you.

Just as important, which sites let you keep the copyright and what ones have buried in their T&Cs that they can use the image, (ie facebook etc)

or am I expecting too much and it's two separate things, ie use Flikr and the like for private and meh images that you don't care about being used and another site for 'selling' images...

problem with putting your copyright on a photo is that it generally either can easily be cropped out or it ruins the viewing of the photo...


Then, and this is the slightly left field part, would you or should you use your own name on the aforementioned flikr etc site or a pseudonym. Does this then make it harder to prove it's your work or for people to ask to use your work???


Over to you, oh knowledgeable members of TP

 

[The W]

You don't mean 'public domain' in the way you've used it. It's a specific term in relation to creative works that means something is free from any and all copyright and anyone can use it as they wish. However you wish to retain copyright of your images, so it's important you don't use the phrase in relation to what you're doing!

 

[Phil V]

...

What website / procedure / method is the best to protect / make 'save picture as' type activity hard / track photo usage or even offer it as an image to buy as I'm sure it's pretty impossible to stop, but like anything the harder you make it the less likely it will happen to you. There isn't one

Just as important, which sites let you keep the copyright and what ones have buried in their T&Cs that they can use the image, (ie facebook etc) You can keep your copyright no matter where you put them, you just have to ensure you are familiar with the terms of the site to ensure you're posting with the correct licence

or am I expecting too much and it's two separate things, ie use Flikr and the like for private and meh images that you don't care about being used and another site for 'selling' images... See above

problem with putting your copyright on a photo is that it generally either can easily be cropped out or it ruins the viewing of the photo... That isn't a copyright it's simply a watermark - copyright exists as legal 'thing' with or without a watermark


Then, and this is the slightly left field part, would you or should you use your own name on the aforementioned flikr etc site or a pseudonym. Does this then make it harder to prove it's your work or for people to ask to use your work??? It doesn't make any difference, if you post your images as BillyBigBalls the copyright still belongs to the author Gary Whateverhisname

 

[MadFrankie]

Thanks guys, interesting responses. I suppose my use of public domain shows how easy it is to get mixed up with terminology, how important it is to know your legal rights and how easy it is to get lost in all the jargon / legalise...

 

[Phil V]

Thanks guys, interesting responses. I suppose my use of public domain shows how easy it is to get mixed up with terminology, how important it is to know your legal rights and how easy it is to get lost in all the jargon / legalise...

For me it's simple, it just took a little effort and intelligence.
Open a Flickr account, stick with the default settings and you'll be fine.

Should you start creating work that you think might be worth stealing - then the occasional reverse search with Google images or Tineye or both should find you any miscreants.

 

[MadFrankie]

So do you use a watermark?

 

[petersmart]

TBH if someone is going to copy your pics then they will do it and putting them on sites like Flickr doesn't really get rid of that problem.

As far as I remember from creating a few sites of my own, it is possible to overlay an image with what is called a "Transparent GIF" which allows the image to be seen through it but any attempt to copy it by using "save file" etc will only download a blank image.

However that can only be used if you code your site yourself, as the "Transparent GIF" is usually loaded from CSS after the main image and I doubt whether you can do this on pre-prepared sites.
.

 

[big soft moose]

As far as I remember from creating a few sites of my own, it is possible to overlay an image with what is called a "Transparent GIF" which allows the image to be seen through it but any attempt to copy it by using "save file" etc will only download a blank image.
.

you can also disable right button click

However nearly everyone knows that you can use Ctrl alt print screen to take a screenshot (or use a screenshot plug in) so its not really acheiving a great deal

 

[The W]

These days all browsers come with some variation of developer tools that allow direct access to the elements that make up a web so you don't even have to faff around with print-screen.

 

[MadFrankie]

So essentially, what we are saying is that it's a bit like a burglar, if they want to steal your photos they will but the harder you make it the less you worry...and if / when it does eventually happen you just need to be able to somehow pick up the pieces.

 

[meonshore]

So do you use a watermark?

Yes I do. Usually carefully placed to minimise the impact on the image - but always usually over a part of the key subject (normally a semi-transparent part of the watermark).

I have just kicked off 5 new claims against companies using my images. In all instances they have cropped off the watermark, and in one Chinese example just overlayed their own opaque graphic obscuring it (I'm not expecting to be able to sort the Chinese one by the way - pretty lawless when it comes to copyright). So what you say - they still used them.

Well they did but they "Wilfully" removed the watermark which had my copyright assertion and website on it. Which makes the infringement deliberate, more likely to be found in my favour without the "I thought it was free / couldn't find the owner" arguments, and potentially a higher financial award.

You can't stop people stealing your images if you put them online, you can find them with tools now, and you can make it more financially painful if they do by using a watermark.

 

[psybear]

Yes I do. Usually carefully placed to minimise the impact on the image - but always usually over a part of the key subject (normally a semi-transparent part of the watermark).

I have just kicked off 5 new claims against companies using my images. In all instances they have cropped off the watermark, and in one Chinese example just overlayed their own opaque graphic obscuring it (I'm not expecting to be able to sort the Chinese one by the way - pretty lawless when it comes to copyright). So what you say - they still used them.

Well they did but they "Wilfully" removed the watermark which had my copyright assertion and website on it. Which makes the infringement deliberate, more likely to be found in my favour without the "I thought it was free / couldn't find the owner" arguments, and potentially a higher financial award.

You can't stop people stealing your images if you put them online, you can find them with tools now, and you can make it more financially painful if they do by using a watermark.

How did these thefts come to your attention Mike? Did someone notify you or are you actively and regularly using these tools now?

 

[Phil V]

So do you use a watermark?

Sometimes - I used to most of the time.

But TBF your position is different to mine, most of the images I post online I've already been paid for, and they have no real value to anyone other than my customers.

 

[meonshore]

Sometimes - I used to most of the time.

But TBF your position is different to mine, most of the images I post online I've already been paid for, and they have no real value to anyone other than my customers.

You'd be surprised Phil....

 

[meonshore]

How did these thefts come to your attention Mike? Did someone notify you or are you actively and regularly using these tools now?

I'm now actively using an image tracking tool. In the past I have found some by chance or by painfully using some of the manual tools like Google reverse image search and TinEye. But I'm now using Pixsy and it is a far simpler proposition to load, search and review infringements. Some I'm letting their legal team take on and some I'm doing myself. Very happy to take a hit on the fee as a trade-off for my time and chances of a higher fee in certain situations.

 

[Ed Sutton]

These days all browsers come with some variation of developer tools that allow direct access to the elements that make up a web so you don't even have to faff around with print-screen.

Often 'save page as' gets you everything you want - including whole galleries of larger pictures on some sites.

 

[big soft moose]

Sometimes - I used to most of the time.

But TBF your position is different to mine, most of the images I post online I've already been paid for, and they have no real value to anyone other than my customers.

didnt Hacker find some chancer using a whole tranche of his pics on their "pro" website a while back ?

 

[Phil V]

didnt Hacker find some chancer using a whole tranche of his pics on their "pro" website a while back ?

Yup.

I work on the basis that if someone's ripping off images, they'll use fantastic ones, so mine will be safe

 

[ianp5a]

I stumbled across this today. stopstealingphotos.com A US site that names and shames crooked photographers.

Stolen:

Original

 

[big soft moose]

I work on the basis that if someone's ripping off images, they'll use fantastic ones, so mine will be safe

you'd think that , but its happened to me before

 

[boliston]

i think its the "view page info" tab on firefox that lets you view all elements of a webpage separately - can be handy on some annoying sites that auto run a slideshow when you only want to view a specific image