Copyright on pictures used for commercial purposes

[danielswalsh]

Watermarks ARE allowed here on TrekEarth, however- I could see the moderators removing an image if the watermarks start becoming the main purpose of posting the photo. Similar to the rules in regards to 'elaborate frames'.

- Dan

[Amoxtli]

Hi, I'm new to TrekEarth. This subject has come up before on PBase and other hosting sites I have had accounts with. There is no way to prevent image theft, even if right click is disabled by TrekEarth. I don't think they can do more than that. You can track by using Digimarc, and that will let you trace the IP address that downloaded your image. You can also add a watermark and reduce the image size. My experience is that if you put it on the net, it's there for the taking.

[danielswalsh]

Although you may reduce the size of your image, most people fail to chabge the resolution of their photos. If you post a photo that's 800 wide at 200+ DPI, it CAN be enlarged and be stolen. If you post that same photo at 72 DPI, it CANNOT be enlarged without dramatic loss of quality. Most people are not going to steal an image that is 800 or less in size.

Not a bad watermark Keith, but be sure to put it in a place where it cannot easily be 'cloned' out.

All the best!
- Dan

[Roly]

Are you sure about this, Dan? My understanding was that on a computer screen the resolution didn't really matter: an image that was 800 pixels wide contained only that much information, 800 defined individual pixels of color, no matter if it was set at 72 dpi or 200+ dpi. If printed at 200 dpi, it created an image 4 inches wide, or 8 inches wide at 100 dpi. Or is dpi and ppi not quite the same, in this case? See for example here.

[clupica]

Regrettably, I have decided to pull most of my pictures. Especially the ones that I would like to commercialize. It seems to me that too often I see people talking about their images turning up unexpectedly in a contest or commercial context. I am not willing to risk future income to be part of a social network.

I don't want to quit TrekEarth because I like participating and recieving critiques that help me better understand what makes a great photo. Un-obtrusive copyrights / watermarks are too easy to clone or crop out. So I'm not sure what I will do. Perhaps put a very prominent watermark on my images and hope that I don't get slammed too much.

Perhaps TrekEarth could offer a TE watermark as an option when you upload the image. A single watermark used by everyone that wants to use it would be much better than everyone just doing it helter-skelter.

Charlie

[Davids]

The option about the right click has been discussed before, and the 'end solution' was to make it only possible for logged in members to make it possible to use the right click. Someone would have to register first before downloading a photo. This is however not enough to stop theft, there are many way's to copy a photo once it shows on the screen . . .

If you are afraid of photo theft but still want to be active on TE, joseelias has the only option I can think of that works.;
He uploads his photo's with a maximum height of 500 pix.
example
Don't forget top mention in your intro - and maybe also in the Note - the reason why you post this smaller format.

Hope it helps people to stay on TE . . . .

[Tayon]

Hi Hardchris
I agree with danielswalsh, there´s no way to prevent a thief!
Disabling right click just dificult the ability to "Workshop" an image in TE,TL or TN... as danielswalsh wrote before...
By myself, I really think that a watermark changes the way I see an image, I don´t like to see it!
I agree with Amoxtli about the DPI of 72, it could be useful, this make more difficult to get good images for a high resolution print in a graphics way... but I had a photo that was thiefed here and saw it in a T-shirt shop near home and with a 72 DPI.. :(
So...That the way it is...
PS:
I did a 7 minutes WS to the photo of the watermarked (parcial) image of hardchris in Photoshop 6; I usually use the CS2 with more resources... (this is just to show how easy can be crop the watermark!)

Taba

[Evolution]

yes. i did.

[rjoratna2007]

i agree with you sir.but don't you think that the way our photographs are being stolen on the net from this site compels the thief to steal it at at very small size.what can a man do with a photograph with with only 800 and 600 pixels(at a maximum) in it.he can't stretch it i fear of pixelation.furthermore he can't use it for any other purposes except small,cheap calendars,etc.besides your copyright stays with you in the safe hands of trek earth.

now thats a safe deal according to me in exchange of the world we are in and the experience we gather as photo enthusiasts,professionals,amateurs,critiques,etc.b ut i still agree with you that TE authorities should take steps to render the photographs impossible to save by a viewer.in that case workshop edits would have to be stopped.

but still piracy will persist in the form of "PRINT SCREEN" command where a viewer can copy and thus print whatever he/she sees on his/her monitor.

anyway I'll leave your decision to post your further photographs on this site with you.be positive.be tension free.

regards,
Aryaratna Basak,INDIA.

[kibele66]

Hello Chris,
I strongly agree with you. But not to be able to download the photos my inhibit Workshop process. Maybe a banner of Trekearth background of the photos solve the problem.
best regards
Sibel