Flickr

[TestTrackBoy]

I am all for putting up a shot that you really enjoy from another user, but give credit to the other user. If he messaged me and asked if he could put it on his photostream I would have said yes. Just a simple shout out to my photostream would have been fine. Just throwing it up and taking credit for yourself is not right in my book.

 

[Gdad]

He lifted it off your Flickr and put it on his own Flickr? That's pretty bold- you would think they would at least try to grab a shot off another site to call their own.

 

[ukcatfan]

I am all for putting up a shot that you really enjoy from another user, but give credit to the other user. If he messaged me and asked if he could put it on his photostream I would have said yes. Just a simple shout out to my photostream would have been fine. Just throwing it up and taking credit for yourself is not right in my book.

I totally agree with you. The Internet for some reason gives people the idea that if they can see it they can keep it.

 

[aamuboi10]

It is probably someone that just thought it was nice and wanted to keep a copy. In a way you can see it as flattery. Since there are no monetary damages involved, there is really not much that can be done. Sure, they might be forced to take it down, but that does not mean that they cannot just upload it again later. The only way to prevent this is to not upload your shots to the Internet. In this situation, I doubt a watermark would have stopped them.

I agree whole heartedly!!! I save other peoples photos all the time, but i would NEVER upload them on some other site as my own. I use all the photos that I save as a screensaver on my computer

 

[mabas9395]

I wish there was an easier way to find out how a group of your photos are being used on the web. There is a discussion forum for fans of Pakistani Cricket that call themselves Critters or something and someone there was using a photo of mine of the Critter Country sign from Disneyland. Makes you wonder how else your photos are being used so I started password protecting my online galleries.

 

[gokenin]

Not meaning to bad mouth my fellow citizens on the World Wide Web but it really is the wild west out here if you haven't noticed. There is no real protection on the web when it comes to "personal" items and protection. I have always felt that if you are posting anything on the web then you have to know that it can be taken and used in any way that anyone seeing it wants to use it. Unless you place a huge watermark on your pictures making them unusable again but then what is the use of putting your pictures up for others to see if they cant see it threw the watermark? Its called a catch-22 and as Yossarian said "thats a mighty powerful catch that catch-22"

 

[ssanders79]

I wish there was an easier way to find out how a group of your photos are being used on the web.

You can try to set up a Google Alert with your Flickr username. It will not catch everything, but it will send you an alert if your image is linked on another site. Again, it is not perfect, but it will pick up the obvious.

 

[TestTrackBoy]

Nothing yet from the user. It is still up, in fact he posted another photo today from another member who posts on here all the time. This time tho he posted the users name and a link to their photostream!?! I asked him very nicely if he would just put my name, heck even my username under it and a link to my page but I got nothing back. Oh well I guess that's how it is here in the wild west.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm confused. Why would someone feel the need to add the actual photo? Can't they just mark it as a favorite if they want it available to them easily later?

People are quite bold though. I have had people list items for sale online with a picture of one of the items I made, claiming to be making that item themselves. I sell custom made dresses and costumes.

 

[MICKEY88]

Not meaning to bad mouth my fellow citizens on the World Wide Web but it really is the wild west out here if you haven't noticed. There is no real protection on the web when it comes to "personal" items and protection. I have always felt that if you are posting anything on the web then you have to know that it can be taken and used in any way that anyone seeing it wants to use it. Unless you place a huge watermark on your pictures making them unusable again but then what is the use of putting your pictures up for others to see if they cant see it threw the watermark? Its called a catch-22 and as Yossarian said "thats a mighty powerful catch that catch-22"

from what I've heard even watermarks won't work anymore,

I was talking to another photographer last Saturday and he told me he saw a demonstration of the new photoshop, in which they took a photo with a large watermark and the software removed the watermark replacing each pixel, so that you could not tell the image had been altered..

 

[WDWFigment]

Nothing yet from the user. It is still up, in fact he posted another photo today from another member who posts on here all the time. This time tho he posted the users name and a link to their photostream!?! I asked him very nicely if he would just put my name, heck even my username under it and a link to my page but I got nothing back. Oh well I guess that's how it is here in the wild west.

Off topic, I know, but could you post or send a link to your Flickr photostream? I saw a couple shots I liked in the POTD thread and have been meaning to ask.

 

[mabas9395]

Off topic, I know, but could you post or send a link to your Flickr photostream? I saw a couple shots I liked in the POTD thread and have been meaning to ask.

I could use that link too. There is a local photograhy contest and your photos would be perfect to help me win this year.

 

[mom2rtk]

I could use that link too. There is a local photograhy contest and your photos would be perfect to help me win this year.

 

[gokenin]

from what I've heard even watermarks won't work anymore,

I was talking to another photographer last Saturday and he told me he saw a demonstration of the new photoshop, in which they took a photo with a large watermark and the software removed the watermark replacing each pixel, so that you could not tell the image had been altered..

Well if this does exist then the individual photographer no longer has the ability to claim something is his with a watermark then the only thing you can do is keep your pictures off the web. The alternative is post them on the web and accept the fact that people may take them and use them for their own purposes.

 

[MICKEY88]

Well if this does exist then the individual photographer no longer has the ability to claim something is his with a watermark then the only thing you can do is keep your pictures off the web. The alternative is post them on the web and accept the fact that people may take them and use them for their own purposes.

I've heard a lot of professionals are not happy with the new photoshop, because of this..

you can still register with copyright office in case of infringement, and there is a digital watermark stored within the file, that supposedly can be traced, but is expensive

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Well if this does exist then the individual photographer no longer has the ability to claim something is his with a watermark then the only thing you can do is keep your pictures off the web. The alternative is post them on the web and accept the fact that people may take them and use them for their own purposes.

I basically take the latter approach. I'm not in Photography for the money. I do all of my photography for fun. I struggled with web piracy when I first started posting, but I got over it. Now I don't worry about it. I've had all kinds of strange requests for my pictures (stuff like a scrapbooking book, a PAC campaign, a British Dragon Boat race). I've seen my photos pirated and used on news shows and on other people's websites. It doesn't cost me anything and it doesn't really bother me. I have bunches of people on the scrapbook forum here that use my pictures and give me very nice thank yous. It's all good.

I have been warned that people in Brazil may be copying pictures of my family and using them for some family role playing game and that I should be very worried and disturbed about it. Frankly, I don't care if they are doing it.

I like sharing my pictures on the web. I'm not going to stop doing that just because some people infringe on my copyrights. I respect that others have a different view than my own, but I have no advice to offer them.

 

[photo_chick]

rule #1... never put anything on the web you do not want stolen. Watermarks have been easily removable by those with the skills for a long time. Right click disables can be bypassed easily. Metadata can be stripped.

People laugh when I tell them this is why you don't find my professional work online. My personal stuff is all over the place, but if it makes me money I protect it.

If you want to go dig it up, on Scott Kelby's blog a while back he had a thing about copyright law and photography. Very informative talk with a lawyer in the field.

I'd contact the person and ask them to remove it. Most of the time people don't realize they are infringing on your copyright. Many people still wrongly assume if you find an image online then it is public domain.

If that does not work contact Flickr. If you still are not happy then register your copyright and go from there. But you only have a limited time from the copyright infringement to register it. And monetary damages do not matter. You hold the copyright... it's just a matter of how much it means to you to enforce it.

And you can be sure that this is not the only person out there who has lifted your image.

 

[WDWFigment]

I basically take the latter approach. I'm not in Photography for the money. I do all of my photography for fun. I struggled with web piracy when I first started posting, but I got over it. Now I don't worry about it. I've had all kinds of strange requests for my pictures (stuff like a scrapbooking book, a PAC campaign, a British Dragon Boat race). I've seen my photos pirated and used on news shows and on other people's websites. It doesn't cost me anything and it doesn't really bother me. I have bunches of people on the scrapbook forum here that use my pictures and give me very nice thank yous. It's all good.

I have been warned that people in Brazil may be copying pictures of my family and using them for some family role playing game and that I should be very worried and disturbed about it. Frankly, I don't care if they are doing it.

I like sharing my pictures on the web. I'm not going to stop doing that just because some people infringe on my copyrights. I respect that others have a different view than my own, but I have no advice to offer them.

People in Brazil? I have been using pictures of your family for a role playing game for the last few months, and I live in Indiana. One request, though, could you please equip one of your sons with a viking helmet and an adult Canada Goose the next time you're taking pictures. That is the most powerful armory in our game! I would have more Fraggles (our currency) than even the Royal Curdman!

Joking aside, I take the same approach. Flickr gives stats on where picture views originate, and I've found my photos on some very interesting sites, to say the least.

 

[TestTrackBoy]

Good news folks! The user sent me a message back telling me he just took down the photo and didn't know it was mine. He told me a friend from Brazil sent it to him so he thought it was his. Looks like it turned out well, but I will be keeping an eye on what gets posted on the web from now on.

 

[mom2rtk]

Good news folks! The user sent me a message back telling me he just took down the photo and didn't know it was mine. He told me a friend from Brazil sent it to him so he thought it was his. Looks like it turned out well, but I will be keeping an eye on what gets posted on the web from now on.

That's awesome! The few people who have stolen my dress photos on Ebay got nasty ugly mean when I contacted them about it. Go figure.... I'm glad yours didn't!