The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Gallery access

N

nei1

Guest
Do any of the galleries such as flicker or p base or any other,have the security to stop any one downloading your image.
Id like to be able to display some of my photos at a higher quality but dont like the idea of giving anyone a free print.
If I went to the expense of having my own website could this sort of security be built in? Thanks for any information,kind regards,Neil.
This must be quite an old chestnut but if you could point me in a reliable direction Id be grateful.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Neil,

It's really tough to protect an online image from theft. It's why we recommend in our own gallery you limit posted sizes to 1200 pixels, which is still pretty big. I used a members image as an example at one of our workshops, and uprezzed and printed a very usable 16x24 from a 1200 pixel jpeg they posted here. Even if you disable copy, folks can still do a screen capture --- and a screen capture off a 30" display is a lot of image...
 

Robert Campbell

Well-known member
If someone wants to steal your pix, it's very hard if not impossible to prevent.
Right click can be disabled -- not that I know how.
Using Adobe Flash prevents casual but not determined theft.
Using an invisible watermark may help -- eg digimarc
Tin-eye and similar programs will search web for your pix if you think they could have been stolen.
 
N

nei1

Guest
Jack,the other day a friend of mine showed me a print he"d made from one of my online images,it wasnt half bad!Bertie Im going to look into the digimarc youve suggested.Lars,youre suggestion is foolproof,I think,though I wonder if there isnt something in the new cs4 that could deal with that!
Ive always given prints to people whove liked an image,though Ive not often signed one.I suppose if only the genuine prints have a watermark and signature that might be a way to get around the problem.Am going to give it some thought.Thanks for the help,_______________Neil.
 

Dale Allyn

New member
Neil, actually the watermark used in Lars' example isn't really foolproof in that cloning can remove it well enough for many tasks. The really obnoxious watermarks which cover much of the image are simply too much work for most "thieves" to bother with, but they're not too pleasant to look at by your viewers.

Protecting from screen capture tools is perhaps the most difficult, as flash presentation is otherwise difficult to swipe. Even simple viewer (free) is a way of showing a larger version on one's website in a way that "right clicking" won't grab it, but that doesn't stop those who would take a screen shot and use it for web, etc.

There are many, many discussions about this type of issue in the forums, on flickr, etc. and it often boils down to one making a philosophical decision as to how much protection is enough. Some folks are very protective and show only small, low quality images (and may sell very few). Some show larger, higher quality images - undoubtedly get a few used without permission - but they sell more images and image licenses and always hold the RAW files should they have a chance to confront one who has misappropriated an image. One has to decide where the balance that fits them lies. Any image visible on the web can be used without permission or credit.
 

helenhill

Senior Member
Heres a Question for the Audience:

Say I want to make a Collage of Photographs:
My THEME is War and All its Brutality
and since the batle ground is no where near
and I am not about to go to it (YES I'm Chicken)
YOU are saying I can legally take any image off the web
and How about old newspaper clippings ?
chop up, add color & words
and its MINE to Exhibit ???

PS: Am I morally Damned to hell eternal

Thanx in advance for your Replies :salute:
BEST-H
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Helen, here is how I understand it.

You can download any posted material off the internet for your personal use. If you copy someone else's original work and attempt to use it for commercial purposes or resell it without their permission, you are in violation of copyright law. If you copy text and reprint it as your own material, you are guilty of plagiarism. But if you want to copy all of that stuff, merge it together in a collage and hang it on your own wall to enjoy, you are pretty much free to do that.
 

Dale Allyn

New member
You also have some terms of service to consider if you intend to show your collage on a site such as flickr or others. Some flickr members do such things (there's even a tool for it) but attribution should be kept in tact.

One can also look at whether the attached copyright is "all rights reserved" or a C.C. (Creative Commons) license, and what level of same is attached. There are different types such as "share and share alike", "non-commercial w/attribution", etc. Some photographers post their images with the idea of enjoying the prospect of others using them for projects. These normally have a CC licenses applied. Others maintain all rights reserved copyright. If no mention is made of CC then it is understood that all rights are reserved even if not posted.

There are some specific details concerning derivative works as well, but most restrictions (all?) pertain to projects made with an end goal of some commercial application.

A quick way to see the different levels of CC: http://flickr.com/creativecommons/

Creative Commons.org

Some info: PhotoAttorney.com

Hope this helps.
 

helenhill

Senior Member
Thats what I thought ... I certainly knew the words & plagarism concept but got abit confused re: photos & web with the talk here
kinda like intellectual property rights....


Thanx Jack!!
 
O

Oxide Blu

Guest
Helen, here is how I understand it.

... If you copy text and reprint it as your own material, you are guilty of plagiarism.
In ADDITION to being in violation of copyright law. In the US, anything you write is automatically copyrighted for 99-years. What anyone does about it is a topic for another thread. Plagiarism is usually viewed as a moral issue, copyright violation a legal issue, tho both can be viewed crossing over the other's line.
 
Top