[filmscanners] RE: Web images copyright

["Bernie Kubiak" <bkubiak@attbi.com>]

An addition to Art's note:  in the US if you've registered your copyright it
is much easier to defend it and to get a settlement if the image is stolen.
My understanding is the copyright office now allows you to register groups
of images, which saves time and money.

-----------------------------
I'm too old to die young....
My images are at: www.pvphotoartists.com/018/index.html

-----Original Message-----
From: filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk
[mailto:filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk] On Behalf Of Arthur Entlich
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 6:08 AM
To: bkubiak@attbi.com
Subject: [filmscanners] Re: Web images copyright

Hi Alex,

First off, you need to know that every country has its own legislation
so where you are matters.

Assuming you are in the US or Canada, you do not HAVE to register your
copyright with the government to own the copyright.  The copyright
occurs at the moment the camera shutter is clicked.  In some countries
getting a registered copyright offers you additional protection in that
you can get more money if you prosecute the case.

Although your images are "only" 400 x 600, they can be used in that
format in other web sites, screen presentations, screen wallpaper, small
calendar prints, postcards, etc.  I assume you don't want to give those
away.

Further, not having a copyright notice within the image where the image
can be separated from the notice, doesn't help your case, because after
the first theft, the image gets separated from the ownership, making it
harder to both control, and also leaving any parties who never saw the
copyright notice is a somewhat less ethical if not legal

There are two types of watermarking available.  Embedded hidden types
which have to be registered with the company that provides the encoding
for them to be relocated on the internet, and visible watermarks which
make it more difficult for the image to be used, since they take a bit
of work to get rid of.  Unfortunately, they also distort the image quality.

One of the reasons I have not yet mounted a website is exactly this
issue of theft.  My plan, however, after much through it to do two
things.  First, to have a small copyright notice at the edge of the
image, and secondly, to have a visible watermark somewhere within the
image, most like of an embossed shadowed type.  If it is in the same
place on each image, and of the same size and intensity, viewers will
begin to be able to somewhat ignore it.  It isn't a perfect solution,
but neither is having your best images stolen and used by others
commercially or otherwise.

Art
Alex Z wrote:


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