This is a guest post from Robert Kramers. If you want to write an article for SAR just contact me (Andrea) at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com. Thanks!
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Protecting your Intellectual Property as a Photographer
It goes without saying that photographs are the most important part of a photographer’s job.
The images they snap are what gets them recognition and ensures that the bills are paid at the end of the month. Therefore, as a photographer it is vital that you preserve these images – stamp them with a mark of your identity and let the world know that they’re yours.
Protecting your intellectual property applies perhaps more to photographers than to any other art form. Everyone knows that they can’t use and resell music without the permission of the artist, just as much as they know that they can’t use and resell works of art, novels or even articles, but in the modern age – mainly thanks to social media and the popularity of “picture posts” and of sites like Instagram – photographs are being widely used without the permission of the photographer.
A pitcure is worth 1000 words, as they say – and it’s true. Being able to capture moments with no more than a lens and an eye for some detail is truely a powerful art in itself. Images, photographs and pictures resonate with human beings on almost all emotional levels. It’s for that reason that professional photograhpers are so often sought after and why many of us as individuals like to capture those photo book moments.
Photography and Copyright
As a photographer you have as many rights as a musician or a writer, and the way you safeguard your work from copyright theft, and the way you claim ownership of said work, is exactly the same for you as it is for them. Essentially as soon as the work is created then the copyright is established. So, from the moment you snap that picture, then the copyright has been created. The trick is for you to then prove that the work is yours, which can be done in a number of ways
- If you have the original photograph still stored on the camera then this might be all the proof you need, a negative of the photograph will work in the same way.
- Embedding copyright details into your images with the use of EXIF data is possibly one of the best ways as it is hidden from the untrained.
Avoid having to take action
If anyone uses that image without your permission then you are in a position to take legal action against them, although this doesn’t have be the first move that you make and there are likely to be simpler ways to resolve any issues.
Many instances of copyright “theft” are mistakes made by innocent members of the public. Sending them a email that lets them know that you own the image and you want them to take it down, is often all that is required. If they refuse, then you could take matters further. Of course, if someone is actively selling your image then you should take immediate action.
To stop any ”accidental” theft, you can add trademarks and copyright notices to your images, known in the industry as watermarks. This will stop the casual user from stealing your images, and the ones who do will often just leave your trademark in. There are, of course, those who will just crop the picture to remove it, and to stop this there are more elaborate trademarks that you can use where the name of the owner, or a single word or logo, is superimposed / watermarked over the image to render it useless to anyone who intends to steal it for their own gain.
Sure, there are of course ways around this, but these are not commonly known and take a lot of time to execute, so you are limiting the amount of people who can and will steal your images.
Watermarking images with logos.
Example:
Adding trademark or copyright notices to the bottom of your images.
Example:
Finding and proving it!
Checking to see if your photographs are being used without your permission is easier these days, thanks to Google Image Search.
There are also companies out there that will provide this proof for you and work on behalf of many artist mediums. They work by asking you to upload your files (images, documents, etc) which are then stored on a database. If a problem arises and proof is needed, they can access that database to provide proof of when the image was taken and when it was uploaded, which is usually all that is required. These can be costly though and often you can replicate these services by simply creating an email account and then mailing all of your work to that account.
Robert Kramers (robertkramers.com).
0 Responses
I was filled with this protecting and anxiety before. Damaging my photos with logos and stuff until I realised that pros almost never does it (they have gotten paid for the photo once already) and we amateurs will almost never earn anything of our hobby. So I have skipped all that and it is a huge relief. You should decide your self how important this is, and if someone would use your photo and you would discover it, how would you feel about it? Make that answer your guide in this matter.
I mark my photos free to use by anyone under condition they inform me about it and show me where and for what purpose it is used. We are not earning money with shots, but I think that just anyone of us is happy to be able to say, “well, you see, this site or that company uses one of my shots”. I have worked on few occasions in a Pro manner and made shots on demand that where paid, here it where mainly billboard publicity shots for tourism purposes. I made some series once on landing of airplanes, day, night and foggy, and some of those shots where taken by a few companies for their business information catalogs. I did not get rewarded, but they contacted me and asked permission to use them, what, for sure, made me a great pleasure. I do photos for my own hobby and purpose, but if it can serve others, why not, it’s just a pleasure we share then together.
I have to say you nailed it. Photography is my hobby so if I take a photo. I would love to see it being used somewhere else as long as they are not making money from it, But I would like to know where and get acknowledged if possible. However if I have paid for the setup, models, etc. I wouldn’t like it if someone else is making money from it.
I’m the same, I’m a graphic artist and photography is my hobby, I do infect my photos with meta data about the copyright that I let my photo be used for free if it’s non commercial and that’s all. A few have been used and I have sold a few but I certainly am not going to quit my day job for it. 🙂
Great advice, I never knew that.
I hate it when I see wannabe photographers on Facebook post terrible poorly composed and underexposed photos with a giant watermark of their name made in times new roman covered the whole image. Like buddy, youre photos are not good, you don’t have to worry about people stealing them!
actually with all due respect the so called EXIT data is just some form of XML format and i think there are free tools today that allow you to change all of it . ( wonder what courts will do about it when it hits them ) . the exif data is useless there for ..maybe as a deterrent only .
i found the only real protection is use photoshop actions to reduce size and autograph . that way a person can not really do anything real with the photo i post .
Go to an IP attorney, like me, if you want or need a real protection strategy. Be warned that it is expensive and complicated. IP protection and policing in any meaningful way is a big boy’s game, but having said that, a little effort can go a long way.
When I send even a basic demand letter on behalf of an “amateur”, my professional status carries weight. They look me up, and realize that my client means business. An initial letter, followed by a single follow-up letter, is usually all that is required to satisfy a client’s reasonable goals. Nobody wants to get a letter from an attorney. I provide this type of service at low cost, once having established to my satisfaction the bona fides of the client. You can likely find an attorney who will provide this service at an affordable cost, if you look around.
Having worked with all types, I find that to “amateurs”, attribution is perhaps the most important desire.
It is my understanding that the best protection is actually registering the copyright with the copyright office, and that if registered prior to the infringement, the copyright holder is able to recover your legal fees, as well as damages. It is also my understanding that marking the photo with a copyright notice, or putting a copyright notice in the EXIF doesn’t really have a legal purpose, other than if the infringer removes it, that suffices as proof of intent to infringe, which makes the suit much more simple. Is this correct?
Since I come here in my capacity as a photo nerd, I will not involve myself further in legal discussions other than to say that your understanding is inadequate, and you should either do more research, seek counsel, or both.
FWIW there are many good general sources on the web.
I’ve been registering my copyrights with the US Copyright office for
decades.I see that this story links to a service that has you upload
your images to ‘prove’ they are yours.Sorry but use a service like this
in a US Court and you will be laughed out of there. The only LEGAL
protection you have in the US and Berne Convention countries that honor
US Copyright is to register with the US Copyright office. The URL is:
http://copyright.gov
The cost is now $55 to upload as many as 750 images.
I have used IP lawyers and it will cost you in fees even if they take you
on a contingency basis.They will ONLY take you on a contingency basis
if you have registered your copyright with the US Copyright office. You
should really make this part of your workflow.I now register my work appx ever 28 days.
Be sure if you’ve decided to go directly thru an attorney to DO YOUR HOMEWORK about them.Some are great,some not so…
I have used and highly recommend the services of Imagerights to aid you in your
collection of infringements.Otherwise if you have a huge archive like
mine it can be too time consuming.
I have been using them for 3 years now and have no complaints.
They only charge if they collect.
Please use my referral if you decide to sign up.
https://www.imagerights.com/signup?aid=4898
Linda M
“The only LEGAL protection you have in the US and Berne Convention countries that honor US Copyright is to register with the US Copyright office.” and “They will ONLY take you on a contingency basis if you have registered your copyright with the US Copyright office.” are both inaccurate statements.