protecting your image
- Thread starter pk698
- Start date
turtile
Well-known member
You can register them with the copyright office.
http://www.copyright.gov/
If you upload lower resolution images to the web/compressed, you should be able to prove it's your work.
http://www.copyright.gov/
If you upload lower resolution images to the web/compressed, you should be able to prove it's your work.
EQnoble
Well-known member
As a secondary means or basic copyright protection...a signed photocopy in a sealed envelope mailed to yourself and opened with witness and examination of a notary public can certify you created it on or before the postage date. This however only grants you some ability to make others stop stealing it...you would need to register it to be able to get back any losses that may have occurred in the event that someone steals your ideas/work.
As far as getting someone who is determined to get your image to stop trying... that is impossible because there is no real practical way to stop it. You can always embed it in a flash object or slideshow or something but one could still indirectly get the image (screenshots etc). Basically the most effective way is to find creative ways to unobtrusively include your name or branding on the image but still making the branding very difficult to scrub even for your advanced pixel bender who chooses to be a thief. The data doesn't really matter either because you can just add it to an in progress psd and merge it with a blank transparent layer...now it has no EXIF data.
Ingenious
Well-known member
Watermarking is probably better I would think, because there is a physical mark to show the image is yours, also, if someone removes it and reproduces your work, the deliberate removal of the mark shows intent. EXIF data I would imagine is easy to remove, just had a look over some photos I simply cropped and resaved in Photoshop and the EXIF data has been stripped out.
Luke B
Active member
Agreed. If you want to release them on the web, place a nice watermark somewhere on the photo. You will be just fine
pk698
Active member
Guess I'll have to make my own watermark in photoshop and manually add them to each of my photos I upload.
On a side note, I wonder why camera manufacturers don't make a way to embed copyright data into the photo. copyrighted data that can't be removed/hacked. It would save a lot of headaches. but I guess that's too logical?
On a side note, I wonder why camera manufacturers don't make a way to embed copyright data into the photo. copyrighted data that can't be removed/hacked. It would save a lot of headaches. but I guess that's too logical?
pk698
Active member
hmm. so does a screenshot captures the EXIF as well? I don't know. I mean, they can steal the photo, there's really no way to prevent theft if someone wants your photo. but I'm talking about the 'data' within the photo. it would be great if there's a way to somehow encrypt the copyright data with your name or company, date taken, etc and embed that data into the photo itself. I can see this software (or whatever) being quite popular and profitable even. anyhow, I digress. I think watermarking it through PS is probably the safest way. thanks for all the input.
EQnoble
Well-known member
I think you came to the best solution at the end of your post right there. Basically think of it this way I am you with the photo...and you are the would be image thief. All you do is take a screenshot by pressing print screen and on a win computer anyways hit Ctrl+v in mspaint and you have an image free of any data outside of the image capture itself which wasn't taken with a camera. From there they could insert any data they wanted theoretically many ways.
If you can come up with a way to incorporate by blending layers and softening your branding or name in the image in a way where cropping would remove an important part of the picture and editing it becomes difficult to impossible without applying as much effort that would make an image thief who wants the picture, not want to invest that time you would solve your problem....remember they are trying to quickly get an image and that time spent working would defeat the purpose of being a thief in the first place.
