How to copyright a photo?
- Thread starter Smoke
- Start date
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
Copyright does not prevent someone from saving a photo to their computer. What exactly do you want to do? If you have a website then you need to make sure right click is disabled. But if someone wants to steal it is almost impossible to stop it. All you can do is to make sure that what you post is not good enough quality to print but still look good on the computer.
I guess what I'm asking is....If I post a photo on this forum, I can right click on it and "Save" or "Save as" to my computer. If I try to do this on some other member's photos, I get a warning message that the photo is copyrighted and I need the permission from the owner to download.
It is not copyright either.. Copyright is registered with the Library of Congress to establish ownership, but it does not prevent any action by anyone. However, if registered, copyright does allow you to go to court for damages.
We have copyright simply because we created it, but to go to court requires registration.
A photo on the internet is always vulnerable. If you have to put it on the web, I'd say never post one full size, which is not useful on video anyway. Make the images be small enough to not be very attractive to those that may want them. This smaller size is still usable on computer monitors though, and some consider anything on internet to be fair game.
I am ignorant about many details at this forum, but here, I do think if you put them in the gallery here, then the forum will prevent clicking actions on them. Go to the gallery and Right Click on some to see this. That will prevent some access, but nothing is failsafe, it just takes smarter thieves.
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
Just be aware disabling right-click in your profile does NOT prevent Drag and Drop or other copying methods.
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Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
Guidelines to adding a photo to your post.
1. Resize photo to 1000px on the long side.
2. Resolution set to 72ppi (Pixels Per Inch)
These guidelines will be good for viewing on a computer but will not be good for printing. This will help safeguard your copyright.
This will help
1. Resize photo to 1000px on the long side.
2. Resolution set to 72ppi (Pixels Per Inch)
These guidelines will be good for viewing on a computer but will not be good for printing. This will help safeguard your copyright.
This will help
Thanks for the reminder
I'm not sure this effects tablets or smart phones. I don't know who has right click disabled or I'd check it, out of curiosity.
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
Disable download of your photos:
- No
- Yes
It should work as the setting is in your account on the site. No matter what you post from, you will be logged in and your settings applied (I believe).
Lol I meant that I'm not sure it would prevent download using a tablet or smartphone to download with.
donaldjledet
Senior Member
There is no fool proof method but at least it maybe will discourage.
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Keep in mind that copyrighting anything doesn't stop anyone from using it. If you go through the copyright process and someone does use it, you'll be responsible for seeking damages from that usage through federal court. That means retaining very pricey by the hour counsel qualified to represent you in federal court on your own, upfront money. If you do win, you'll be awarded proven damages and your legal fees. Unless you have an image that gains global publication by someone else, the grief of a lawsuit just ain't worth it.
Take the sage advice offered by the forum. Put your images you consider valuable on the internet in reduced quality. Even the common sigs/watermarks we see on web images are easily removed with a variety of software. If you feel your images are monetarily valuable and need to use the net for quality image viewing, establish your own domain with password protection and site access blockers.
All of which can be avoided simply by contacting the infringer, informing them of their dastardly deed, and offering to simply sell them the rights. Usually, a letter saying, "Hey, I noticed you're using my image, which is, by the way, copyrighted. Now, I could take you to federal court and slam you for lost sales and punative damages, but I got a better idea. Just sign the attached form, return it with a check for $x,xxx, and we're good."
In the US the second you "make" a photograph it is automatically copyrighted to you. About 50 some yrs ago they changed the law so that you did not have to register it in order to obtain an official copyright. Now the copyright is automatically granted to you as the "inventor". Also, an image does not need to say "copyright" in order to claim copyright infringement if someone else uses your image without permission. So right now all your images are 100% copyrighted and are exclusively your property...assuming you are living in the US. This also applies to anything you write, too.