Time to Update Copyright Info

[MrFotoFool]

I put the copyright in my cameras, but it is just my name. I have never thought of adding the year. I mean, the date is automatically recorded when a photo is taken.

As far as taking someone to court for infringement, what I have read is that it is typically only successful and worthwhile if you have officially registered your images with the US Copyright Office. Even though the law says an image is copyrighted when it is created (without necessarily registering or even watermarking it), you need to register to have a good chance of winning a court case.

 

[John Navitsky]

like all things, it just depends.

my friend has had a lot of luck with her no-nonsense "you didn't have permission to do this and here's an invoice". these are typically small companies who use her photos on their web sites. it's often easier for them to just pay than to fight.

but also of course, there are folks who won't pay, often people who employ lawyers already can often fall into this category. it certainly can be very difficult to MAKE someone pay if they are determined not to.

 

[PhotoLover]

like all things, it just depends.

my friend has had a lot of luck with her no-nonsense "you didn't have permission to do this and here's an invoice". these are typically small companies who use her photos on their web sites. it's often easier for them to just pay than to fight.

but also of course, there are folks who won't pay, often people who employ lawyers already can often fall into this category. it certainly can be very difficult to MAKE someone pay if they are determined not to.

The question that immediately jumped into my head was "from where did the companies get your friend's photos?" E.g. downloading flickr pictures, etc.

 

[John Navitsky]

The question that immediately jumped into my head was "from where did the companies get your friend's photos?" E.g. downloading flickr pictures, etc.

i think fb is the usual suspect but i didn’t discuss in depth

 

[Parfumeur]

So .... how do you put the © symbol in the camera's "Copyright information"? I would imagine this is more important in the camera then some of their other useless symbols.

 

[PhotoLover]

The question that immediately jumped into my head was "from where did the companies get your friend's photos?" E.g. downloading flickr pictures, etc.

And the other question was, how did the friend find out!

It's not just idle curiosity; if one wanted to protect their work (not something I worry about much as a casual amateur) it seems like you'd want an overall approach -- put in copyrights, maybe watermark posted photos, think about where things are posted (and their resolution, etc). And detect infringement. A lot of stuff other than just adding a copyright!

I'm guessing the friend was a pro, so sending an invoice was an easy thing to do.

 

[John Navitsky]

So .... how do you put the © symbol in the camera's "Copyright information"? I would imagine this is more important in the camera then some of their other useless symbols.

i believe you can use “(C)”

 

[Robert Ardinger]

"option" "g" on a Mac = ©

 

[John Navitsky]

And the other question was, how did the friend find out!

It's not just idle curiosity; if one wanted to protect their work (not something I worry about much as a casual amateur) it seems like you'd want an overall approach -- put in copyrights, maybe watermark posted photos, think about where things are posted (and their resolution, etc). And detect infringement. A lot of stuff other than just adding a copyright!

I'm guessing the friend was a pro, so sending an invoice was an easy thing to do.

she photographs at dog events so these images are often purchased by clients and posted

often her clients, past clients and friends will tell her. she has photographed a LOT of dogs over the years so she has a lot of eyeballs. i have a funny feeling a lot of these are people who see THEIR dog on a business web site somewhere

 

[Anthony]

So .... how do you put the © symbol in the camera's "Copyright information"? I would imagine this is more important in the camera then some of their other useless symbols.

You don't need to. The (c) symbol is an abbreviation for Copyright, and the copyright information will appear in the exif field headed "Copyright" so the word is there in full.

 

[PhotoLover]

she photographs at dog events so these images are often purchased by clients and posted

often her clients, past clients and friends will tell her. she has photographed a LOT of dogs over the years so she has a lot of eyeballs. i have a funny feeling a lot of these are people who see THEIR dog on a business web site somewhere

Interesting, thanks for the additional information. Disappointing that businesses would do that. Especially given that stock photos are so cheap now, you could get a legitimate image for almost nothing, and though I haven't looked, I'll bet there are plenty of dog pics out there.

 

[John Navitsky]

Interesting, thanks for the additional information. Disappointing that businesses would do that. Especially given that stock photos are so cheap now, you could get a legitimate image for almost nothing, and though I haven't looked, I'll bet there are plenty of dog pics out there.

i doubt there are many DOG SPORTS stock photos

i think there is a combination of ignorance, stinginess and entitlement that comes into play here

 

[PhotoLover]

i doubt there are many DOG SPORTS stock photos

i think there is a combination of ignorance, stinginess and entitlement that comes into play here

There might be some very specific photos you couldn't find in stock photos, but a search of dog agility in adobe stock yields tons of results, many of which are good dog agility competition shots (interestingly there are also several shots tagged as generated with AI ...). And that's just Adobe stock photos.

I would guess laziness is a big part of it .. hey, I like that picture and I can download it for free!