copyrights in photos/theft

[skywalkerbeth]

I know there have been many discussions regarding how to effectively ensure your photos are theft-proofwhen you post them online.

I'm curious about this - how does someone take a flickr image (or any downsized image off the internet) and turn it into something that is usable/sellable, at such a small size? The only thing I would think they could do with such a thing would be more internet coverage/sales - not actual prints.

I'd be upset to find that someone was passing my work off as their own (which would be enough to go after them) but how is that smaller sized image even usable?

 

[Big Mike]

Really, a small file isn't all that useful...in terms of someone making money from it. Which is why I don't bother to put a big watermark on my photos.

People still could pass it off as their own, or put it into an on-line article or something like that....but with billions (maybe trillions) of images on the internet...the odds are few and far between and life is too short to live in fear of people stealing your images.

 

[Rhys]

I tend to agree with Big Mike. I put images on my website. I don't care if somebody rips them off because I have the originals - larger and RAW.

Unless somebody is making enough money to be bothered about from stolen photos, it's not really worth pursuing them. As far as watermarking is concerned, most people just complain they can't see the image.

Nobody is going to take a 1mp image and make it into the front cover of a magazine or a poster. Thus if you keep your images online small, you won't get them stolen by anybody other than people building websites. Even then - unless they're making money from them, they're not worth pursuing.

If you're that obsessed with somebody taking your images, think about Microsoft. That's about the most anal company in existence. They put in ridiculous anti-piracy measures designed to stop people pirating their OS.
What was the result? Their OS was cracked within a week of being released. Many people use pirated XP. Many more find the anti-piracy measures impinge badly on fair use of the product (they have lost court cases over this).


So... however much you want to stop piracy, some will occur. My recommendation is to stop obsessing about it and to start concentrating on other, more profitable things.

 

[kidchill]

Yah, I feel the same way now. When I was first starting to post online I was worried about it....But now I figure screw it. Whadda ya gonna do? Not really sure my photos are good enough to steal anyhow!

 

[skywalkerbeth]

Rhys

Wow, that is a really a**hat response.

I actually agree with Mike too. I don't see what the big deal is, since a small image is of no use. I thought I made that clear in my question. Guess not.

The biggest issue I'd have is someone saying one of my pictures was their own - not the money issues since I'd think there would be none.