VA Based Photographer Dealing With Interantional Thief

[jowensphoto]

I follow this guy's work via Facebook, saw this in my feed.

Stolen For Profit: Local Photographer Deals With International Thief | RVA Magazine | Richmond, VA

 

[Greiver]

That's despicable. He should have put a watermark or something though to prevent this.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

That's despicable. He should have put a watermark or something though to prevent this.

True but watermarks can be almost as easily removed as they are applied to a photo

 

[Greiver]

That's despicable. He should have put a watermark or something though to prevent this.

True but watermarks can be almost as easily removed as they are applied to a photo

I don't personally see how to do it "easily" but that's my limited photo editing experience talking. I'm sure there are better ways to protect your photo's though. The point is, he should have done more to prevent this.

 

[amolitor]

There's nothing, technological, that you can do to prevent this. This is a social and legal problem, and it is there that the solutions exist insofar as they do. Which, mostly, they don't.

 

[Mully]

I think there is there is a script that can be applied to your website to prevent images from being downloaded or lifted.

 

[amolitor]

Let me clarify. There are technological things you can do. These have two effects:

- by erecting a barrier to downloading, the alert the more-or-less ethical that they should stop
- they prevent the technologically clueless from stealing your work

These are both somewhat valuable services. They do not, however, prevent theft. Even a small amount of technical savvy will enable an unethical person to download any image that's web accessible. Even a small amount of technical savvy will enable an unethical person to remove a watermark. And so on, through any technological mechanism you might apply.

Technology cannot download images that are NOT network accessible, and it cannot make a low resolution image high resolution. Almost anything else is possible, however.

 

[412 Burgh]

That's despicable. He should have put a watermark or something though to prevent this.

True but watermarks can be almost as easily removed as they are applied to a photo

I don't personally see how to do it "easily" but that's my limited photo editing experience talking. I'm sure there are better ways to protect your photo's though. The point is, he should have done more to prevent this.

give me a photo with your watermark and I'll remove it within 5 seconds

 

[2WheelPhoto]

if its out there, it can be snagged.

 

[amolitor]

Photoshop has a watermark remover tool these days. What's it called, "content aware fill" or something? It does a lot of things, but one of them is pretty much instant watermark remover.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

^^^ +1, and a plethora of other custom software

 

[KmH]

I think there is there is a script that can be applied to your website to prevent images from being downloaded or lifted.

Screen shots cannot be prevented.

A script can only prevent right clicking on an image.

 

[Overread]

Yep most preventions are only going to keep honest people honest and probably stop them using your photo as a background on their desktop/screensaver. The only way to fully prevent any possible theft is to never release your photos to the public.

 

[jowensphoto]

I believe it was Charlie who removed my watermark (in less than 5 minutes) and replaced it with an image of Snoopy

 

[Derrel]

The original photo was good! Good enough to steal. Theft of on-line images is very,very common. If an image is posted on-line, and it's a decent image, it WILL BE stolen. It might not make it to a tee shirt sold through an exclusive club in Russia...but it might very well end up in a brochure in Malaysia, or a pamphlet in Caracas, or on the side of a bus in Hartfordshire.