Copyright and Watermarks and Getting Prints

[KmH]

(Although, if its being used in an advert, does that not mean the photographer has sold the rights to the product company?

.

No. Professional photographers usually sell a use license, which is essentially a copyright rental agreement.

A use license can stipulate exclusive or non-exclusive use, the geographical extent of the use, how long the client can use the image before another use license has to be purchased, how big the image can be, and an amazing list of other details.

Copyright is a bundle of rights the photographer can license (rent out) piecemeal.

Businesses license images for print, broadcast, point-of-sale, product label, advertising, brochures, and each media type has a different cost factor.

Here's an article about a recent, successful, professional 1-day commercial shoot estimate ($20,000) for a regional restaurant chain. Case Study: Producing A Successful Estimate | DigitalPhotoPro.com

 

[KrisztinaK]

I agree these are really nice images and I am not in the least bit surprised by what has happened to you. I ditto the recommendation for WHCC. They are the only lab I have used for years now. Their quality and service are both top notch. FWIW, I am partial to the matte finish.

 

[texkam]

Congrats, you have experienced the Walmart picture nazis. They pulled this **** on me when I stopped in for some quick and dirty prints once. Never again. This is stupid in so many ways.

As a professional, I've glad to hear that places like Walmart are doing this. We don't want people making prints of our photos without permission. (thus violating copyright).
Walmart has gotten into trouble before, which is why they are trained to be so strict.
This is also why, when I sell digital images to clients (along with permission to make prints), I include a letter that states that they are allowed to make copies/prints. Of course, it wouldn't be hard to fake such a letter....

Here's the problem, they're going to give random power to some ignorant, pimply-faced kid who ultimately has the authority, but not the expertise to single someone out and make a judgement call as to the "professionalism" of their pics. As I told them, if you are going to make me sign a form and prove usage and model rights, then you need to require that of all your customers. Of course I could just go to their self service kiosk and go nuts. No problem there. They'll also gladly sell me a photo inkjet printer without any kind of copyright morality check. Apparently, somewhere along the line they got sued. I think it had something to do with Disney cruise pics, so of course they overreact to the point where it has grown into an employee control freak power trip thing. No thanks.

 

[TATTRAT]

I guess this is another I prefer taking the data to kinkos or any place with a photo printer you operate. Sony makes good machines, prints larger than 8x10, you choose the paper, do any cropping, print, spend a buck or less. No pesky lolyers involved.

 

[shefjr]

<snip>.......(who had apparently been shown my pictures before I even arrived in the store which kinda bothered me).......<snip>

This would bother me too. I guess I always assumed that there was a certain amount of privacy when having photos printed. I guess that's a little naive on my part. It makes me wonder if that means that employees regularly thumb through everyone's photographs. You know a pimply faced kid is like "Whoa! Check out this hot chick in the bikini! I should make an extra copy of that for my wall at home.".

 

[robinjohn]

Professional photo paper prints will bear a copyright mark on the back of the print and in no way will it affect the quality and craftsmanship of prints.Sometimes the large copyright watermark icon displays as a solid white box instead of a semi-transparent copyright symbol in the center of an image.

 

[bsinmich]

I had a similar problem with a couple of wedding photos I had done. My Mother-in-law decided she needed a couple of extra prints that weekend and we were at her home in Moline, IL. We lived 500 miles away so I took the photos to K-Mart to have done at the instant copy mach. They would not give me the prints because they were professional shots. Fortunatey they had my rubber stamp on the back and I was able to prove it was me with my driver's license, but it took the store manager to get me the pics.