Illegally copying from proofs - Poll result

And this is EXACTLY why I'm taking print proofs out of the equation and restructuring the pricing. My highest end package is the only one that will have real deal 4x6 proofs. Portrait sessions will now get spiral bound proof books with each proof being 2.67x2.67 or something like that. It's frustrating to me because I really WANT to give the customer tangible goods that look great and not just pictures on a computer. However, if its what I have to do to protect my work then so be it! I'm also adding a print credit so that they are more inclined to let me have the images printed for them.
 
What equip do you need to print them yourself?

I don't print my prints myself yet. I use Winkflash.com for all my prints as they give extreme quality. If I'd get a printer I'd go with either an Epson or Canon Pro printers.
 
If you want a great printer for doing nice prints at home, I suggest the Epson Stylus R1800. Its a wide format printer that prints up to 13x19, and does a very pro job for the money. Its kinda pricey though at $550 and it sucks ink pretty fast. But its good for small print jobs if you dont want to have a pro lab do it.

This is only in reference to printing for your clients so that they can see what kind of quality can be produced from your work.
 
Its funny because I work at a small studio and when people are picking out their pictures, with me sitting right there, they will say, "just pick one I can print a bunch more from home." Then I have to tell them that it is illegal to do that. Most of them act as if they did not know that it was illegal to copy that type of thing. I am sure that even after I tell them that they stil go home and make copies. It has gotten to the point where the photographer is better off just giving the files of the pictures and and not the prints. At least this way the photographer is not losing money by actually printing anything.
 
Its funny because I work at a small studio and when people are picking out their pictures, with me sitting right there, they will say, "just pick one I can print a bunch more from home." Then I have to tell them that it is illegal to do that. Most of them act as if they did not know that it was illegal to copy that type of thing. I am sure that even after I tell them that they stil go home and make copies. It has gotten to the point where the photographer is better off just giving the files of the pictures and and not the prints. At least this way the photographer is not losing money by actually printing anything.

what about putting a note in with the photographs that you give out "a word on reprints..."?

Anyway I saw a guy in Boots Pharmacy in Dublin being refused his request to have his Wedding Album copied by the lady at the reception. I didn't get the impression that she was much into photography although what does a photographer look like? (see this thread haha) she was just following orders I'm sure.
 
It's sad that people are so cheap that instead of just ordering a small print they would actually try to print a copy of the proof.

The photographer who did my wedding had a website that people could login to and look at proofs and order prints. He had a watermark right across the picture.

It certainly keeps people from printing pictures right off of the website but the biggest complaint (that I had to hear about) was the fact that people felt that they couldn't make a decision on an image because the watermark was right across people's faces in some of the proofs. The watermark was semi-transparent but it didn't help the pictures any. But it did force people to buy the prints.

He also had a copywright notice printed on the back of every picture that was sold including the proofs that we later received. I found out later that a friend tried to have one of the prints scanned at Ritz and they refused to scan it.

Another thing that you could not do was right click on the image and print or save it to your hard drive.

No, I didn't try it...he showed me in his studio.:p

My thoughts are if I was a self-employed full time (or part-time) photographer (wedding or otherwise) I'd do my best to protect my work and make sure I'm getting properly paid for the services that were provided but there is a fine line between keeping customers happy and protecting your work. Make it to difficult and customers are going to be ticked off. Make it to easy and people (not all) are going to steal.
 
Another thing that you could not do was right click on the image and print or save it to your hard drive.

Yes, but you can still use the Print Screen function and then paste it into a graphics program. :p People will always find a way around restrictions. What gets me is that people think they are entitled to do so.

:er:
 
All right, all right... before you guys get all high and mighty about how the poor photographers of the world are getting ripped off by ignorant people. I'm sure I can round up just as many customers who have been ripped off by photographers.

Case in point. My brother's wedding photographer held their wedding album hostage and would not send it to them until they paid an additional $200 above what was agreed to, and it was already a month late from when it should have been delivered. The album didn't have all the photos from the proofs they had picked out. They also paid for the negatives and she had 'x' through bunch of the photos, so they couldn't even print the ones they had originally asked her for.
 
Yes, but you can still use the Print Screen function and then paste it into a graphics program. :p People will always find a way around restrictions. What gets me is that people think they are entitled to do so.

:er:
Or just use another browser that that right click blocking script doesn't work on. All of this sort of thing make me reluctant to post images here for criticism even.

I'm sure I can round up just as many customers who have been ripped off by photographers...

Hi Redpoint, welcome to the forum.
It's not for me to tell you what to post but... that's not what we're talking about in this thread. Lots of space for a new thread though :)
 
I think that many people really aren't aware what copyright laws entail regarding photographs. I also think that some people really believe that THEY own any picture of themselves. However, I'm appalled at the attitude of some people who seem to be aware and blatantly admit that they would steal the picture anyway.

While including some sort of insert about the basics of copyrights with packages would help educate some people (it sounds like a good idea), others would be undeterred. It also might not hurt to have them sign something to the effect that they understand that the photog owns the image. At least if a dispute ensued, they wouldn't be let off easy because they claimed they didn't know (as I'm sure they would if they got caught).

I applaud workers at labs who refuse to print obviously stolen images!
 
All right, all right... before you guys get all high and mighty about how the poor photographers of the world are getting ripped off by ignorant people. I'm sure I can round up just as many customers who have been ripped off by photographers.

Case in point. My brother's wedding photographer held their wedding album hostage and would not send it to them until they paid an additional $200 above what was agreed to, and it was already a month late from when it should have been delivered. The album didn't have all the photos from the proofs they had picked out. They also paid for the negatives and she had 'x' through bunch of the photos, so they couldn't even print the ones they had originally asked her for.
Um... I am going to leave that one alone but I would expect flames for that statement here. It might have gotten by in the original forum the poll was posted but I would be surprised if it gets by here. You cannot judge photographers by the idiot that shot for your brother though no matter how much you don't like your photographer though copying images is stealing. And by the way I imagine there are 2 sides to that story.
 
That part is kind of funnybut the rest is disturbing. As a former Ritz employee I know the amount of people in th general public either don't know or just don't care about photographers copywrights. I can't even count the number of people who would come in and want to scan their professional portrits and just not understand why I would not copy them.

What's funny is when I do headshots for people and I give them a copy-write release, and still some processors won't print the shots for them... they think the release is fake, even though it has my name, phone number, email, everything on it.
 
i think a lot of the problem is that people don't understand (or maybe don't care) about the time and money that goes into getting their pictures. i think there are a lot of people out there who see a photographer as someone who just shows up and hits a button and then BAM! pictures appear and it's over. so they think it's a big rip-off when they have to pay for such "expensive" pictures.
i had a coworker at my last job who took her son to get pictures taken. her mother-in-law paid for a small package, but she wanted more pictures. so all day at work she was trying to print off the studio's website. finally she found one that she could right click on and just laughed and laughed that she had beaten the system. she said she had the right because he was charging way too much for prints so she was getting ripped off. again, i think she figures that he just walked in hit a button a few times and now wants to be paid for doing nothing. i have a theory that everyone should have to work one day in some other jobs so they can understand them. if you saw what it was like doing road construction, you'd slow down when you drove by. if you knew what working at a busy restaurant was like, you'd be more patient. and if you knew what it was like to make a living as a photographer, you'd pay for your prints. that's my feeling anyway.
 

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