THIS is why I watermark... Re: Bossy's thread & Sm4Him's response to it

[e.rose]

I didn't want to completely hijack Bossy's thread... so I'm starting another.

However, this is in reference to her: "Do You Watermark?" thread.

In that thread Sm4him said:

Yes, I do.

[snip]

But I do also do it for a security reasons, to a VERY slight degree, and with the acknowledgement that anyone who wants to steal MY stuff is beyond hard up. :lmao:
When my boys were in scouts, our Scoutmaster *required* a lock on every trunk that the boys took to summer camp (a lock with TWO keys; one for the boy, and one for the scoutmaster, so when the boy LOST his, he could still get into the trunk).
Anyway...he also asked the boys why they thought he required the locks, and the answer was always something along the line, of "DUH, to keep people from stealing our stuff!"

The Scoutmaster would then tell them that the lock wasn't REALLY for that, as dishonest people who want your stuff will pretty easily find their way in to a footlocker, even if it's locked.
The lock, he said, was simply to KEEP Honest Scouts Honest.

And THAT is why I watermark for security reasons--NOT to keep those with no sense of ethics from taking it, but so that those who are inclined to be honest in the first place KNOW that it is not some "random picture from the internet" that is just free for the taking.

Case in sm4him's point:

http://stopstealingphotos.tumblr.com/post/74742868763/linda-golleys-photography

Notice how the ONLY images in that post are ones that the thief put her name on. NONE of the original photos had a watermark that she removed... They just didn't have one at all.

No, watermarks are not the end all to security (not by a long shot), and we all know that, but I'm willing to bet that had any images Linda was considering HAD a watermark... she probably skipped over them. PROBABLY because she doesn't know how to effectively remove them. Or she was just lazy. Either way...

Just some food for though.

I just found it interesting that sm4him brought up the point of keeping honest people honest with a watermark, and here I stumble across a post kind of proving her point.

GRANTED... this girl wasn't very honest... but she was certainly, at the very least, lazy.

So while 90% of the reason I watermark is for marketing purposes... 10% of that reason are for the Linda Golley's in the world. -- For the more photoshop savvy, there are cease and desist letters, attorneys, copyright laws and the whatnot. :lmao:

Okay.

Now I'm going to go nap.

I feel like the living dead.

 

[MGRPhoto]

Years ago my friends and I were having our shots stolen from our dA accounts and sold constantly. We found that limiting the long edge to 600~800 for the publicly available image pretty much eliminated the reselling. In the last 8 years I've only found a couple of my shots on a few random (crappy) wallpaper sites. If they can't download the higher resolution image I guess they just don't bother. I should add that my shots are nothing stellar so it's possible that they just found better images too :mrgreen:

 

[Derrel]

500px / Linda Golley

Wow...she's talented. She has 10 piccies and 405 total views.

 

[e.rose]

500px / Linda Golley Wow...she's talented. She has 10 piccies and 405 total views.

I was especially moved by the... Llama... Alpaca???

Sent from my iPhone using PhotoForum

 

[minicoop1985]

Wow, I've done better than her 500px stuff. THAT is sad, because nobody mistakes me for a photographer after they see the photos I take. Maybe I should watermark my stuff to save others the embarrassment.

 

[sjaycarter22]

The out of focus bird and date and time stamp on the other photos are so close to what she has on her Facebook, hahaha!!! What a crook

 

[sm4him]

Wow, I never made it into a thread title before; a new milestone.

It never ceases to amaze me that people will just so blatantly take what isn't theirs and treat it as if it is. And then to have a 500px page of such...uh...DIFFERENT quality than the stuff on your FB and FineArt America pages.
Well, the good news is that this morning her FB page has been taken down and while the images still show on her FineArt page, if you click on one to buy or get more info you get a 404 error.
The bad news is she'll likely be back, doing the same thing. Or four others will take her place.

But yeah, it does at least go along with my point. That little watermark--anyone who really wants your image can still take it (I also do the smaller size, low-res web images, so I doubt you could take them and actually try to SELL them), but if you at least "put a lock on it" you make it so only those determined to steal it will bother. And I doubt most of MY images are worthy of that much effort.

It's much like a lock on your front door, or your car. It rarely stops the REAL criminals from breaking in, but it does deter kids out getting into mischief and those who are looking for an "easy" target.
I can't keep my photos from being stolen if I choose to put them online, but I can at least not make them an easy target.

 

[shefjr]

The trick to not having your photos stolen is to take only crappy photos! That's how I roll! :mrgreen:

Seriously though, people like Linda make me sick.

 

[ratssass]

I've come to find that even the most hideous watermark doesn't prevent people from grabbing your stuff,altering your stuff (watermark and all),and throwing it up for all to see.Right click disable,72 dpi....it doesn't matter...

 

[limr]

...

No, watermarks are not the end all to security (not by a long shot), and we all know that, but I'm willing to bet that had any images Linda was considering HAD a watermark... she probably skipped over them. PROBABLY because she doesn't know how to effectively remove them. Or she was just lazy. Either way...

This...

If someone really wants to steal a photo, then the photo will be stolen and altered to remove the mark. But most people can't be bothered. They can't be bothered to figure out how to remove the mark, or they can't be bothered to go through the trouble. It's easier to just keep scrolling until they find one without a mark. You're not going to stop the determined and industrious thief, but most people who are looking for a quick and easy answer are NOT determined and industrious. They are lazy and impatient, and they'll choose the easiest path, which will usually be an unmarked photo.

...

It never ceases to amaze me that people will just so blatantly take what isn't theirs and treat it as if it is.
The bad news is she'll likely be back, doing the same thing. Or four others will take her place.

I can't keep my photos from being stolen if I choose to put them online, but I can at least not make them an easy target.

...and this.

Teach one semester in a college and you won't be surprised anymore at how much stealing goes on. Not only is the plagiarism blatant, but many of the students are completely unrepentant. I had a student once who just copied an entire article from a website. I easily found the article and talked to the student after the next class. He denied everything, even when I showed him the article and showed how his essay was word-for-word the exact article. "Well, I don't know how that got onto the Internet, but I wrote it." Because of that essay and his attitude, he failed the course on the spot and was reported to the school for academic dishonesty. He wasn't the first and won't be the last. The attitude comes into play the first time I catch someone because it determines whether or not I give a second chance. Many students will at least have the decency to be embarrassed, but many others will insist they've done nothing wrong.

And this is in an academic setting with consequences. Can you imagine out there in Internetland without the threat of failure? Yeah, people are stealing left and right and I'm not about to make it easier for them to do so.

 

[e.rose]

I've come to find that even the most hideous watermark doesn't prevent people from grabbing your stuff,altering your stuff (watermark and all),and throwing it up for all to see.Right click disable,72 dpi....it doesn't matter...

No, absolutely not. But that's not my point. My point is that I support sm4him's point that it will at least keep HONEST people honest... and keep LAZY people away.

If someone really wants to steal a photo, then the photo will be stolen and altered to remove the mark. But most people can't be bothered. They can't be bothered to figure out how to remove the mark, or they can't be bothered to go through the trouble. It's easier to just keep scrolling until they find one without a mark. You're not going to stop the determined and industrious thief, but most people who are looking for a quick and easy answer are NOT determined and industrious. They are lazy and impatient, and they'll choose the easiest path, which will usually be an unmarked photo.

Exactly what I'm saying. :sillysmi:

 

[Moke]

I feel so dumb never realised that there are people out there stealing photos. Hubby thought the bro in law was over the top wanting to know how to watermark. I might just start using a watermark someone out there may like my stuff as much as I do, not saying I think I am so good but sometimes I get lucky and like the result.