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How do I report a copyright violation?


AustinMN

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First forum post, love to cache. But this issue has me riled.

 

While looking for new caches, I started looking at caches in a relatively nearby park I know. I know the park because I have taken a number of photos and posted some of them to my Panoramio account. I retain all rights to my photos (Copyright © by AustinMN All Rights Reserved).

 

I found two caches this evening (same CO) where my photos were lifted for inclusion in the cache description. By "inclusion," I mean my photos were about all there was to the description. Use of Panoramio photos is allowed if the use follows the TOS of the Panoramio API (essentially, the photo needs to show my copyright, needs to link to my page, and needs to be hosted on Panoramio). Instead, the CO illegally downloaded my photo and illegally uploaded it to Geocaching.com without mention of my copyright. Because the Groundspeak policy is that uploaded material belongs to the up-loader, he/she has also illegally claimed ownership.

 

In addition to my photos, the CO has included photos in other cache descriptions that are almost certainly copyright violations.

 

How do I go about having my photos removed from these cache descriptions? I have posted notes on the logs, but of course those can just be deleted. I will file a DMCA take-down order if necessary, but would rather not if I can avoid it.

 

Austin

 

P.S. - If the CO had asked, I would probably have let him/her use them (with proper copyright notice). Too late now.

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Under Use of publishing tools and forums ....

 

(d) Upload, post or otherwise transmit any content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual property or proprietary rights of any person, including without limitation under any privacy or publicity rights.

 

I think the contact@geocaching.com route is the best route and they should deal with it accordingly. I seriously doubt that Groundspeak will transfer the copyright of your picture to the uploader.

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First forum post, love to cache. But this issue has me riled.

 

While looking for new caches, I started looking at caches in a relatively nearby park I know. I know the park because I have taken a number of photos and posted some of them to my Panoramio account. I retain all rights to my photos (Copyright © by AustinMN All Rights Reserved).

 

I found two caches this evening (same CO) where my photos were lifted for inclusion in the cache description. By "inclusion," I mean my photos were about all there was to the description. Use of Panoramio photos is allowed if the use follows the TOS of the Panoramio API (essentially, the photo needs to show my copyright, needs to link to my page, and needs to be hosted on Panoramio). Instead, the CO illegally downloaded my photo and illegally uploaded it to Geocaching.com without mention of my copyright. Because the Groundspeak policy is that uploaded material belongs to the up-loader, he/she has also illegally claimed ownership.

 

In addition to my photos, the CO has included photos in other cache descriptions that are almost certainly copyright violations.

 

How do I go about having my photos removed from these cache descriptions? I have posted notes on the logs, but of course those can just be deleted. I will file a DMCA take-down order if necessary, but would rather not if I can avoid it.

 

Austin

 

P.S. - If the CO had asked, I would probably have let him/her use them (with proper copyright notice). Too late now.

 

Why is too late? (I suspect some CO don't read their logs)

 

But perhaps a short note directly to the CO explaining your concern and you might find they will fall over themselves with apologies and promises to fix the attributions.

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P.S. - If the CO had asked, I would probably have let him/her use them (with proper copyright notice). Too late now.

 

Why is too late? (I suspect some CO don't read their logs)

 

But perhaps a short note directly to the CO explaining your concern and you might find they will fall over themselves with apologies and promises to fix the attributions.

 

After thinking about your question, the only answer I could come up with is because I'm being a **. After the site comes back from today's shutdown, I'll try contacting the CO privately, and see how that goes. In the end, I want to promote both caching and my photos.

 

Austin

Edited by Keystone
Potty language removed by moderator
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First forum post, love to cache. But this issue has me riled.

 

While looking for new caches, I started looking at caches in a relatively nearby park I know. I know the park because I have taken a number of photos and posted some of them to my Panoramio account. I retain all rights to my photos (Copyright © by AustinMN All Rights Reserved).

 

I found two caches this evening (same CO) where my photos were lifted for inclusion in the cache description. By "inclusion," I mean my photos were about all there was to the description. Use of Panoramio photos is allowed if the use follows the TOS of the Panoramio API (essentially, the photo needs to show my copyright, needs to link to my page, and needs to be hosted on Panoramio). Instead, the CO illegally downloaded my photo and illegally uploaded it to Geocaching.com without mention of my copyright. Because the Groundspeak policy is that uploaded material belongs to the up-loader, he/she has also illegally claimed ownership.

 

In addition to my photos, the CO has included photos in other cache descriptions that are almost certainly copyright violations.

 

How do I go about having my photos removed from these cache descriptions? I have posted notes on the logs, but of course those can just be deleted. I will file a DMCA take-down order if necessary, but would rather not if I can avoid it.

 

Austin

 

P.S. - If the CO had asked, I would probably have let him/her use them (with proper copyright notice). Too late now.

 

Why is too late? (I suspect some CO don't read their logs)

 

But perhaps a short note directly to the CO explaining your concern and you might find they will fall over themselves with apologies and promises to fix the attributions.

I think if I was in the OP's situation I would not be wasting my time trying to negotiate with the person that lifted my picture. I would want the pictures taken down ... now. The best way to accomplish that is talk to the frog. The pictures will come down without discussion.

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First forum post, love to cache. But this issue has me riled.

 

While looking for new caches, I started looking at caches in a relatively nearby park I know. I know the park because I have taken a number of photos and posted some of them to my Panoramio account. I retain all rights to my photos (Copyright © by AustinMN All Rights Reserved).

 

I found two caches this evening (same CO) where my photos were lifted for inclusion in the cache description. By "inclusion," I mean my photos were about all there was to the description. Use of Panoramio photos is allowed if the use follows the TOS of the Panoramio API (essentially, the photo needs to show my copyright, needs to link to my page, and needs to be hosted on Panoramio). Instead, the CO illegally downloaded my photo and illegally uploaded it to Geocaching.com without mention of my copyright. Because the Groundspeak policy is that uploaded material belongs to the up-loader, he/she has also illegally claimed ownership.

 

In addition to my photos, the CO has included photos in other cache descriptions that are almost certainly copyright violations.

 

How do I go about having my photos removed from these cache descriptions? I have posted notes on the logs, but of course those can just be deleted. I will file a DMCA take-down order if necessary, but would rather not if I can avoid it.

 

Austin

 

P.S. - If the CO had asked, I would probably have let him/her use them (with proper copyright notice). Too late now.

 

Why is too late? (I suspect some CO don't read their logs)

 

But perhaps a short note directly to the CO explaining your concern and you might find they will fall over themselves with apologies and promises to fix the attributions.

I think if I was in the OP's situation I would not be wasting my time trying to negotiate with the person that lifted my picture. I would want the pictures taken down ... now. The best way to accomplish that is talk to the frog. The pictures will come down without discussion.

 

The other side of that might be that the CO didn't know about the copyright. I sure wouldn't know if a picture I downloaded was copyrighted. If I used one by accident and the photographer contacted me, I'd be happy to give credit where it was due. I'd be sad to take the picture down, but I'd do it. Talking to people isn't always a waste of time...

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First forum post, love to cache. But this issue has me riled.

 

While looking for new caches, I started looking at caches in a relatively nearby park I know. I know the park because I have taken a number of photos and posted some of them to my Panoramio account. I retain all rights to my photos (Copyright © by AustinMN All Rights Reserved).

 

I found two caches this evening (same CO) where my photos were lifted for inclusion in the cache description. By "inclusion," I mean my photos were about all there was to the description. Use of Panoramio photos is allowed if the use follows the TOS of the Panoramio API (essentially, the photo needs to show my copyright, needs to link to my page, and needs to be hosted on Panoramio). Instead, the CO illegally downloaded my photo and illegally uploaded it to Geocaching.com without mention of my copyright. Because the Groundspeak policy is that uploaded material belongs to the up-loader, he/she has also illegally claimed ownership.

 

In addition to my photos, the CO has included photos in other cache descriptions that are almost certainly copyright violations.

 

How do I go about having my photos removed from these cache descriptions? I have posted notes on the logs, but of course those can just be deleted. I will file a DMCA take-down order if necessary, but would rather not if I can avoid it.

 

Austin

 

P.S. - If the CO had asked, I would probably have let him/her use them (with proper copyright notice). Too late now.

 

Why is too late? (I suspect some CO don't read their logs)

 

But perhaps a short note directly to the CO explaining your concern and you might find they will fall over themselves with apologies and promises to fix the attributions.

I think if I was in the OP's situation I would not be wasting my time trying to negotiate with the person that lifted my picture. I would want the pictures taken down ... now. The best way to accomplish that is talk to the frog. The pictures will come down without discussion.

 

The other side of that might be that the CO didn't know about the copyright. I sure wouldn't know if a picture I downloaded was copyrighted. If I used one by accident and the photographer contacted me, I'd be happy to give credit where it was due. I'd be sad to take the picture down, but I'd do it. Talking to people isn't always a waste of time...

In order to use Panoramino services you must sign up for an account. You agree to abide by the terms of service and there is this paragraph

Using our Services does not give you ownership of any intellectual property rights in our Services or the content you access. You may not use content from our Services unless you obtain permission from its owner or are otherwise permitted by law. These terms do not grant you the right to use any branding or logos used in our Services. Don’t remove, obscure, or alter any legal notices displayed in or along with our Services.

Clicking through is not an excuse.

 

And your right, talking to people is not a waste of time. According to the OP if he was asked he would have granted the right to use the picture. Now he just wants it removed.

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First forum post, love to cache. But this issue has me riled.

 

While looking for new caches, I started looking at caches in a relatively nearby park I know. I know the park because I have taken a number of photos and posted some of them to my Panoramio account. I retain all rights to my photos (Copyright © by AustinMN All Rights Reserved).

 

I found two caches this evening (same CO) where my photos were lifted for inclusion in the cache description. By "inclusion," I mean my photos were about all there was to the description. Use of Panoramio photos is allowed if the use follows the TOS of the Panoramio API (essentially, the photo needs to show my copyright, needs to link to my page, and needs to be hosted on Panoramio). Instead, the CO illegally downloaded my photo and illegally uploaded it to Geocaching.com without mention of my copyright. Because the Groundspeak policy is that uploaded material belongs to the up-loader, he/she has also illegally claimed ownership.

 

In addition to my photos, the CO has included photos in other cache descriptions that are almost certainly copyright violations.

 

How do I go about having my photos removed from these cache descriptions? I have posted notes on the logs, but of course those can just be deleted. I will file a DMCA take-down order if necessary, but would rather not if I can avoid it.

 

Austin

 

P.S. - If the CO had asked, I would probably have let him/her use them (with proper copyright notice). Too late now.

 

Why is too late? (I suspect some CO don't read their logs)

 

But perhaps a short note directly to the CO explaining your concern and you might find they will fall over themselves with apologies and promises to fix the attributions.

I think if I was in the OP's situation I would not be wasting my time trying to negotiate with the person that lifted my picture. I would want the pictures taken down ... now. The best way to accomplish that is talk to the frog. The pictures will come down without discussion.

 

The other side of that might be that the CO didn't know about the copyright. I sure wouldn't know if a picture I downloaded was copyrighted. If I used one by accident and the photographer contacted me, I'd be happy to give credit where it was due. I'd be sad to take the picture down, but I'd do it. Talking to people isn't always a waste of time...

In order to use Panoramino services you must sign up for an account. You agree to abide by the terms of service and there is this paragraph

Using our Services does not give you ownership of any intellectual property rights in our Services or the content you access. You may not use content from our Services unless you obtain permission from its owner or are otherwise permitted by law. These terms do not grant you the right to use any branding or logos used in our Services. Don’t remove, obscure, or alter any legal notices displayed in or along with our Services.

Clicking through is not an excuse.

 

And your right, talking to people is not a waste of time. According to the OP if he was asked he would have granted the right to use the picture. Now he just wants it removed.

 

This is what I was referring to. OP seems to have cooled down a touch, which I think is good.

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First forum post, love to cache. But this issue has me riled.

 

While looking for new caches, I started looking at caches in a relatively nearby park I know. I know the park because I have taken a number of photos and posted some of them to my Panoramio account. I retain all rights to my photos (Copyright © by AustinMN All Rights Reserved).

 

I found two caches this evening (same CO) where my photos were lifted for inclusion in the cache description. By "inclusion," I mean my photos were about all there was to the description. Use of Panoramio photos is allowed if the use follows the TOS of the Panoramio API (essentially, the photo needs to show my copyright, needs to link to my page, and needs to be hosted on Panoramio). Instead, the CO illegally downloaded my photo and illegally uploaded it to Geocaching.com without mention of my copyright. Because the Groundspeak policy is that uploaded material belongs to the up-loader, he/she has also illegally claimed ownership.

 

In addition to my photos, the CO has included photos in other cache descriptions that are almost certainly copyright violations.

 

How do I go about having my photos removed from these cache descriptions? I have posted notes on the logs, but of course those can just be deleted. I will file a DMCA take-down order if necessary, but would rather not if I can avoid it.

 

Austin

 

P.S. - If the CO had asked, I would probably have let him/her use them (with proper copyright notice). Too late now.

 

Why is too late? (I suspect some CO don't read their logs)

 

But perhaps a short note directly to the CO explaining your concern and you might find they will fall over themselves with apologies and promises to fix the attributions.

I think if I was in the OP's situation I would not be wasting my time trying to negotiate with the person that lifted my picture. I would want the pictures taken down ... now. The best way to accomplish that is talk to the frog. The pictures will come down without discussion.

 

The other side of that might be that the CO didn't know about the copyright. I sure wouldn't know if a picture I downloaded was copyrighted. If I used one by accident and the photographer contacted me, I'd be happy to give credit where it was due. I'd be sad to take the picture down, but I'd do it. Talking to people isn't always a waste of time...

In order to use Panoramino services you must sign up for an account. You agree to abide by the terms of service and there is this paragraph

Using our Services does not give you ownership of any intellectual property rights in our Services or the content you access. You may not use content from our Services unless you obtain permission from its owner or are otherwise permitted by law. These terms do not grant you the right to use any branding or logos used in our Services. Don’t remove, obscure, or alter any legal notices displayed in or along with our Services.

Clicking through is not an excuse.

 

And your right, talking to people is not a waste of time. According to the OP if he was asked he would have granted the right to use the picture. Now he just wants it removed.

 

This is what I was referring to. OP seems to have cooled down a touch, which I think is good.

I agree.

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In order to use Panoramino services you must sign up for an account. You agree to abide by the terms of service...

Umm, no. To upload photos, you need to sign up. To view the photos, you don't need an account.

I've never created an account there, but I was easily able to find and view photos by the OP, like this one. You can also easily get to the photos through Google Maps or Google Earth. See this link to see all the OP's photos in the Ham Lake area.

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In order to use Panoramino services you must sign up for an account. You agree to abide by the terms of service...

Umm, no. To upload photos, you need to sign up. To view the photos, you don't need an account.

I've never created an account there, but I was easily able to find and view photos by the OP, like this one.

 

And there it is, "© All Rights Reserved by AustinMN"

 

It doesn't matter what the TOS say, you can't just use copyrighted work without permission, and for more than two decades, U.S. law has assumed that all work is copyrighted.

 

Austin

Edited by AustinMN
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And there it is, "© All Rights Reserved by AustinMN"

Agreed. I'm not trying to say it's OK for people to use your photos without attribution, just clarifying that you aren't presented with the ToS before being able to view the photos.

 

I hope the CO is honest enough to do the right thing and add the copyright notice or remove the photos.

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And there it is, "© All Rights Reserved by AustinMN"

Agreed. I'm not trying to say it's OK for people to use your photos without attribution, just clarifying that you aren't presented with the ToS before being able to view the photos.

 

I hope the CO is honest enough to do the right thing and add the copyright notice or remove the photos.

Isn't using copyrighted material without permission against the law? Therefore it would not matter what the ToS said, It's a violation of law not website rules. Though to be fair I actually had to look for the copywrite and it was at the bottom of the page, and not of the picture itself. I could have the standpoint that the page is what is copyrighted, and the picture could have been a stock photo or something...who knows?

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First forum post, love to cache. But this issue has me riled.

 

While looking for new caches, I started looking at caches in a relatively nearby park I know. I know the park because I have taken a number of photos and posted some of them to my Panoramio account. I retain all rights to my photos (Copyright © by AustinMN All Rights Reserved).

 

I found two caches this evening (same CO) where my photos were lifted for inclusion in the cache description. By "inclusion," I mean my photos were about all there was to the description. Use of Panoramio photos is allowed if the use follows the TOS of the Panoramio API (essentially, the photo needs to show my copyright, needs to link to my page, and needs to be hosted on Panoramio). Instead, the CO illegally downloaded my photo and illegally uploaded it to Geocaching.com without mention of my copyright. Because the Groundspeak policy is that uploaded material belongs to the up-loader, he/she has also illegally claimed ownership.

 

In addition to my photos, the CO has included photos in other cache descriptions that are almost certainly copyright violations.

 

How do I go about having my photos removed from these cache descriptions? I have posted notes on the logs, but of course those can just be deleted. I will file a DMCA take-down order if necessary, but would rather not if I can avoid it.

 

Austin

 

P.S. - If the CO had asked, I would probably have let him/her use them (with proper copyright notice). Too late now.

 

Why is too late? (I suspect some CO don't read their logs)

 

But perhaps a short note directly to the CO explaining your concern and you might find they will fall over themselves with apologies and promises to fix the attributions.

I think if I was in the OP's situation I would not be wasting my time trying to negotiate with the person that lifted my picture. I would want the pictures taken down ... now. The best way to accomplish that is talk to the frog. The pictures will come down without discussion.

 

The other side of that might be that the CO didn't know about the copyright. I sure wouldn't know if a picture I downloaded was copyrighted. If I used one by accident and the photographer contacted me, I'd be happy to give credit where it was due. I'd be sad to take the picture down, but I'd do it. Talking to people isn't always a waste of time...

In order to use Panoramino services you must sign up for an account. You agree to abide by the terms of service and there is this paragraph

Using our Services does not give you ownership of any intellectual property rights in our Services or the content you access. You may not use content from our Services unless you obtain permission from its owner or are otherwise permitted by law. These terms do not grant you the right to use any branding or logos used in our Services. Don’t remove, obscure, or alter any legal notices displayed in or along with our Services.

Clicking through is not an excuse.

 

And your right, talking to people is not a waste of time. According to the OP if he was asked he would have granted the right to use the picture. Now he just wants it removed.

Your assuming that the CO got the picture from Panoramino. What if someone else 'stole' it first without any information and posted on Facebook? The CO would not know, nor have reason to suspect that it was copyrighted. There are a number of ways that this can happen, this is just an example.

 

Please do not rush to judgment on anyone, the CO probably made a very honest mistake in doing this and simply needs to be asked nicely to correct his error. I see that OP is doing this the right way, for that, we all commend you as fellow messer-uppers. I know that this kind of stuff has happened to me in other areas and it works best if someone is nice and informative rather than harsh and just says 'deal with it'.

 

Just my 2 cents.

Edited by Arndtwe
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The Real question that I had *due to the pics being brought down already* is were they d/l from panoramio and then uploaded to GC.com -OR- were they just Linked to in the HTML code. IF they were linked, then they were not "stolen" and should have been ok. If they were d/l and re-posted, then There is where the issue is.

 

In the Future, Remember to Right Click on an image, and "Copy Link Location" or Properties/ Image location and copy.

 

The Steaks

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And there it is, "© All Rights Reserved by AustinMN"

Agreed. I'm not trying to say it's OK for people to use your photos without attribution, just clarifying that you aren't presented with the ToS before being able to view the photos.

 

I hope the CO is honest enough to do the right thing and add the copyright notice or remove the photos.

Isn't using copyrighted material without permission against the law? Therefore it would not matter what the ToS said, It's a violation of law not website rules. Though to be fair I actually had to look for the copywrite and it was at the bottom of the page, and not of the picture itself.

 

I could have the standpoint that the page is what is copyrighted, and the picture could have been a stock photo or something...who knows?

 

A number of Panoramio regulars have complained about the placement of the copyright notice. Some have gone so far as to add the "©" symbol to their user name, since that appears directly under the photo. I'm not there yet.

 

It should be irrelevant, though. Since some time before 1990 (I think it was 1989, but I am not sure) U.S. copyright law assumes that all intellectual property works are copyrighted, even without notice.

 

With honest people, it's mostly about education. Thankfully, most people have at least some degree of honesty.

 

Austin

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A local news website often run some of my online pics with its News Stories. It only took a year for them to start acknowledging the source. It happens - the ease of copy/paste on modern computers makes us sometimes forget that some of that stuff actually belongs to somebody else.

 

Actually, they didn't need to ask you at all...

 

the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include -

 

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

 

17 USC Section 107.

 

http://www.photoattorney.com/2008/05/fuss-about-fair-use.html

 

Ethically, yea, they should have cited you as the source of the photograph. But, modern news outlets tend to take ethics with a grain of salt recently and only apply it when its to their benefit.

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Ethically, yea, they should have cited you as the source of the photograph. But, modern news outlets tend to take ethics with a grain of salt recently and only apply it when its to their benefit.

 

It has nothing to do with fair use; fair use has to do with whether the photo can be used at all. Citation of ownership is something else altogether.

 

Legally they have to site the owner even if the work is in the public domain. Since the web publication is copyrighted (an assumption of US copyright law even without copyright notice), it would be assumed that the photo is part of the web publication and therefore under that copyright. But moral copyright (this is a legal term) forbids claiming (or appearing to claim) something is under your copyright if it is not. The only way to escape from citing the owner is to not use the photo, fair use or not.

 

Austin

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AustinMN, I would suggest you add a '©AustinMN' watermark discreetly in the corner of all your photos posted to the web, anywhere. Of course someone could trim that part off, so you would need a 'corner-to-corner' watermark to really stop unauthorized use. :(

If someone wants to use an un-watermarked photo, they can/need to contact you directly to get it. :)

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AustinMN, I would suggest you add a '©AustinMN' watermark discreetly in the corner of all your photos posted to the web, anywhere. Of course someone could trim that part off, so you would need a 'corner-to-corner' watermark to really stop unauthorized use. :(

If someone wants to use an un-watermarked photo, they can/need to contact you directly to get it. :)

 

Even with a full image watermark, the watermark can usually be removed. This is discussed quite a bit on Panoramio, and the reality is the only way to completely prevent image theft is to not publish the image. :huh:

 

Austin

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Hmm, I thought the watermark became a part of the image and would take some serious effort to edit out. :unsure:

It does become part of the image, but that doesn't mean it's too difficult to edit out. The small text added to the corner can be cropped out, or if it's on a solid color or texture it can be covered with that same color or texture. Or someone stealing the picture can simply blur it out if they don't want to recognized who they took the photo from.

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Hmm, I thought the watermark became a part of the image and would take some serious effort to edit out. :unsure:

It does become part of the image, but that doesn't mean it's too difficult to edit out. The small text added to the corner can be cropped out, or if it's on a solid color or texture it can be covered with that same color or texture. Or someone stealing the picture can simply blur it out if they don't want to recognized who they took the photo from.

And that is why you use a corner to corner large watermark. Many people will put up a small, low res picture and when you click on it you get a larger higher res picture but it has a very large, corner to corner watermark in it.

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[The watermark] does become part of the image, but that doesn't mean it's too difficult to edit out. The small text added to the corner can be cropped out, or if it's on a solid color or texture it can be covered with that same color or texture. Or someone stealing the picture can simply blur it out if they don't want to recognized who they took the photo from.

And that is why you use a corner to corner large watermark. Many people will put up a small, low res picture and when you click on it you get a larger higher res picture but it has a very large, corner to corner watermark in it.

But that detracts from everyone's ability to enjoy the image, which is the whole point of putting it up on Panaramio in the first place. Unless you actually make money from your photos, just use a small watermark or keep your photos to yourself.

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Hmm, I thought the watermark became a part of the image and would take some serious effort to edit out. :unsure:

It does become part of the image, but that doesn't mean it's too difficult to edit out. The small text added to the corner can be cropped out, or if it's on a solid color or texture it can be covered with that same color or texture. Or someone stealing the picture can simply blur it out if they don't want to recognized who they took the photo from.

And that is why you use a corner to corner large watermark. Many people will put up a small, low res picture and when you click on it you get a larger higher res picture but it has a very large, corner to corner watermark in it.

 

I would rather risk someone stealing my image than to make it worthless for everyone. I put a fair amount of effort into my photos, and I would rather risk someone stealing them than destroy them.

 

And I am capable of removing a corner-to-corner transparent watermark, so I know it's not that hard to do.

 

Austin

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[The watermark] does become part of the image, but that doesn't mean it's too difficult to edit out. The small text added to the corner can be cropped out, or if it's on a solid color or texture it can be covered with that same color or texture. Or someone stealing the picture can simply blur it out if they don't want to recognized who they took the photo from.

And that is why you use a corner to corner large watermark. Many people will put up a small, low res picture and when you click on it you get a larger higher res picture but it has a very large, corner to corner watermark in it.

But that detracts from everyone's ability to enjoy the image, which is the whole point of putting it up on Panaramio in the first place. Unless you actually make money from your photos, just use a small watermark or keep your photos to yourself.

You can't have it both ways. If you want to protect the picture from "theft" then you have to take appropriate preventative measures. If you want people to "enjoy" the picture then you have to put up with the unauthorized use of it.

 

Anything you put on the internet can and will be used at some point in time by someone. Some people will ask permission and give due credit, many won't, many don't know about the copyright laws and how they apply.

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Hmm, I thought the watermark became a part of the image and would take some serious effort to edit out. :unsure:

In the same sense, the lock on my front door won't stop someone determined to break in, but I still lock the door. :)

 

Not very serious effort at all. It, of course depends on the image, but using PS's content aware brushes it could take as little as a half a minute to remove a corner to corner watermark.

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And the point was that if someone is out to just plain steal your image, they WILL do it. :rolleyes:

If someone is innocently copying nice pictures for their cache page, maybe the watermark would make them think twice and ASK for PERMISSION to use the image. :)

I like your lock on the front door analogy. If someone wants to steal my stuff a lock on my front door isn't going to stop them but it does a good job in keeping the neighbors from wandering in whenever they want. If I choose not to instal a lock and I don't want people to wander in whenever they want then I'll have to be very vigilant and challenge everyone who enters without asking first.

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