Putting watermark name on photos

[prochman]

I want to put a watermark or just have a name on my photos. It's a name I thought up, with part of my name in it.

Do I need to make sure that the name I want to use is not copywritten or a trade mark? And how would I go about doing that?

[KansaiGreenie]

Hi prochman,

Do I need to make sure that the name I want to use is not copywritten or a trade mark? And how would I go about doing that?

I didn't bother to do anything like that when I came up with my nickname and watermark. My guess is that it really depends on what you are doing with the images. If you are really worried about it, you need to check with a lawyer. This site has people all over the world on it and the laws are definitely going to vary by country.

In the meantime.... have you tried Googling your new name? That should at least tell you if someone else is using the name for photography, etc.

KG