Am I being petty?

[disappearingmist]

What I have started doing is putting my watermark on every image like that. That way you get credit despite them not doing so officially.

[candleman]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

Most folks either don't know or even care about copyright violations. It's up to the photographer to make clients sign a contract prior to the shoot.

you teach good... thats exactly the clause i added in my contracts

this morning i sent someone this exact message... for posting a version where my watermark had been cropped out.

Just a friendly side note…
I see you put up an unwatermarked pic of mine, (cropped out)
Please only put up the watermarked ones on Facebook.
Their terms and conditions can allow them to take ownership of the image.
IE. you’re potentially giving the copyright that I own to facebook simply by uploading it and ticking the box.
Could you please delete that one and change it for the watermarked one, I’d appreciate it,.

As we discussed, if it’s going online (with exception of your own website) it needs to be the watermarked version for that reason.

he agreed to remove it and replace it with the original.

see.. easy

if you are firm and clear they will understand and respond.

just dont bend the rules once.. because that opens the door for everyone else to bend the rules.

[sk66]

I think the big problem here is you are sending notice to friends "sharing" the pics without any other "notice".

[Sharon N]

Thank you for bringing this up. I've had similar problems on facebook, where a casual "friend" took some photos and used them on her own page. I tagged the photos then posted a note to her explaining a bit about how the photo was taken, making it clear it was mine.

I beleive I'll start marking them with my name as suggested.

[barefootpoetry]

If you are petty then I am too. It bothers me as well. Maybe because they always do it without asking. If they said, "Hey, this was an awesome pic, can I post it on my Facebook/myspace/whatever?" I would be totally cool with it. It's just kind of irritating to go to their profile and see my pics used without permission.

I really need to start watermarking my pics. I'm lazy.

[Jim Bryant]

If people ask me I don't mind. If not, I go onto their page, take a snap shot of it and then send it, along with a bill for payment. If that doesn't work, I'll send a copy to Facebook, Twitter or myspace and have their account shut down

[nathanbarlow]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

If people ask me I don't mind. If not, I go onto their page, take a snap shot of it and then send it, along with a bill for payment. If that doesn't work, I'll send a copy to Facebook, Twitter or myspace and have their account shut down

thats a bit hard line for the situation in the OP. But for a professional, perfectly justifiable.

I havent had any issues yet, but since I am a fan of "open source" systems and the equavalient creative commons system on flickr, I have all my images as non-commercial, no-derivatives, and credit-given, as I feel a bit of a hypocrite having images on any other copyright setting.

However, I am dreading a situation where a mate or even a random person just downloads and does the hell they want with the image with no regards to the creative commons rules I have outlined.

My aim is to allow people to have a (smaller resolution) copy, which they can show others on their facebook/whatever, but still having it linked back to me. Guess Im a bit of an idealist, but no problems so far - touch wood.

[bethard728]

Originally Posted by beltal

Many people don't realize that they are doing anything wrong by taking your photos. I am not condoning the behavior, but that is how it tends to be. If you never asked them to give you credit and you are not a professional then I am not surprised that they have stolen your work. If I were you I would ask nicely to be given credit for the photos you have taken. If your friends and family are the ones using them, then I doubt they will have a problem crediting you.

Ditto this. If they are trying to pass it off as their own shot, I'd be upset. If they are not crediting me but aren't trying to take credit for it themselves either, then I probably wouldn't be too upset. If they are clearly "professional style" shots I would want credit but since they are not actually professional shots, I would not expect to be given credit unless I specifically asked for it. I have always "stolen" and reposted pics of my nephews off of my family's facebooks and myspace pages without asking. I just assumed they didn't care. (And they don't). As far as "unprofessional" posed shots or snapshots go, I do not post pics anywhere on the internet of other people without first asking their permission. And I'd never steal pics from anyone except my family who doesn't care. But I've never given my family credit for their pics either. If they aren't pro, I've never thought about copyrights. All this being said, if my friends and family were reposting my pics and I wanted them to give me credit, I would simply say this to them, "I know I'm not a professional yet but someday I may be. While I am still just a hobbyist, I am proud of my photos and I would like to be given credit for them. If you borrow one of my photos for reposting, please give me credit so others know who's work it is. If someday I choose to make a career of photography, it would be nice if my name was already known." Or something to that effect. A friendly way to let people know you want credit. If it's just friends and family they probably really didn't think they were bothering you or doing anything wrong. I'm sure once you give them a heads up, they'd be happy to credit you.