Time to quit Flickr?

[Bear]

Anybody else see this article on how The Independent "stole" a Flickr user's image with no attribution or consultation?

If Flickr aren't presenting your licensing through the API, then is it time to find somewhere else to host images that doesn't put you at this risk? I'd be interested in others thoughts on this.

[konrad]

WOW! actually it was a matter of time for such a thing to happen. But here are so many different things that go underneath such an issue (legal, personal - whether you're an amateur, professional, etc.), it really depends what you expect from sharing pics on Flickr. For example, I always copyright my pictures before publishing them online, being it Flickr or my website. But I think that if someone wants to promote his/her work, Flickr grew so much that it's important to take under consideration it for the promoting purposes.

[Raoul Isidro]

Now that you have brought up the subject, is there really any way to totaly QUIT any website membership, erase ALL your uploads and DETAILS, and like a good soldier... just fade away?
I notice that even on THIS site, Digital Photography School (DPS), there is NO WAY you can QUIT, no way you can delete all your name tags, files, posts, etc.,.... it's like a Hotel California!
(At least on YouTube, you can...)

[Bear]

Originally Posted by konrad

For example, I always copyright my pictures before publishing them online, being it Flickr or my website.

I always add my copyright info into the EXIF data for any images I upload, so I would expect that to be enough normally, but clearly not in this case. Maybe time to start adding a copyright to the image itself, but it does ruin the integrity of any image in my view, which is why I haven't gone that route till now.

Originally Posted by Raoul Isidro

Now that you have brought up the subject, is there really any way to totaly QUIT any website membership, erase ALL your uploads and DETAILS, and like a good soldier... just fade away?

On your Flickr Account > Personal Information page there is a link to delete your account right at the bottom. To be sure, I would probably delete all my images one by one first to make sure they are gone before deleting the account though.

[RLucas]

According to the TOS of both the API, and Flickr, it is the responsibility of the copyright owner to enforce the permissions. The only thing Yahoo, or flickr can do is react if it is reported, and cancel the subscriber's API code.
I think the Independent made a mistake when they used the filter function of the search, and Pete made a mistake when he threatened to send them an invoice and didn't.

The paper took the picture down in less than a day, and even offered to try and settle it with him, at least this is how I read it anyway.

My point is. That is the chance you take when you upload photos to the public domain. Is it right? No, but it IS a fact of life. If you don't want your photos stolen, then the only thing you can do is not upload them. I think it is absurd to hold flickr or any other site accountable for something that is the responsibility of the owners.

[spencer28n]

Posting on sites like Flickr is always a double-edged sword scenario. The best thing you can do is register copyrights on all your images before posting.

[PowerPix]

Whether I post business or personal photos on Flickr or any other public site (including this one) I have them watermarked with something like this:



Or this:



My photos are set to All Rights Reserved and watermarked. That deters a lot. Even still it is not enough to stop some people and you really can't keep up with everything. You can only do so much to stop theft, sad as that may be.

[vandergus]

You have to keep in mind that flickr is a photo sharing website. Everything about the site from the groups, to the commenting, tagging, and API are designed to make your photographs accessible to other people. They do provide users ways to limit the exposure of their photographs and users should make an effort to familiarize themselves with them. But it always strikes me as odd when a user uploads pictures to a site that is designed to put them in front of as many eyes as possible then complain when they see their picture on another site. Of course newspapers should make sure that they have the proper rights to use an image, but I think the bottom line is that if flickr users don't want their images showing up on others sites, they need to disable the API or make them private.

[cphoniball]

Originally Posted by Raoul Isidro

Now that you have brought up the subject, is there really any way to totaly QUIT any website membership, erase ALL your uploads and DETAILS, and like a good soldier... just fade away?
I notice that even on THIS site, Digital Photography School (DPS), there is NO WAY you can QUIT, no way you can delete all your name tags, files, posts, etc.,.... it's like a Hotel California!
(At least on YouTube, you can...)

Fortunately or unfortunately, once you put something on the internet it is pretty much there. Forever (or for as long as the internet exists and archive services operate). So no, you can't "quit".

Also, to be honest, I don't think that the issue with the independent is any cause for concern or to stop using flickr. It was a case of a newspaper not understanding the terms of the flickr service and the presentation rules associated with it. Given the many thousands of people that participate on flickr, the chances of your images being stolen is slight at best. Balance this against the benefit you get from using flickr - feedback from multiple photographers that you wouldn't otherwise get, some of them very good, encouragement, and inspiration from fellow flickr users. If you're really that paranoid about someone stealing your images, then you should just keep them all on your hard drive and never let them see the light of day. No one would be able to steal them then - but no one would be able to appreciate them, either.

[dizwold]

Originally Posted by Raoul Isidro

Now that you have brought up the subject, is there really any way to totaly QUIT any website membership, erase ALL your uploads and DETAILS, and like a good soldier... just fade away?
I notice that even on THIS site, Digital Photography School (DPS), there is NO WAY you can QUIT, no way you can delete all your name tags, files, posts, etc.,.... it's like a Hotel California!
(At least on YouTube, you can...)

hi Raoul
no you cant quit DPs that easily admins cant do it as i have asked this in the past. But you can delete all your posts and threads images its labourious but you can.
If you have uploaded from flickr to Dps then when you delete your flickr pics then they will dissapear from Dps too.
As for the Independent newspaper i will boycott it and never read it again due to that. I will encourage others not to as well. Flickr is a great site i would not want to discourage people from using it
cheers
mike