ABSTRACT: If one wants to protect their photographic work from people who may download their images posted on the Internet, one needs to use a watermarking software to add their copyright notice.
CONTENT: Everyday, people just love to share and post their photographic work on-line and will upload their work without giving it a second thought. Some of the most popular websites where many can upload their photos are Shareapic, Flickr, snapfish, FanArtReview, just to name a few. What many don't realize is that there are many unscrupulous people who will download those treasured photos without the permission of the photographer, claiming the photo as their own work, and might even make a profit from it.
By copyright laws, no one has the right to download any photographic work for their own use that is not in the public domain category. It doesn't matter if one just wants to use a photo they've seen somewhere for their own private use, such as to illustrate their own website or blog, if that image is not public domain, that person using that photographic image is infringing on the copyright laws, and therefore illegal.
What most people may not realize is that any photographic image that not public domain is then automatically considered as being protected by copyright laws and whose sole ownership is with the creator of that work, that is, the photographer. Even here at Associated Content, if a person wishes to illustrate their article with a photographic image, and the work isn't their own, one has to be specific and give credit to where that image on the internet was found, either by mentioning the webpage itself, and/or the individual photographer.
First, one needs to know exactly what the copyright itself means and what is protected. It doesn't matter whether the creative work is in the visual arts, such as films, artwork, or photographs; music in any form, including sheet music, tapes, or CDs, or written work as in novels, articles, short stories...all are protected under copyright laws and it doesn't matter whether the work has been officially published or not.
Now the question is, how and when are copyright laws effective? All creative work is automatically considered protected by copyright laws and solely owned by its creator the moment it is created. The copyright lasts for the lifetime and approximately seventy years after the death of the creator of the work.
In the past, it used to be recommended that for one to truly safeguard one's creative efforts was to officially register and send a copy of the work to the US Copyright Office itself. While this is still considered the ideal way to protect one's ownership and therefore copyright, it is now no longer necessary. Whether one does or doesn't decide to register their creative work, another way to announce to the world that a particular work is protected is to place that familiar copyright notice "©" though again this isn't considered necessary either, but it can give a certain peace of mind to the owner of their work to do so.
As far as photographic images are concerned however, there is another step one can take to safeguard ones photographic work. It doesn't matter where a person is so inclined to post their own work anywhere on the Internet, whether it'd be on one of those popular websites I've already mentioned, or on one's own photographic website. To further protect one's work, it is highly recommended to place a copyright notice directly on the image itself, and the usual method of doing this is in the form of what is called a "watermark".
There are two methods in which one can place a copyright notice watermark directly on their images. One of the easiest and simplest of ways, if one has any one of the popular photo-editing softwares, such as Photoshop is to click and use the "text" option and one can "write" directly on the image. However, to be honest, when I used this method, I just wasn't completely satisfied with the results.
The better method most photographers will use, and the one I now currently use, is to get any one of the software programs specifically designed to add copyright watermarks, and there are many available.
Now, since most people do have PCs, finding software programs for watermarking isn't a problem. I, however, have a Mac computer and it took some hunting around to find a software program that was compatible with my type of computer. I found that the one most recommended by Apple, the maker of Mac computers is iWatermark. It also happens to be suitable for PC users as well.
Since I'm only familiar with how iWatermark work, I'm nonetheless certain all watermarking software works pretty much the same way. With my program, I can make the copyright watermark as small or large as I wish simply by changing the font size options. It will also allow me to place the watermark on the bottom, center or top of the image, or it even has the ability to run the copyright notice throughout the entire image. I can also choose to have a specific font style, and I usually use Lucinda Calligraphy. Also, I can make the watermark as noticeable or non-noticeable as I wish, and typically I use the emboss option.
As for the cost of the watermarking software programs, most will run approximately about $20.00 which is relatively inexpensive considering most software programs usually can cost a few hundreds dollars. But, as I see it, no matter what the cost of such a valuable tool for the photographer, it is well worth it in safeguarding and protecting one's images, if one is placing their work anywhere on the internet.
I enclose here a partial listing of watermark software.
iWatermark Software
(recommended for Mac Computers but compatible with PCs as well)
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/13758
http://www.scriptsoftware.com/iwatermark/?gclid=CImYqeL3so8CFReQGgod_ErFRg
Other Watermark Software
(For PC users)
http://www.visualwatermark.com/
http://www.user-groups.net/shareware/DropWaterMark.html
http://www.watermarker.com/
http://www.uconomix.com/Products/uMark/Default.aspx?o=AdWords&gclid=CIu-q_v4so8CFRqwOAodlDgBMQ
Copyright Laws
http://www.copyright.gov/
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wwp
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#mdw
For other articles relating to watermarking and protecting photographic images:
http://cameras.about.com/od/printing/ss/watermark.htm
UPDATE: In a pinch if you have ANY kind of photo-editing system, one can add a copyright on their photos by adding the copyright symbol © plus one's name~~July 5, 2014) Image Source ©Melanie Neer~Pudu Deer taken in Orlando, Florida
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