Copyright

MisstaQ · July 13, 2014

How do I copyright all of my photos? I want every image to legally be able to put that copyright symbol on them.

denisegoldberg · July 13, 2014

You're asking about a visible copyright as opposed to a copyright in the file, right?

If you have a Basic or Power account you would need to apply a watermark to your photos before uploading to your smug site - but in this case the watermark would also be on the original and thus on any photos that are ordered in your account. If you have a Portfolio or Business account, read on...

Visible watermarks on the display copies of the photos are a feature of Portfolio and Business accounts. See help page at http://help.smugmug.com/customer/portal/articles/93343-how-do-i-watermark-photos-.

If you want a mark on the printed copy of the photo and if you have a Portfolio or Business account you can specify a printmark. See help page at http://help.smugmug.com/customer/portal/articles/93344-what-is-a-printmark-.

You might also consider adding a copyright statement to the metadata of your photos. Some cameras can be set to do this. If your camera doesn't, Lightroom (and I suspect other products) can add a copyright statement to your photo.

You might want to take a look at this tutorial - http://school.smugmug.com/SmugMug-Tips/Encyclopedia-of-the-Watermark.

--- Denise

MisstaQ · July 13, 2014

Thank you very much! I will look at those links. I have the water mark with the © on every photo from today onward. Is that what you mean?

thenickdude · July 13, 2014

Note that your photos and any other creative works you create are automatically copyrighted even with no notice displayed. Although in the US, you can sue for larger penalties for people who remove the watermarks from your image.

denisegoldberg · July 14, 2014

MisstaQ wrote: »

... I will look at those links. I have the water mark with the © on every photo from today onward.

Are you talking about the site in your dgrin signature? I just took a quick look and I see a few galleries with watermarks but none that shows a copyright. Based on your statement (above) I assumed that you already placed a copyright on the images.

I see that the "watermark" you are using is on the Original image. This means it will also be on any photos printed from your galleries. Is this really what you want? As I mentioned in my previous post if you have a Portfolio or Business account you can use SmugMug's watermark facility; if you do that there will not be a watermark on the Original image.

Why are you allowing access to the Original images? That is used for printing, not for display (although a viewer can choose to display it by clicking the O).

I saved one of the photos from your site (temporarily, it's gone now) to check the copyright in the file. There isn't a copyright in the file; don't you think it would be a good idea to add that? (Note that this step needs to happen before you upload the file to smug.)

You should be aware that right click protection is a poorly named feature - it provides a warning to the viewer, it does not protect your images from theft. It takes very little to skirt that (non)protection and save the images locally.

--- Denise

MisstaQ · July 15, 2014

denisegoldberg wrote: »

Are you talking about the site in your dgrin signature? I just took a quick look and I see a few galleries with watermarks but none that shows a copyright. Based on your statement (above) I assumed that you already placed a copyright on the images.

I see that the "watermark" you are using is on the Original image. This means it will also be on any photos printed from your galleries. Is this really what you want? As I mentioned in my previous post if you have a Portfolio or Business account you can use SmugMug's watermark facility; if you do that there will not be a watermark on the Original image.

Why are you allowing access to the Original images? That is used for printing, not for display (although a viewer can choose to display it by clicking the O).

I saved one of the photos from your site (temporarily, it's gone now) to check the copyright in the file. There isn't a copyright in the file; don't you think it would be a good idea to add that? (Note that this step needs to happen before you upload the file to smug.)

You should be aware that right click protection is a poorly named feature - it provides a warning to the viewer, it does not protect your images from theft. It takes very little to skirt that (non)protection and save the images locally.

--- Denise

Thank you Denise for all the great info you have given me and the time you have taken to check the images out.

I am a power user. I want to upgrade but i am not doing any work right now in photography so i do not see the need for it. I do have a few concerns.

You said that the watermark is on the original image. Is this bad if someone wants to by the image? I guess I would not want to see that on a image i buy.

Do most of you not upload the original image? All photos on my site are exported from Picasa 3. I use to have LR and PS but had to sell them. I want LR again because it is quite easy to use and due to that fact I do not like to do much editing on my images it will suffice.

Aaron

denisegoldberg · July 15, 2014

MisstaQ wrote: »

You said that the watermark is on the original image. Is this bad if someone wants to by the image? I guess I would not want to see that on a image i buy.

Do most of you not upload the original image?

If you watermark your photo locally that watermark is on the image designated as Original in SmugMug. That is the image used to print photos in smug.

If I purchased an image and it came with a watermark on it I would ask for a refund.

I upload the original, non-watermarked image to smugmug. I have watermarking turned on in smug so my display copies are watermarked. The original image used for printing is not watermarked. To have that ability you would need to upgrade to at least a Portfolio-level account. You need to decide what is most important to you.

--- Denise

MisstaQ · July 15, 2014

Thank you Denise for all the great information and advice you have given me. I am not ready to upgrade yet, but I will remove all the watermarks, or most of them.

Copyright

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