Copyright watermarks

Juano

I see that some of you never use copyright watermarks and others always do. If this has been discussed before (and I assume it has), please point me to the discussion thread. Has anyone had issues with pics posted on this forum being used elsewhere without your approval? I don't mind a discrete watermark at the bottom right or left, but I have seen some that seem more important than the picture itself, which is annoying to say the least.

Richard

Juano,

I moved your post to MYOB. This has been discussed frequently here, so try doing a search and look at some of the older threads.

Angelo

Juano

at the top, right side of this forum there's a "search this forum" field. type in the word, watermarks, and dozens of related threads will pop up


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GerryDavid

some people dont mind printing the photo with a mild watermark, so I prefer a heavier one. people can look past it and look at the image and ignore the watermark and purchase the print if they want the picture bad enough.

and for those that do not put a watermark or logo on an image, and put them on facebook, they are missing a marketing opportunity. many times ive looked on facebook at someones pro photos but have no clue who took them. the person that put it up didnt give a reference or link to the photographer.

Juano

Thanks for the guidance!

zoomer

I don't use water marks.
I have never once seen a photo where I wanted to read the water mark, don't recall ever reading a watermark unless it was really annoying.
To me if they are big enough to notice, they ruin the photo, if they are small enough to not ruin the photo, then they are not noticed.
If people want to copy your photo off the internet, they can find a way.

GerryDavid

I think photographers and average people look at pictures differently. I dont think most people care about watermarks detracting from the image as long as it doesnt cover a key part of the image like the subjects face.

Yes, it is easy to get an image off of a website, right click save as or print screen if all else fails, but if you put a watermark over the image so it cant be printed then there is no problem with letting them save the picture to the hard drive. If they are willing to print it with the watermark they dont want it bad enough to pay for it. I would rather get new customers than worry about a few people printing the pictures with a watermark.

but everyone has their own opinions and ways of doing things.

ElginetPhotos

Watermarks
It's not always to "protect" the rights.
Sometimes you want your pictures out there, and every now and then someone sees that picture and says "wow...who took that photo??"
Put your watermark on there and bingo....you might have a new fan, or customer looking for a similar photo.

Glort

For proof gallerys I think it is important to put a large branding across the image without it obscuring the content of the image too much. In this regard I like it to make the image as impractical for further use and obviously stolen as possible.

Some people get carried away and watermark the entire image which makes it very difficult for a genuine person to see if the image is a good one or not and from the amount I have seen in various places that are obviously illegaly lifted, it dosen't deter a lot of people anyway.

I think if you can strike a happy medium where the image quality and content can be seen while still being prominenetly branded, that's the sweet spot.

For shots where you are allowing download or use of the pics, a tasteful watermark in the corner is all that is needed for identification of the shooter.