Copyright: Claim Your Images
Take 5 minutes and tell the world those images are yours.
Images on the internet are vulnerable in a way in which most people are unaccustomed to dealing. There is a widely-held belief that images on the web are free for the taking. For photographers, who need to display their images, this is a perplexing problem. The days of negatives and slides held safely in our vaults and the degree of control to which we could exercise over the proliferation of our images are over. It is an new world in which we must be cautious and protect that which is rightfully ours.
A simple step you can take with every camera you own.
The internet allows us to reach many people. Some of these people, through ignorance or by malicious intent grab images for their own uses. As images created by photographers are their livelihood, it is of extreme concern that we find ways to protect our income source. There is an adage that states: If you don’t want your images stolen, don’t post them online. We know that this isn’t practical. There are steps you can begin to take to express your willingness to defend your ownership and your copyright.
There are several tools to help you get started in copyrighting your images. This screen capture of the EOS Utility program that comes with Canon DSLRs is a great example. It has a place where you can record the Owner’s Name where it will be placed in the metadata that accompanies every image the camera captures. This is data that is being applied in-camera at capture. No further effort is required other than snapping the shutter. Not only that, you can’t get to this data from the on-camera interface. It is somewhat hidden and requires you connect with a USB cable to a computer and set the Owner’s Name field there.
I take it a little further by actually place a copyright symbol before my name so that it is obvious that I am claiming my copyright on every image that is taken by my camera. Obvious I say? It isn’t obvious unless someone inspects the metadata and sees it. The casual grabber of images would probably not notice, not bother to remove and then potentially be caught. If the unauthorized user does know it and does remove it then the potential civil penalties become greater. I have plugged in every one of my DSLRs and set the Owner’s Name field to have a copyright notice so there is no doubt of my intent or willing defense of my rights.
‘But Rikk,’ you say. ‘I don’t have a fancy DSLR. What can I do?’ Most cameras come with software of some sort to help you manage your images. Canon comes with a utility called Zoom Browser EX. It allows you to talk to your compact cameras and set an Owner’s Name as well. Here is a screen grab of the settings on my A550 Point-n-Shoot.
Zoom Browser EX sets my Owner’s Name Field
Every image I take with these cameras will now irrevocably point back to me. I can know that people have taken my images. I can know that people have manipulated the metadata to falsify the copyright status of my images. Even though it is quite easy for an image grabber to do, I have taken a step that will help potentially protect my rights in the future.
Copyright Notice on a Recent Photography
In addition, software will allow you to place more detailed copyright information on your images. Here is a screen capture of a Lightroom metadata screen showing the copyright notice that is applied to my images on import. Now I am covered twice, once in the Copyright field and once in the Owner’s Name field. Now if we can just get all of the image editing programs out there to retain that data in all the files that are saved, we are a step closer to protecting our rights. Kudos to Corel for recently repairing the retention of EXIF data in their latest service pack for CorelDraw X4 released last week. This was an important item for digital photographers and having a software company recognize this is a sign that they care about us and our livelihoods.
Copyright begins at home. Take the time to plug into your home computer and set your Owner’s Name at minimum.
Rikk Flohr © 2009
January 14, 2009 at 6:42 am
Great, informative post, Rikk. I certainly didn’t know about Zoom Browser EX.
A couple of things:
1) I assume that you are assuming that photographers already add a visible ‘watermark’ to images on sites?
2) From the other point of view, I have found it frustrating to find a photo online that I’d like to ask permission to use, but the owner hasn’t left a way to contact them to ask. You are left with the dilemma of the prospect of spending more time trying and track them down or finding something else that is suitable – or disrespecting the copyright. My point is that owners shouldn’t give people the excuse to do the latter.
January 14, 2009 at 8:47 am
To your number 1: I don’t assume a visible watermark. I used to be a proponent of watermarking but now do not do it at all. Any image that circulates on the web is, by my design, too small to be of practical use. It can’t make a 4×6 print with any quality and it won’t fill a screen without gross degradation. I do put a copyright notice on the pics but I make it small so that the image can be evaluated for use or purchase. I can’t sell an image my client can’t see clearly.
2. A copyright notice in metadata and unobtrusively on the image itself go a long way toward identifying the photographer. There are many tools on the internet today to help you find images that match a particular image. Take a look at TinEye (still in beta) and similar tools. Your point is well taken: Give the people a path to you so they will and can do the right thing.
January 14, 2009 at 10:23 am
Cheers, and thanks for the TinEye reference.
It’s OK to let images be downloaded easily if one has taken the trouble to downsize them, but I suspect that many people don’t bother and upload their high res versions. Ah! The things one has to watch out for!
January 14, 2009 at 10:29 am
That is excellent and very easy to execute. Thank you so much for sharing this. Have a successful and healthy year.
January 15, 2009 at 9:57 am
A couple of quick notes:
Mac Users can access the Copyright © symbol by hitting Option G on their keyboard. Windows users can type in ALT 0169 or use the Character Map tool in windows to cut and paste the character into place.
I have had a few reports of folks who can’t get the Canon software to accept a copyright symbol. Apparently this is a symptom of using the latest software. If you have an older disk, EOS tool versions prior to 2.0 should work. Install the utility in a temporary folder and use it to set your name field. Afterwards, you can uninstall it and the 2.X version of the EOS utility will recognize your copyright symbol-though you won’t be able to edit it!
Rikk
January 15, 2009 at 2:16 pm
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March 12, 2009 at 9:30 am
any thoughts on Nikon dslr’s?
I am timid about messing with the camera software and have been adding copyright info in Lightroom only.
Thanks
March 12, 2009 at 10:03 am
Nikon, depending on the model has the ability to do this through software as well. If memory serves, it places the copyright notice into a Comment field in the Metadata and not the Owner, Author or Copyright field. As long as you are diligent on import into Lightroom, you are ahead of the curve.
March 12, 2009 at 10:29 am
In Lightroom, you can set up presets so that on import, all files are given the appropriate credits in the Metadata. I do this for every batch of files I process. Since your name, copyright info etc don’t change frequently, it’s easy to store a “default” preset for use upon import. That way, you won’t forget to claim your images!
March 12, 2009 at 10:36 am
Provided you use Lightroom. Most photogs I know haven’t made that leap yet.
March 12, 2009 at 10:59 am
Well, that’s certainly true. The leap was completely worth it for me — there’s no “going back”
March 12, 2009 at 11:51 am
That is what I tell all my students. Once you’ve moved to a serious image management program, you can never even think of going back.
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