At 04/05/2008, you wrote:
Hi Charlie, > Date: Sat, 03 May 2008 18:36:11 -0400 > From: Charlie Falke <chfalke@xxxxxxx> > David, > > Is there any way to watermark the images that is harder to > defeat than exif? > Not David, but to "chime in" to your question: yes, there are ways to watermark images that would be nigh on impossible to detect and/or alter. For example, random pixel value algorithms that encode a message into portions of the image that would be unlikely to be altered by anything short of the most drastic of manipulations. In the theft of on-line images, though, the matter is simpler since the owner is likely to have the high resolution original of the image, and that can't be recreated from the lower resolution version. As I see it, the protection that one has is limited to the lawyers one can afford to fight the infringment. So, unless someone with deep pockets steals our image or makes a lot of money from its illegal use, what are our real options? Best, Neil
Hi Neil!You are, of course, right. if somebody steals our images, we cannot really do much.
However, the idea of a copyright notice and/or EXIF data is not to prevent theft, but to keep the honest guys honest. The people who would willingly pay for a photo, if they could find out who owned it.
At the moment, if they cannot find the owner, they cannot use it. The coming "orphan works" legislation will allow it's use, without payment, so long as they make "reasonable efforts" to find the copyright owner. Thus "(c) David Young" reduces their search to only 8 million David Young's in the US alone!
But, adding "(c) David Young - Logan Lake, BC, CANADA" or, better yet, "(c) David Young - www.furnfeather.net" allows them to find me and arrange payment.
Adding the Copyright message to the EXIF data is just one more way to allow them to find you.
As for theft, itself, the only true defense is to post only small images, saved in fairly low quality jpg form... so that even with good interpolation, they won't make high quality prints - certainly no larger than 4x6" size, which limits their commercial potential to the thief.
Cheers! --- David Young, Logan Lake, CANADA Limited Edition Prints at: www.furnfeather.net Personal Web-site at: www.main.furnfeather.net Stock Photography at: http://tinyurl.com/2amll4 ------ Unsubscribe or change to/from Digest Mode at: http://www.lrflex.furnfeather.net/ Archives are at: //www.freelists.org/archives/leicareflex/
