And one last comment. You can copyright your pictures. Most photo sites
actually provide copyright coverage as part of their terms and conditions.
You can add a notice through your camera or computer software in the
picture information or on your website. A few people put a great big c in
the middle of the picture so no one really wants to look.
All is well except what do you do if someone does copy it and you find your
picture on surfbirds with someone else's name on it. You can post a note to
that person and complain that he is unethical but since he is actually
unethical the name will not hurt. Can't sue as the picture is only worth at
best $10. But if it shows up in a book and you have a copyright, then there
is a possibility of action but any tiny reward would be far offset by the
cost in dollars and time to get the reward.
Ask the music industry how well they are protecting the intellectual
property of songs that they cannot really keep off youtube. Taylor Swift is
one of the few people who is able to police her intellectual property but
the answer is to keep it entirely off the internet.
At least as of now, property rights do not really exist if you keep a
public persona with any property.
On Sun, May 7, 2017 at 2:57 PM, David McDonald <dkmmdpa@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi texbirders,
Today while I was waiting with another couple on the boardwalk for the
Glossy Ibis to show up, another photographer walked up to us and asked if
we had seen it.
He then proceeded to tell us that someone had posted some excellent photos
of the bird on Texbirds yesterday and he got them by email. He then said
that he had downloaded the photo to put in 'his master file' as the photo
was better then he had managed to get.
I then told him I was the person who took the photos and he didn't ask if
he could use it or apologize for stealing my photos. I had waited 45
minutes on the bird to get these photos and he just steals them
My friends knew him vaguely and I have seen him at LaFitte's multiple times
this spring. My friends said his name was Dennis, but they did not know his
surname.
Well I wonder how many other photographers Dennis has stolen photos from,
for 'his master file' as they were better than his.
Dennis this is theft of intellectual property and unethical. Take your own
freaking photos and don't steal from others.
I am happy to post my pics on Texbirds for everyone's enjoyment and
education. I also donate them for non-profits or educational use if asked.
But this is the first time I have known about blatant theft of my pictures
and he did it without remorse.
David McDonald
Friendswood Texas
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