Copyright and the law?

[Curt Bowen]

If you post your photos on any scuba board, expect them to be taken and used, even if they are copyrighted. You can protect them by adding a water mark, or ad a 10% white line across the photo.

I started adding text and white lines on mine here on the SB

check them out to see what I am talking about

 

[H2Andy]

Curt is right. If you post stuff, you can't possibly keep track of who's using it
where, even if you reserve all rights.

here's a pretty good link regarding copyright law:

http://www.bambooweb.com/articles/c/o/copyright.html

basically, your work is copyrighted (protected) from the moment it is created.
of course, it's a lot easier to prove if you actually register the image(s).

a simple: "Copywright 2005, [author's name]. All rights reserved" will serve
to legally protect your rights (remember, you still have to prove you in fact
created the image first). Put this somewhere on your images.

it's redundant, but some people add "Please do not use without author's express
written permission" (that is in fact what "Copyright. All rights reserved by author"
means).

but just because you take the legal steps doesn't mean you're safe. basically,
are you really going to spend a few thousand dollars to keep Joe Schmoe from
using your picture in his website if he decides to be a buttmunch about it?

 

[Halthron]

As a published author, I have more than a passing interest in copyright and Curt & Andy have it correct. The key is to remember that the copyright serves as a warning that someone is claiming ownership of a work, it doesn't enforce anything for you. If someone steals your work, you still need to go through the effort of detection and enforcement. And, if you don't actively police your work, you can lose the copyright and the work will enter the public domain. The most visible way this occurs is through trademarks (Aspirin used to be a trademarked name) but it can occur with images and text as well.

 

[pete340]

Do you have any reference's to this?

Not off the top of my head. That's a quick summary of copyright law. There are a couple of references in other messages to sites with good information. The site that prompted this discussion actually says that, if you filter out the "it's a good idea to ..." stuff.

 

[drbill]

I "avoid" copyright concerns by only posting low res (320x240) images on my web site of fish, etc. The original is not posted unless I'm not really worried about its copyright.

Over the years I have had a number of inquiries re: using my images in books, presentations, dissertations and school projects. I almost always grant the right to use an image and in many cases will provide the original to someone who requests the use.

 

[justleesa]

When I had my copyright trouble this is what kind of answers I got.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=56397&highlight=copyright

 

[PapaBob]

Hi all:

The US Govt Copyright Office website has some very useful information regarding copyrights and registration. If you want some general information from their FAQ then CLICK HERE. Click on the home button on the website to back up to a main menu with more information including registration information and forms.

It is also possible to subscribe to a service that will let you digitaly watermark your photos, and Photoshop supports the application of digimarked photos. Digimark's info IS HERE.

Hope this information helps.

---Bob