Security for your duck photos.

[Tahai]

Technically, Mr. Pekin, it is not allowed.

Tahai, it is not enough to give credit to rightful owner. You must first receive permission for use, and then give the proper credit.

As for the subject of the image, the creator of image must obtain a model release from the subject, if the copyright owner commercially exploits the image. This is a separate right from the copyright to the image and is known as rights of publicity. In the case of a pet, the owner of the pet provides the release.

I don't know, Iain. I think, if he's using it for educational discussion in a limited environment, not making profit, not claiming it as his, and providing a link back to the original source, that would be considered fair use.

Mr. Pekin Duck, the safest bet though is to always use your own photos, or if you must use another's photo, just provide a link to direct people to the site the photo is on.

 

[bargain]

Just as a fyi, several of my photos had watermarks which didn't detour the "unapproved" using as if they were their birds.

Watermarks may be great for advertising but don't deter photography borrowing...imho... Nancy

 

[Iain Utah]

Tahai, while there is a fair use defense to copyright infringement, it would be a hard argument to win that posting images on this site constitutes fair use.

For what it is worth... I am an IP litigation attorney with a lot of experience.

 

[Tahai]

Hi Iain, to prevent us all from getting in trouble in the future, why would it not be fair use?

 

[Iain Utah]

The easiest reason to provide (without going into a detailed analysis of fair use).... this is a private website for commercial gain in that it receives advertising money.

 

[desertdarlene]

I sure hope you reported that person to eBay because using your photos to sell their product is fraud. They are not showing you the actual product which may not even exist.

I would recommend putting some kind of watermark over all your photos that you post online unless you're entering a contest. It doesn't have to cover the entire photo, but at least make it so that it would be hard to erase the watermark without ruining the rest of the photo. What was suggested to me was to put my blog or website address in my watermark. That way, if someone steals it, it might direct traffic back to you and your site.

 

[Tahai]

The easiest reason to provide (without going into a detailed analysis of fair use).... this is a private website for commercial gain in that it receives advertising money.

That makes sense. I was thinking of the way we use the forum, not the way the owner's do. Thanks.

 

[larkflying]

Tahai - thanks for the link! I'm going to be looking at it. I can see that it is going to be a pain posting photos in the future if I watermark all of them. Sigh.

 

[swampducks]

Just thought I'd mention I use irfanview for my photo editing software (it's free though they'd love a little cash if you've got any) and it has an ability to add a watermark. I just did it to one of my photos for the first time. Good thread, got me thinking so I tried it, easy! Oh, and you can change the font, color, and size of the text but looks like you're stuck with horizontal placement.

 

[Nu Chix To Cash]

It may be flattering, but it's hugely dishonest to both the originator of the photo and to the buying customers. The photo is most likely from an excellent specimen, the product being sold is probably inferior. The buyer thinks they are getting birds from extraordinary stock, and ends up with junk.

So is there anything one can do about this? I got outbid on some pekin duck eggs I was bidding on for my son on e-bay and I'm sooooooo thankful I did! When I went to do a search to see where I could find exhibition quality ducks I found the exact same photo on a UK site. While I'd like to think the buyer is being honest since the UK site is a club site I'm going to guess they are the true owners of the photo. They did have the photo marked but it is so small it was difficult to see on the E-bay listing (but it is still there).

I did send the seller a message asking about the photo however I would like to know if there is anything I can do to prevent other bidders from being scammed.