Watermarks

[Axel Huettemann]

Hi,

this happens when pictures without a good watermark are uploaded. A good idea is to place a clever watermark over the whole picture so that the original object (ship) is not obstructed at all and no viewer is "offended" by that watermark. I think it should be possible that an automatism places a semi-transparent watermark over the picture, diagonal or horizontal once uploaded. This will prevent thieves. If one is interested in the original picture without a watermark, he can ask the photographer/copyright owner.

Yvon, Thank you!

Best regards,
Axel

[Admin note: this topic split off to give higher visibility
http://forum.shipspotting.com/index.php/topic,16599.0.html]

[Wayne ACourt]

Axel has a very good point,and this has been brought up before years ago,The Admin,would have no part of it and would delete posts which were watermarked personally, They have always said IF YOU DONT WANT PHOTOS STOLEN THEN DONT UPLOAD TOO THE INTERNET,
Pretty negative attitude I say,thats why I stopped uploading here,I was finding my photos on a lot of sites with other peoples names under them.
If you want too keep members ,then look after there best interests.
Regards:Wayne

[Paul Finnigan]

Unfortunately watermarks these days don

[simonwp]

Personally I hate photographs with watermarks, they ruin them completely. If this site permitted photographs with watermarks it would greatly devalue it. I belong to some aviation sites as well, and they won't permit watermarks either.

Like it or not, if you post your photographs anywhere on the internet, there is a risk they will be "stolen" by someone else. I post knowing that is a possibility, it's up to everyone to make their own decision.

[Tony des Landes]

Personally I hate photographs with watermarks, they ruin them completely. If this site permitted photographs with watermarks it would greatly devalue it. I belong to some aviation sites as well, and they won't permit watermarks either.

Like it or not, if you post your photographs anywhere on the internet, there is a risk they will be "stolen" by someone else. I post knowing that is a possibility, it's up to everyone to make their own decision.

I totally agree.

I have seen my photos used on other sites eg brokers etc, but as this is just a hobby, I am not losing financially, although it would have been nice to have been asked permission.

Not posting photos at all because of this just means that some excellent photos will never be seen.

[coasterwatcher]

Personally I hate photographs with watermarks, they ruin them completely. If this site permitted photographs with watermarks it would greatly devalue it. I belong to some aviation sites as well, and they won't permit watermarks either.

Like it or not, if you post your photographs anywhere on the internet, there is a risk they will be "stolen" by someone else. I post knowing that is a possibility, it's up to everyone to make their own decision.

I totally agree.

I have seen my photos used on other sites eg brokers etc, but as this is just a hobby, I am not losing financially, although it would have been nice to have been asked permission.

Not posting photos at all because of this just means that some excellent photos will never be seen.

But others are gaining financially - thanks to the theft of your material.

There are hundreds of thousands of excellent ship photographs. Just because they are not on this website does not mean that they will never be seen.

[davidships]

I have split these messages from previous location to give higher visibility.   There was little interest when members were last specifically asked to comment on the current guidance/rules:
http://forum.shipspotting.com/index.php/topic,14409.0.html
and they currently read:

10. Borders and watermarks: <snip> Watermarks are acceptable provided they are discreet and do not impinge on the ship image. QR electronic codes are not permitted.

The subject has arisen from time to time and undoubtedly opinion is divided - that is not surprising as the membership had a wide range of reasons for uploading their photos here and of attitudes to the re-use of their images.  We always try to assist members where their copyright is being abused - sometimes successfully, sometimes not.

Views from more members are welcome.

[Tony des Landes]

Personally I hate photographs with watermarks, they ruin them completely. If this site permitted photographs with watermarks it would greatly devalue it. I belong to some aviation sites as well, and they won't permit watermarks either.

Like it or not, if you post your photographs anywhere on the internet, there is a risk they will be "stolen" by someone else. I post knowing that is a possibility, it's up to everyone to make their own decision.

I totally agree.

I have seen my photos used on other sites eg brokers etc, but as this is just a hobby, I am not losing financially, although it would have been nice to have been asked permission.

Not posting photos at all because of this just means that some excellent photos will never be seen.

But others are gaining financially - thanks to the theft of your material.

That doesn't worry me. If they didn't use mine they would use someone else's

There are hundreds of thousands of excellent ship photographs. Just because they are not on this website does not mean that they will never be seen.
Presumably if they won't post on this site to prevent theft, they won't post on other sites either

[Wayne ACourt]

Its not so much about not posting elsewhere because of thieves,
The groups i post too encourage members too notify admin when other members steal photos from their group,and i place my name into somewhere,consquences are they get booted out of the group, and yes they probably sign up again under a different name, but we watch each others backs because we know of each other,and notify the appropriate people, i have confronted people about theft and they reply by saying they are looking for work in the shipping industry and by using other peoples photos they are trying too show a future employer that they are interested in shipping,thinking they have done nothing wrong breaching copyrite laws.
I found alot of Chris Howells photos elsewhere,I notified Chris and the admins and it stopped,
Also some of you are techies,webmasters can it not be done that people cannot save an image by right mouse or other means from here and the only way is by contacting the photographer,e-mail is in their profile,most hobbyists are quite chuffed too get a request, I have recieved books by Authors after requesting photos, that makes it all worthwhile,but thieves  are LOW LIFE especially for financial gain,