Photos-mine-are they still mine if I post them on my hub

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   Greenjeansposted 13 years ago

   I'm new, my first hub will have safari photos, some pretty good.
   Do I keep ownership of them if I post them here as part of my post?
   Anything I need to do to protect my ownership?
   
   Also, of one's I don't care about ownership, do I do something different?
   
   Thanks!

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      R.S. Hutchinsonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      If you took them, they will be yours forever until you give someone or something permission to own it (such as a license or making it public domain) The easiest way to protect your capture is to put your name on it somewhere.
      
      If you don't care about ownership then do nothing (but techinically you still own them)

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         wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         This is not the case.  If put onto a hub, they become the property of HP just as forum posts are and you cannot remove them from the HP servers.  This is explained in the learning center.
         
         I'm not sure why this is except that the architecture that requires you to put them into "my photos" may have something to do with it. 
         
         In any case this is something that you need to be aware of.

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            R.S. Hutchinsonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Well that's just not true.
            
            Straight from the User Agreement:
            
            "HubPages does not claim ownership of Your Hub Content or Author Content. Such content will be owned by You or a third party from whom You got permission to post the content."
            
            So again, he will own them unless he signs something giving it public domain. The magazine does not own the picture of the desert, they are only licensed to use the picture in thier magazine to draw profits. Same is the case here... HP does not own the picture, they are allowed (per the user agreement) to use the picture for profit and (specifically) ONLY allowed to use his picture on HIS hub TO promote HIS hub. (In other words, admin cannot take his picture and put it on my hub ).
            
            Furthermore, he can delete HIS hub at any time and after a "reasonable" amount of time HP is legally obligated to removed the hub from the WWW. BUT they are allowed to keep it on thier servers (and not publish it) for legal reasons that might incur in the future such as an investigation and such.
            
            So now you know!

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               wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Your are correct, at least to a point.  From the TOS:
               
               “Author Content”: Any content, including without limitation questions, answers, forum posts, ratings, votes, and Hub comments, that Authors post on the Service other than on the Author’s Hub, and all photographs that Authors post on the Service (including on the Author’s Hub).
               
               By posting Author Content on the Service, You grant HubPages a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable license to reproduce, publicly display, publicly perform, distribute, modify, adapt and publish the Author Content on or in connection with the Service. You may remove Your Hub Content from the Service at your discretion. You may not remove your Author Content from the Service
               
               Photos are thus defined as author content, and HP has an irrevocable license to reproduce, display, modify, and publish the photo.  In addition, you may not remove that photo from HP. 
               
               You may own the photo, but it looks to me like HP can use it pretty much as they see fit for as long as they choose to have it on the site, including in the photo gallery.  They could, if they so desired, modify that photo and make it available to every hubber here to be published  in their hubs.
               
               Photos are treated just the same as a forum post - they both fall under "author content" and not under "hub content".  There is nothing that says HP's rights to the photo only include the right to publish or display it within his hub.  Photos do not carry the same rights as a hub.
               
               I didn't search them out, but there are other threads on this same subject.
               
               So now you know the whole story!

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                  R.S. Hutchinsonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  So you agree.. he will still own them! Which is what his OP was and which is what I said originally.
                  
                  Yay !

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                     wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Yes, he owns them.  He just can't remove them from HP and HP can do whatever they want with them.

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                     Don Bobbittposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     And, If you have good Pics that are High Resolution, which is what I suspect, you need to start a regimen of actions to keep your property yours. For instance, use a Package like Photoshop to add your Copyright information into your originals. Second, only post thumbnails, at a much lower resolution on your Hubs, that way if some unknowing person tries to use it, they are using a much loser resolution copy. Third, put a watermark on like the man said. For myself, and I do prefer to use my own pics rather than go through "free photo search Hell" , what I personally use is the much lower resolution version that just barely looks decent in a "half-frame format" that also has my copyright data encrypted into the digital file. That way, if I suspect a Pic of being mine, I can pull a copy and read the digital info in the file.

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                        Zabbellaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        Thank you for that tip. Yes, I prefer to use my own photos...the watermark idea is excellent!

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                        amynichterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        Thank you so much for mentioning the watermark idea ..... I definitely need to start doing this !!!!!

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   LuisEGonzalezposted 13 years ago

   The photos are yours forever. With that said so long as they appear on a hub HubPages can use them for any advertising ,promotional, marketing etc., or any otherwise legal purpose. Once you remove the image, delete the hub etc., then HP loses any right to that image. Similarly as when HP deletes your hub for any reason. 

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   relacheposted 13 years ago

   You will always own the rights to your original photos.  And posting them on a Hub is just fine.  However, where you will make a mess of things is if you post a photo in a forum post or to the Answer section.
   
   Any photo you have on a Hub can be managed or deleted from the HubPages system from the photo section of your account.
   
   BUT (and it's a specific but) if you post a photo as part of a forum post or in with a question in the Answer section, those photos will become permanent fixtures in the HubPages system and you will never be able to remove/delete them.  You will still own the rights, but HubPages has clearly stated that you won't ever be able to take them down and they won't do it for you either.

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      wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Relache, I don't think that is correct.  The TOS defines a photo as author content and as such can never be removed from HP.  Even if the hub it is in is unpublished the photo is still on the HP system and cannot be removed.
      
      Specifically, you cannot delete a photo from the photo section of your account.

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         relacheposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Yes you can.  I do it all the time for one of my Hubs that gets updated frequently.

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            wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Hmmm.  I'm a little late here, but going to the photo gallery I find a "remove" button for each photo.  It's not what the TOS says, but it looks like you are correct.
            
            Thanks.

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               recommend1posted 13 years agoin reply to this

               I think you are correct Wilderness - it is possible to remove them from your hubs, it is not possible to watermark them or they will not be published and deleting them from HP computer just makes them invisible.  You keep ownership of any picture - but HP has it and also has the right to it if you do not excercise your own.  I was suspicious when the new way of dealing with images came in and I remain suspicious enough not to want to use any of my own good images in my hubs if I can help it.

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   Rastamermaidposted 13 years ago

   You can always watermark your pics.place it in pics so that no one can crop it out and use your pic.

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   Stacie Lposted 13 years ago

   I rarely post any of my photography online without a watermark or copyright on it.

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   Greenjeansposted 13 years ago

   Thanks, one and all. hanks. Great advice. I'm struck by the range of understanding on the ownership issue, and on whether or not we can removes pictures (and content?) once published on HP.
   Low Resolution, Copyright, and Watermark will all help.
   
   I respect the certainty you all have with your understanding of ownership. Self-protection is the only way to go- that, and letting go a little. If no one sees images, they're protected- and unseen.

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   jokeapptvposted 13 years ago

   the ones you dont want stolen id put watermark on it somewhere small

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   amynichterposted 13 years ago

   Thank you for bringing this topic to our attention!  It's not really something I put a lot of thought into ... <blushing> .... now I most definitely will !!!

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