I am confused about un-cited photographs

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  1. FloraBreenRobison profile image60
    FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years ago

    Based on the answers to the question I posted yesterday - motivated in part by the TOS difficulties with Pinterest and the new Pin It button - many people see no reason to cite photgraphs that are:
    a) in the public domain
    or
    b) that belong to the author

    This presents a confusion to me.

    How is a reader supposed to tell if the photograph is public domain  or copyrighted by the author of the hub if no citation is  used and both are correct procedures for such types of photographs?

    This may explain why public domain photographs are often un-cited. But it would seem to me to be a strong reason to cite your own photographs even more than I thought before even if all you do is say on one photograph that "All the photographs, unless other-wise stated - are the property of the author." Otherwise, someone thinking "hey, I want to use this photograph and it doesn't say I can't" may use it for his own purposes and the photographer doesn't even get a by-line.

    That is also why I use my real name, even though some people think it is unwise. I want to be able to prove that I am whom I say I am. A pen-name could be anyone

    1. profile image0
      Breen Bergstromeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      right on, Flora.  You make an excellent point about using a real name.  People regularly post on facebook as well so your identity is revealed anyways.

    2. ImKarn23 profile image71
      ImKarn23posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Flora (Your real name): I never realized how important it was to take ownership of photos in this manner. I always cite the genesis of other pictures - but never my own!
      Thanks for the heads up! (Hi, mom!)

    3. Marisa Wright profile image85
      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      The rule with photo copyright is simple.  If there is no citation, the photo is copyright.   Unfortunately most people don't realize that.

  2. profile image0
    woofydog53posted 12 years ago

    Most photographers who publicize their work will have a portion of their page that states " All printed and photographed material is not to be reproduced and remains without explicit written permission".  Photos appearing randomly on various sites without any reference to ownership seem to be public domain. But I personally cite the page I acquired the photo from. This will show that if an individual approaches me and questions my right to use his/her material,,,,,,I have proof that I used said photo/photos from a public place and have credited that public place as a photo referrence,,,!!!!

    1. FloraBreenRobison profile image60
      FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      yes, Dad. That is what seemed odd to me. If public domain is not required to be cited on HP, then fine. But like I said,  if you don't use your own name here instead of a pen name and don't cite either, how can you prove the photos are yours if someone uses them in a way you object?

  3. FloraBreenRobison profile image60
    FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years ago

    So far this seems to be a conversation within my own family, three artists. Oh well. smile

  4. Marcy Goodfleisch profile image81
    Marcy Goodfleischposted 12 years ago

    Well, I don't want to crash the family reunion, but I'm curious, too.  I don't have any answers, but I would love to learn more through this thread.  Mind if a friend drops in with the family? ;-)

    1. FloraBreenRobison profile image60
      FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      no problem wink It was never meant to be be a family discussion only (reminds me of how people will often text each other when they are in the same room these days since we all live in the same town and don't need to call long distance...)

      1. Marcy Goodfleisch profile image81
        Marcy Goodfleischposted 12 years agoin reply to this

        Ha!  I've phoned my son when he was just upstairs, and my coworkers and I used to secretly text each other at business meetings. Usually, the boss (a hilarious guy) was in on it too!

        Okay - I'm off topic - back to the subject . . .

  5. RedElf profile image89
    RedElfposted 12 years ago

    Most interesting discussion. I have been trying to go back through my work and clean up improperly cited photos from early hubs. I (nowadays) always cite works in Public Domain, and cite the source of my own photos as "Author," but until reading this I hadn't realized that I was leaving my own photos wide open to wholesale "borrowing."
    I shall have to be more faithful in adding a disclaimer. Thanks for the info.

  6. Alternative Prime profile image58
    Alternative Primeposted 12 years ago

    Although I am not making a recommendation one way or the other due to the personal nature, and in my opinion, it's a decision each individual member must reach subsequent to his / her own due diligence, a "REAL" Name is certainly not a pre-requisite to rightfully claim "Ownership" or "Creatorship" of your web based works - I believe any reasonable judge and or jury, if taken to task, would recognize "Intent" of an Owner / Creator to protect His / Her work regardless of what I believe to be a non-material fact such as disclosure and or voluntary non-disclosure of identity -

    Identity theft is unquestionably real and unfortunately happens every day hence, perhaps the reason for "Pen Names" etc of which should not by legal measures, diminish "Ownership Rights" or "Intellectual Property", and or your rights of protection or subsequent pursuit of remedy -

    The practice of using alternate monikers by business owners to conduct day to day activities is of course common place throughout the virtual and tangible merchandising universe - Although certain liability aspects may change, from my experience and research, inherent rights of ownership, just like a Photographers / Artists, are typically not diluted by merely exercising this option -

    The decision to use a "Real" or "Alternate" name is essentially a personal preference and not an indication of the extent of legal protection - I believe it's easy enough to prove ownership in either case -

    - Alternative Prime -

    1. FloraBreenRobison profile image60
      FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      This thread was a reference more to the fact that people don't cite anything at all on their own photographs. Nothing. Not even "property of the author" and therefore you cannot tell that it is copyrighted instead of public domain.

      As I say in my original post:

      "But it would seem to me to be a strong reason to cite your own photographs even more than I thought before even if all you do is say on one photograph that "All the photographs, unless other-wise stated - are the property of the author." "

      In other words, some people don't put any source at all! I'm not suggesting that RedElf can't put RedElf down as the photographer.
      *this is a thread about citing photographs and copyright, NOT about identity theft concerns"


      Here is the question I posted and you can read the answers yourself to see that  the people who disagreed with me were approaching the public domain photo and the personal copyrighted photo the same way:

      http://hubpages.com/question/153847/why … urce-on-hp

      This will tell you why I opened the thread in the first place.

      This will be my *only*comment on this change of topic in the thread.

      1. Alternative Prime profile image58
        Alternative Primeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

        My reply was simply a "Good Faith" response to the following quotes inserted by other interested members, comments of which did appear in my estimation to "Stray" into the realm of Writing & Publishing under a "Real Name" verses a "Pseudonym", and which preference if any, was the "Wiser" choice as it relates to claiming ownership of your original photos - That's how the comments were interpreted even if the intent was not to articulate this particular subject -

        Each individual photo contained within any published works on the Internet or elsewhere, although probably not mandatory, should be accompanied by brief annotations indicating a specific originating source either "Private Ownership" and the details pertaining to "Rights" or, an indication if they were extracted from "Public Domain" archives - Or, in the case of multiple photo usage, an all inclusive short sentence placed strategically in an easily visible location in which encompasses all individual images published on a single page should also work to serve notice and inform all visitors - It's essentially standard proceedure -


        Just trying to help --> Carry on with the conversation - Alternative Prime -


        P.S. Here are the quotes I replied to in my original comment  -


        "That is also why I use my real name, even though some people think it is unwise. I want to be able to prove that I am whom I say I am. A pen-name could be anyone"

        "right on, Flora.  You make an excellent point about using a real name.  People regularly post on facebook as well so your identity is revealed anyways."

  7. Lisa HW profile image62
    Lisa HWposted 12 years ago

    Not that my images are even worth trying to protect, but I cite them all under the pen name I use. It's a well established pen name, and it's very much associated with my legal name wherever the pen name is used (or paid or paying taxes).  I mostly claim/cite my own images so that nobody else will accuse me of anything other than using my own.

    1. FloraBreenRobison profile image60
      FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, citing them in any way instead of putting no citation at all will put ownership. The pictures I was seeing had nothing written at all as a source and as such I couldn't tell if they were public domain or copyrighted. They didn't even have a disclaimer at the top saying "all photos have been taken by the author."

      It also gets more confusing when some people mix and match as it were. They have photos of the same article from different sources, some public and some their own.

  8. American_Choices profile image75
    American_Choicesposted 12 years ago

    Also, citing your photos under your pen name provides over time some traffic from Google images.

    I have taken to creating power point slides that I then save as a jpeg and upload on HubPages and then link or cite my HubPage url.

    Getting your pen name out there is important to the SEO - images are another piece of the puzzle and serve as a "back rub" that boosts your creditability.

 
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